Hi everyone,

Some years back I bought a Chop Cup made by Morrisey Magic of Toronto.

I did however do something very silly with it. One day in a hurry, I packed all my stuff in a bag and when I opened it all up later.... nightmare of nightmares.... my Bat was clinging to the bottom of the cup.

I ripped them apart immmediatly but ever since that day... the gimmicked ball dosen't funtion like it used to.

I fear that my Bat might have upset/reversed the fields in the Chop Cup (If that makes sense to you).

My question is, could this field be put right again giving me back my trustworthy Chop Cup or has it been damaged beyond repair?

Regards Alan

PS I have just tried it again after about 18 months and it still works one time, then embarrisingly decides not to the next time.

Hi.

I did not understand the problem.

The cup should be magnetic, the balls should not (they are only attracted by magnets).

Out of my knowledge, only very high temperature may *destroy* the order that make magnetic... a magnet! Surely not being in contact with another magnet.

On the other hand, metal which can be attracted by magnets may get magnets their own if in contact (but very weak).

So... nothing should have happened!

Again... what sort of problem did you find?

Cheers

Stefano Mambretti

Maybe, I did not explain clearly enough.
The gimmicked ball rolls out just as easy as the non gimmicked ball. Hows that.
Obviously it's a nightmare to use it like this.

Regards Alan

Well, since your cup is already demagnetized, you might as well give this a try.

Stick your Bat back on it and leave it on overnight.

If you can lightly 'bang' the cup on something without damaging it while the Bat is still on it, that might help too.

You may be able to remagnetize your cup using these techniques.

1) Every Chop cup system I've built, and every Chop cup system I've examined (many, many) uses a "secret something" in the BALL, as well as the base of the cup. This is the standard treatment.

2) Even RARE EARTH "secret somethings" are greatly affected by relatively SMALL elevations in temperature - 140 degrees Fahrenheit (60 degrees Celsius) will kill most magnets... er, I mean ... "secret somethings".

Regards,
Thomas Wayne

Hi.

I agree 60 degree Celsius is not such an high temperature, but still IS quite high.

I cannot imagine what can be happened to your cup.

As I said: the cup should be magnetic, the balls should not (they are only attracted by magnets).

You sure the ball is still attracted by magnets? That should not be a problem.
So it is the cup that is demagnetised.

I don't know WHY.

But you can TRY (not sure it will work) to
"brush" a *working* magnet on the old (in the cup) one. Always in the same direction. It might work again.

Good luck!!!

Stefano Mambretti

Alan,

Here is what you need to do.

1. CHOP CUP: Take a small tin disk or iron piece and check if it is attracted by the chop-cup. If 'Yes', your chop cup is fully functional. If 'No', (this is a rare case, 1 in a thousand) the bat has demagnetized your chop cup. To make it functional once again, you will have to cut a circular disk out of a magnetic sheet (the one used for magnetic visiting cards) and glue it inside the cup.

2. GIMMICKED BALL: Take a small tin disk or iron piece and check whether the gimmicked ball attracts it (you will feel a very mild attraction). If 'Yes' then the Raven has magnetized the ball. That is to say, the ball has the same polarity as the cups (inside polarity of the cup). You will have to buy a new ball if you want to use the same cup.

That's it. SOLVED!

Happy Chopping!

USTAAD.

P.S. Feel like doing something different? Then read my posts @

The Magic Cafe Forum Index » » Rings, strings & things » » Balls for Cups and Balls.

AND

The Magic Cafe Forum Index » » New to magic? » » cups and balls

Alan,

If you are confused by the various replies, so am I. I have worked with magnets and magnetism to some degree, and have studied same.

These things I know to be true:

1. Most, not all, gaffed balls DO contain magnets. For example, Mikame balls may contain only steel wool. Others may contain steel shims.

2. "Polarity of the balls" does not matter. Each magnet has two poles. The ball will just flip so that the attracting pole is next to the cup, IF the cup magnet is working. Even if the magnet in the ball is de-magnetized, it should still cling to the magnet in the cup (presuming a strong enough magnet in the cup bottom) because it remains intrinsically magnetic.

3. A strong magnet can either magnetize or de-magnetize a weaker magnet. This is what I suspect happened to your cup.

4. You *may* be able to re-magnetize the magnet in your cup by leaving your stronger magnet in contact with the cup for some period of time, or "rapping" it as one person suggested. This of course would work best if you placed the stronger magnet on the cup with the opposite side down as when it de-magnetized the cup.

5. If you can't re-magnetize the cup that way, you could obtain a small flat rare-earth magnet (NOT TOO BIG/STRONG) from one of the many vendors on eBay or elsewhere. Then super-glue that magnet into the cup. Finally obtain some liquid aluminum paste from a hardware store and coat the bottom of the cup to cover the magnet. Use a plastic gloved finger to smooth out the surface. May not be pretty but it would be cheap and effective.

6. Finally, you could email Morrissey and ask how much they'd charge to replace the magnet...

Hope some of this makes sense and is helpful.

Cordially,
tr