I have a book written by Eric Lewis, and he shows the bottom of the silk caddy being attached with a "cloth hinge". I was curious if the modern ones, such as the one that Abbott's sales, are still hinged this way.

Hi,

I know the Abbott version has hinges. You can see them in the video below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Icse0AqPAiY

That is on the outside doors. I'm talking about on the inside on the gimmick part.

In Eric Lewis' day, cloth hinges were fairly common. Some are still used today on a variety of props, although there is a wider range of available hardware that is often a good replacement for cloth hinges.

The original Len Sewell Block Appearance used cloth hinges. I have made them this way, but then I discovered hidden barrel hinges that are far superior for durability, although stiffer in action.

There is also an Eric Lewis block vanish described in one of the Albo books that has a trap built into the main apparatus. I believe this used a cloth hinge, too.

Re: Cabbies - I make two different types, the elevator style and the pivoting style. I can assume the cloth hinge refers to the pivoting style. I use pivot pins through the sides, but have also used a (mostly) blind hinge. I have not used a cloth hinge, but have no doubt it would work nicely.

I am not familiar with how Abbott's is made. I have only seen one other pivoting style recently, and it was an import. Contrary to some, it was nicely made. Smooth working. I also have a couple other import props that use cloth hinges.

There are times when they are simply a wise choice. In general, they are absolutely flat and do not require screws, etc., to attach them. They do, however, have some drawbacks.

The main thing is to make sure they firmly attach to the surfaces. Those attachment points can suffer a lot of force, including torque and twisting inconsistent with the intended movement. Too much of this can cause the hinges to peel away from the surface, resulting in a very sloppy hinge and parts that don't play well with each other.

Slightly off topic but pertaining to Cabbies... I have also made larger Cabbies that use the elevator style, but they are also equipped with a lever arrangement that eliminates lots of the finger movement needed to do the work. A small finger movement results in a greater movement of the gimmick. This is a nice feature on these large Cabbies, as the finger movement needed to do the work would otherwise be quite large. As far as I know, I am the only one who does this. I actually have one such stage-size cabby in the works right now.

Finally, there are also Tyvek hinges, which I have not used as of yet, but I see a lot of potential for them.

Thank you for responding, Michael. The prototype I just built, I used pivot pins. I was curious if the cloth hinge had now been replaced in most apparatus. I would love to see your large caddies and see how they work. I'll post pictures soon of my first attempt.

As far as cloth hinges, I use silk in the Tommy Wonder Ring Boxes as specified by Tommy.

Glad to see you working your way through the EL books. Looking forward to seeing your pictures.

As I said, just a prototype to get dimensions and workings. Does not have holes or doors yet, but this is my basic look.

Click here to view attached image.

Looking at the Abbott gimmick and using Michael's description above, the Abbott box is an elevator style; no hinges on the inside.

Your shop is perhaps the neatest I've ever seen. Will you come over and organize mine???

Oh, looks good so far. Thanks for the pic. I do love to look at them. Looking 4ward to seeing the progression.

The gimmick on such items has seen numerous variations over the years. Mr. Baker is not the only builder to use leverage to reduce finger movement. There have been at least three lever setups that I have run across. The elevator type gimmick will be slightly larger than the pivot type due to required clearance issues. Much space can be gained by using a metal gimmick with wooden ends due to the thinness of the metal. At least 1/4" can be gained by using metal.
Depending on your final use of the apparatus, a small bird can be concealed in the roof. This is especially effective if metal is used (air holes line the back side of the stepped roof). The trap is on the bottom of the roof with release at the rear of the roof. You might want to consider the above before going farther with the construction.
MR

MR,

Thanks for that info. I had not seen the lever usage before I thought of it, and I use it, but simplicity suggests it would likely have been thought of before.

I have seen load chambers that moved via direct leverage. In other words, the chamber itself pivoted up like a ramp, with only one end of the chamber moving toward a hole in the side wall. I think a canary cabby created by Tony Brandino worked this way. Mine uses a lever to push the chamber up, elevator style.

Can you give me any info on what cabbies you have seen this on? I'm always interested in more complete information.

~michael

Mr. Baker, the coolest I ever saw was one that was used to turn a yellow silk into a canary, then the canary into a blue parakeet. This was a little larger than normal and had some kind of leaf design hand painted on the doors. I'm sure this was custom made. It featured a lever with a wire loop on the end with a small diameter metal tube. The metal tube rolled on the wire loop and acted like a roller bearing.
The two other were in a guy's collection in Albany about 40 years ago. One looked like a Homer Hudson type decor, and the other had a dragon stencil design. Makers are unknown. This was a long time ago.
MR

Thanks, Tabby. I would love the chance to visit with you at your shop someday. As for mine being neat, it is because I don't get to use it very much at the moment. And no matter HOW organized it is or looks, I still can't find what I'm looking for. LOL

Thanks much!