Does anywhere know where I can buy plans for a Lippincott Box - ideally his double locked box? I've searched for a good hour now but can't find any for sale. I know I can just buy an actual box for $20 from fleabay but I'd much rather just buy some plans and make one myself. I've got most of the theory down and have a pile of neodymium magnets sitting around but would like to see the 'action' instead of devising my own one. If anyone can point me to plans or a book containing the plans I'd be extremely grateful.

Sorry to inform you there are no plans for the Lippincott Box or most all small tricks and boxes.

By the way a magnet is not involved.

Bill, if I recall correctly Michael Baker or some other manufacturer put a magnet on the gimmicked part, maybe not too necessary but I saw one like that

I do use magnets for the trap, but do not claim any originality for the idea. I couldn't say if anyone else does this, but the idea is just too easy. I would like to add that the boxes I make do not have to have the magnet to work properly. The traps close nicely. The reason for the magnet is because the boxes I have been offering are large enough to hold large heavy coins or finger rings, which might include heavy mens rings. The magnet was an extra safeguard to prevent the trap from accidentally being knocked open from the inside, should someone shake the box back and forth.

I also add a second magnet in the bottom of the box, but this is for use as a holdout. Completely different beast.

The "plans" for the "Lippincott box" are in Hoffmann's "Modern Magic." Lippincott simply took Hoffman's "Watch Box" (page 148) and reduced the size so it could be used with a small coin instead of a watch. The actual box pre-dates Hoffmann, so Hoffmann didn't invent it, but he described it in writing and gave a nice diagramtic view so enterprising carpenters like yourself could make one from a few small pieces of wood. It makes a nice project.

Someone else put a "Lippincott Box" inside a "Watch Box" to make the double set of boxes. Probably an enterprising carpenter again.

Yes and no. The watch box was designed to be opened from the outside to gain access to the contents. The Lippincott can only be opened from the inside, unless a very slight design change is incorporated (some models do, either by intent, or accident). But yes, the watch box design is in one (or more) of the Hoffmann books, and probably a few others that later pinched his info and artwork.

The term Lippincott, or Lippincott-style is now being used simply because that's the fastest way to communicate the concept to most magicians. If we wait for them to catch up on reading history, the boxes would never get sold.

I may be wrong in this, but I think Harold Martin was the first to market the Lippincott Box, under the name "Quarter- Go".

The double boxes may also have stemmed from a logical connection between locked prediction chests and these smallish boxes used for impossible location effects.

There have been a variety of ways these similar boxes have been "tweaked" mechanically, including some nifty locking methods that prevent the secret from being discovered even under close examination.

Ironically, a laymen would look at any of these and simply lump them together under the headings, "secret panel", or "trap door". The differences we see are esoteric, but naturally of interest to those infatuated with the mechanics of apparatus. The details are really only needed if someone is actually building one... which brings me back to the OP.

Twenty bucks spent on a crappy one can be considered the cost of education. Use it to learn the details and get the basic measurements. Then make one for yourself, just better. Much better than a set of plans, as you get to see it in 3-D, and there is a lot to be learned by holding and playing with the prop.

I have a wonderful looking box with brass nails all along the joints (legitimate fasteners and also part of the "look"). Two of the nails are locking pins to keep the trap closed. The pins are so tight, they can't be pulled out without breaking a nail...hence, the box is impossible to use in test conditions...and the performance varies even more depending on the humidity. It's an expensive box that I'll never use. I prefer a well-fitted box with no locks.

Thanks for all the help guys. I've just got a copy of Hoffmann's "Modern Magic" and sure enough - there it is!

I just want to use the magnets to make the box as examinable as possible and if I put the gimmick hinges in the right place (where people will push whilst examining the box) I think I will be able to get away with murder with this thing!

However, this all raises another question - if an actual Lippencott box can only be opened from the inside how can you open it?! lol - only kidding!

OK so I'm looking at items listed as Lippincott boxes but how can I be sure that I'm not just getting a watch box or a prediction box with the method I'm now familiar with?

I've seen some that were so loose the pins fell out if you tipped the box the wrong way.



If you position the pivots as close to the end as is practical, no amount of pushing from the outside will open the box. Positioned away from the end allows the panel to operate like a lever.

Post the web addresses your are view, maybe we can advise.

But a Lippincott box should state is a Lippincott box like this:

http://www.vikingmagic.com/?nd=full&key=28

This is the Lippincott Box I use:

http://www.powellmagic.com/shop/index.ph......t_id=112

It is truly a work of art.

The routine I do is David Parr's penny trick. It is such a beautiful routine and it has such a deep impact on people.

KJ

There is a lot of meaning in a name, what you referenced is not the classic Lippincott box, but a Dave Powell Victorian Ring Box, notice that Dave Powell put in parenthesis, and noted calling it the Ultimate Lippincott Box, so those in the "know" understands how it works.

Lippincott aka Quarter go, will not hold a very large ring. I owned the Martin Quarter Go, and it was very small, made out of quarter inch plywood and stained, with only one brass hasp and hinge, and brass pins/nails.

The only way you know what your are buying is to go in person and see the prop. There are just to many versions and to many people that don't know what they are selling.

It use to be there was one manufacture and one seller, who was also the wholesaler for the prop. Those days are gone. Most of the time, the dealer never seen the prop themselves, and does not know what he is selling. If they have it in stock they do not want to open the box, if it is drop shipped, they never handle the package.

When this topic was first raised in 2012, Spellbinder got so annoyed that he wrote an e-Book on how to convert any craft store or Dollar store box to perform the trick known as "Quarter Go" without disturbing either the ghosts of Lippincott (whichever one it was) or Professor Hoffmann in the process. He even had young Qua-Fiki make a video showing him performing the trick with just a simple Dollar store wooden box: https://vimeo.com/53830497

Hey there, 1KJ. Thanks for the compliment on my Lucky Penny routine! Glad you're getting use out of it. If anyone is wondering, it's in my book Brain Food: http://www.davidparr.com/store/

David,
You are welcome, and thank you for sharing it. I just love it! The premise I use is that lucky pennies just appear from the box. When I shake the box, it is empty. A bit of magic, shake the box again, and something is inside. I open the box to reveal a shiny penny. The rest of the routine is very similar to how you explain it.
kj

That's a nifty idea, 1KJ

I need to get me one of these ! Not sure I'm up to a DIY though. BTW, my edition of Hoffmann's Modern Magic (Routledge, 11th ed. 1901) describes the "The Watch Box" on pp. 219-20.

That would be Spellbinder's "X" Box from Mini-Mysteries Book 4 on The Magic Nook site. Like his ungimmicked Lippincott-like box described in Mini-Mysteries Book 3 for the "Flying Quarter Mystery", his "X Box" in Book 4 increases the scope and size of the ungimmicked boxes used. Just visit a craft store or web-site like Hobby Lobby or Michaels and choose any box you like to get started. Then apply the principles Spellbinder describes to make the ordinary box a magic box without any sawing or cutting.