It's my understanding that the Mike Roger's mini baseballs specially gimmicked for the chop cup are no longer being made.

Does anyone know where to obtain something similar?

I checked Van Dokkum's site but could not find chop balls.

Sources for any and all types of chop balls would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Bill

I know you can find baseballs here, not sure if they come in chop cup format or not.

http://www.magicpitch.com/products/balls/index.html

or

http://www.ammarmagic.com/

otherwise do a search on any of the normal internet magic stores.

MM

Hi Videoman,

I posted the same problem a couple of weeks ago.
And I got this link.

Click Here!

They have got them in several colours too.

Floyd

You won't find everything that Auke VanDokkum makes on his web site. Drop him an e-mail and ask him what he would charge to make you a set of chop balls.

You might also check with Stevens Magic Emporium. Call them, it's faster.

Don't assume that just because you don't see something on a web site, that the person who put up the web site doesn't have it in stock.

A word of warning about chop balls. They really need to be matched with the cup. If the m****t is too strong, the ball won't release. If it's too weak, then the ball won't hold. There's also a possible issue with polarity.

So, even though jeidenat or Van Dokum will be able to make you the necessary balls, you may find that they don't work well with the cup.

My recommendation would be to send Auke VanDokum your cup and ask him to make the balls. He's the only person out there that can make you a custom ball that will work perfectly with your cup. Any other solution is ultimately pot luck, and may not work at all!

You might also contact James Riser at http://www.jamesriser.com

If you have a STRONG MAG in your cup you can just inserts some needles into the ball along the seams.

If you can't locate any M.R. balls, try this link for the standard types.

http://www.morrisseymagic.com/hand_knit_balls.htm

MM

Mike made these by hand. Whith his untimely, sad passing, I bought a couple extra sets. I wasn't sure if the estate would continue to manufacture them.

Dick Stoner of Stoner's Funstores in Fort Wayne, IN, informed me when Mike passed his wife was continuing to provide the balls to the magic community.

If you want to contact him at AC 206-428-1100, ask for Dick Stoner, he is a trade show performer so you may have to leave a message.

He had a few sets, they do make 2 sizes for C&B, and chop cup sets as well as final load balls for each.

The store is not on the web.

Good Luck
Bill

If you're desperate let me know. I could sell you one of my sets. I have two.

Frank

I may have the good luck of receiving a large used copper chop cup, yet balls will not come with it.

From what I've read, there needs to be the right balance between the strength of the balls and the gimmick in the cup - not too strong, not too light.

It seems the easy solution is to send the cup to Van Dokum as mentioned above to get a set to match the cup. Unfortunately, for the cost of international shipping both ways, I could probably purchase a new cup with a set of balls included and already matched.

How would you recommend matching the magnet to the cup? Does anyone know of someone in the US that can match the balls to the cup, similar to the Van Dokum situation?

Finally, I checked out the morrissey magic site for hand knit balls. I notice that the balls come in different sizes. What controls the strength of the ball attraction? In the balls, are the buried gimmicks themselves different sizes/strengths and the balls are generally the same size? The alternative could be that the strength/size of the buried gimmick itself in the ball is the same, and the strength is controlled by the size of the ball, and resulting distance from the core to the edge of the ball. Can anyone shed some insight?

I'm just trying to figure this out for when I need to start shopping, if there isn't anyone in the US that can "fit" the strength of this chop cup.

Thanks in advance.

I think the best way is going to be to purchase a set of balls and see if they work.

The strength of the attraction in the balls is controlled by the strength of the gaff in the cup, the strength of the gaff in the ball and the weight of the ball.

The strength of the gaff in the cup depends on whether the manufacturer compensated for the change in attraction that copper gives to the gaff. This is more critical in miniature cups than in large ones.

I think the cheapest way is to take your cup to the magic store and try out all the balls and see what works.

I notice that the crocheted balls work best in my Johnson cup. Mike Rogers works best in my leather cup or a pringles can.

Dennis Loomis solves the problem by using shimed balls and not "chopped" balls and I believe James Riser makes those?

Sounds like a trip to the store.