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Some Prices Include Shipping To U.S.A. Addresses |
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Please note: Tables and most props (unless noted) are made to order meaning that I start making it when you order it. And please don't ask me for a rush job as it just can not happen. Remember it takes a certain number of hours to make things right. The fine wood finishes need time between sanding, rubbing and coats to dry for several hours each time. All my mahogany and other wood is aged substantially like fine musical instrument wood before cutting it up and shaped. In the past we have respectfully copied the look of the great mahogany framing that Floyd Thayer made so beautifully in the 1930s. I promise to continue that practice. I have several custom shaper blades that I had made in the 1980s insuring authenticity and continued integrity of design and craft.
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![]() So here's what I've done. First I've covered both sides with 100% wool, 21 oz green Mali cloth with one side padded with a quarter inch professional blackjack or volara table padding. The sides are solid mahogany, cherry, or walnut, hand rubbed to an exquisite finish rivaling the finest in magicians' and gamblers' wood and clothwork. So you can use both sides of Tabman's Erdnase Train Table. The corners are rounded for an authentic look as pictured (check the illustrations in Expert At The Card Table). These type tables were popular in the old days a century ago to rest on the knees of two or more passengers facing each other riding in the coach cars of a train on long trips so they could play cards (or maybe do some card tricks or closeup magic!!!) Sides feature a 1/4" lip to keep balls, etc from rolling off for doing Cups and Balls.
Some years ago Pete Biro had suggested to me that I make some of my Tabman Tables with a hard Formica surface on the back for stacking dice. I'm sorry I waited so long because this might be the most versitile magic table I've made (and I've made a lot of them for artists like Michael Ammar, Ray Mertz, Jim Sisti, Pete Biro, Jim Patton at The Magic Castle and many others). Early versions of the Tabman Tables have become collectors items around the world. I am proud to have worked with Pete and to have learned dice stacking from him. Last week I made up a half dozen of these. They are 25.5" x 16.5" with expensive Mali cloth (100% wool gaming table cloth that you find on the finest gaming tables in casinos around the world) with a quarter inch of blackjack table padding. The flip side has a layer of black Formica bonded to the 3/4" Birch plywood base. The table frame is finished out in walnut or cherry trim, stained and given three coats of satin finish. Please note: The table frames are prefectly straight. I took the pics using a wide lens in my light tent and the curves are from barrel distortion in the camera lens.
If you've been thinking about getting a table like this (it's extra large for the street when used on an X or Z frame stand) then this one is perfect for that.
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![]() ![]() ![]() AVAILABLE NOW BY SPECIAL ORDER |
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It started one day when I was looking through some of my Uncle's old books and papers in his office. He had been dead for at least ten years when I decided to take a look. He had been an avid amateur magician and I uncoverd a stack of old magic books and phamplets from the 1930s when he was a teenager and into his early 20s. One such book was Eric Lewis little softcover called, Modus Operandi. When I leafed through the book I spotted the Jumbo Card Guillotine and knew I had to build it and more than that I knew I must get in touch with Eric Lewis himself and get his blessing on the project. Fortunately I was able to first write Eric and then later talk to his son Martin at length as well. We shared ideas and even Mrs. Lewis was intrigued by my use of Mali cloth on the prop. Eric gave me the go ahead to build my own version based on his version of The Jumbo Card Guillotine and I got started and made the first ones in the mid 1990s before Eric passed on. I am proud to have been part of his history and continue with a traditional 1930s version of The Jumbo Card Guillotine similar to the one described in Modus Operandi.
The spectator is offered a choice of cards from a jumbo deck. He or she is given a pen so they can boldly sign the face of the card. The card is returned to the middle of the pack and placed in a wooden houlette which is then placed between the uprights of a mahogany guillotine. After some byplay the blade is dropped. The blade slams into the houlette and the front of the houlette drops scattering cards on the table. You guessed it, behind the blade is the spectators signed card. Made To Order Postpaid to USA $275 postpaid to U.S.A.
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