"Martin type" pull?

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"Martin type" pull?

Postby Guest » July 3rd, 2003, 11:04 am

Owen is now selling these and have a photo on their website, with it attached to a bird cage. I used to do the vanishing bird cage, Blackstone style, using a simple non-compound pull. A reasonable amount of force was required for the vanish. I'm impressed if the device pictured can effect the vanish, at least in the Blackstone rather than the Blaney modus. What does this thing have in it, springs made of Unobtanium? Enquiring minds want to know.

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Pete Biro
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Re: "Martin type" pull?

Postby Pete Biro » July 3rd, 2003, 11:31 am

I have not looked at Owen site, but birdcage pulls do not pull the cage... what they do is "take up" the slack.

You have, for example, 3-feet of cord. You extend the cord, holding the cage I would assume, and the cord UNLOCKS and the reel "takes up" a pre set amount.

Then, when you striaghten your arms, as in the standard way, the cage is uppa you sleeve...

My pull is simpler and CHEAP... You take a long loop of clear nylon fishing line (heavy stuff) and loop it around your right thumb. It goes up sleeve across back down other sleeve to cage.

When you do the vanish... you can let the loop OFF your thumb and as you reach behind table or into a bag, you let the cage fall out and it takes the loop with it.

You can now totally disrobe and nothing of the cage is left to be found. :mad:
Stay tooned.

Guest

Re: "Martin type" pull?

Postby Guest » July 3rd, 2003, 11:47 am

Pete, thanks for the explanation. So the reel in this case is basically to avoid the "hunchback" appearance which Blackstone Jr. had to assume when he carried the cage out on stage.

My pull was similar to yours, but I used a flat, heavy, fabric ribbon about 1/2-3/4" wide. More like a small car safety belt than a gift-type ribbon, it had a silky surface which helped operation. I tried using heavy monofilament when the original ribbon wore out, but I was using a store-bought jacket and had some problems with the line binding in the cage-side armpit under pressure. The jacket was probably a bit too snug. I had the pull attached to a wristband. This was with the red-ribbon edged cage, not the free-standing cage used by Walter Blaney at the time. I believe the former cage is a bit longer and bulkier when compressed than the latter.

Guest

Re: "Martin type" pull?

Postby Guest » July 3rd, 2003, 12:14 pm

Robert;
The Martin pull or take-up pull is, as Pete said, to take up slack.

The pull has a lock on it to hold it in the extended position so that the performer has better arm movement before the vanish. Immediately before the cage is to vanish, the arms are slightly extended which releases the lock. The arms are then brought back towards the chest as the pull takes up the slack. This is only about 7"-8". When the slack is pulled in, the pull again locks so that the cage may be vanished as usual. There are two locking systems involved.

Here are three images of the version I have made and used:
http://jamesriser.com/Magic/takeup1.GIF
http://jamesriser.com/Magic/takeup2.GIF
http://jamesriser.com/Magic/takeup4.GIF

A version is described in detail in Tommy Wonders' Books of Wonder .
Jim

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Pete Biro
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Re: "Martin type" pull?

Postby Pete Biro » July 3rd, 2003, 2:18 pm

I still have the George Hammerton "copy" (with improvmeents) of the Martin (I had an original lMartin and sold it to Tommy Wonder). :cool:
Stay tooned.

Guest

Re: "Martin type" pull?

Postby Guest » July 7th, 2003, 7:28 am

Who is the Martin in the Martin Pull?
(Who is it named after?)

brownbeauty
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Re: "Martin type" pull?

Postby brownbeauty » July 7th, 2003, 7:56 am

Jon Martin from the UK. Made some of the finest magical apparatus ever! Beautiful vanishing birdcage, pulls, etc. All of his items are extremely rare!

Anyone with Martin items want to sell please contact me at rudy@arkaytextiles.com

Rudy

Guest

Re: "Martin type" pull?

Postby Guest » July 7th, 2003, 5:07 pm

Rudy;
I just sent you an email that bounced back. Is your mailbox full? You want this email :)
Jim

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Pete Biro
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Re: "Martin type" pull?

Postby Pete Biro » July 7th, 2003, 9:17 pm

Too late for you... too early for me... following a divorce, I had to sell off my collection of Jon Martin gear. I had vanishing birdcages (round and square) with pulls, poker and jumbo rising cards, coin shooter, silk gun, holdouts, a unique holdout that delivered multiple fans of cards into your hand, and a few other items I forget about... arhg...

You want to see most of them, look in the Albo books or Johnny Gaughan's collection.

sure do miss them

However, I did keep one of two Jumbo Rising Card decks--best ever made. wish I had the Poker sized one back... argh...

:eek: :eek: :eek:
Stay tooned.

Guest

Re: "Martin type" pull?

Postby Guest » July 7th, 2003, 9:53 pm

Pete Biro:

Man, when are you going to write your book(s)
(Books of Biro) ?

Just your stuff from Genii, "The Reel Works", and additional memoirs/anecdotes should add up to some good reading.

I'm serious.

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Pete Biro
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Re: "Martin type" pull?

Postby Pete Biro » July 7th, 2003, 10:04 pm

Well, I am trying to reconstruct my Ancecdotal History of the Linking Rings... I had over 300 pages layed out and lost all when my olde 386 computer's hard drive took a big "bm." :mad:

Unlike the Braue Notebooks, I had not charged for any copies yet. :D

Meanwhile, I am converting all the WordPerfect files (remember that company?) to MS Word... then will update... then need to scan a buzillion pictures and drawings... then need to assemble all in QuarkXpress... :D

My other book? "Son of Greater Magic" is in the "throw the notes into the file" stage.

I had made a verbal deal with The Larsen Family to publish "The Reel Works" (Racherbaumber has them all filed) but have not had a chance to follow up and do a deal with Sir Kaufman... hmmm... :whack:

Anyway... Stay Tooned :D
Stay tooned.

brownbeauty
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Re: "Martin type" pull?

Postby brownbeauty » July 8th, 2003, 3:57 pm

Hello Pete,
Let me know when you are ready to part with that "Martin" Jumbo rising deck?

Regards,

Rudy

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Pete Biro
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Re: "Martin type" pull?

Postby Pete Biro » July 8th, 2003, 4:37 pm

Hah! Not yet... but I have an electronic Ron Wilson/Pat Hennessy one I may be talked out of. :whack:
Stay tooned.

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Re: "Martin type" pull?

Postby Jeff Haas » July 8th, 2003, 4:47 pm

Pete...remember, when you're working on big projects on a computer, the magic word is "backup!"

Jeff

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Pete Biro
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Re: "Martin type" pull?

Postby Pete Biro » July 8th, 2003, 11:24 pm

I had back ups on all the text files, but lost the page layouts...
Stay tooned.

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Pete Biro
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Re: "Martin type" pull?

Postby Pete Biro » July 13th, 2003, 5:31 pm

You want to see the ULTIMATE mechanical pull work? Check out Tommy Wonder's DVD and his Vanishing Birdcage. :genii:

Does it with his sleeves rolled up. :D

But... watching his preparation and set-up is a lesson in real magic. The attention to detail is what makes it what it is. :genii:

Wow! :cool:
Stay tooned.

Guest

Re: "Martin type" pull?

Postby Guest » July 16th, 2003, 4:34 am

Originally posted by Pete Biro:
I still have the George Hammerton "copy" (with improvmeents) of the Martin (I had an original lMartin and sold it to Tommy Wonder). :cool:
I presume that you know that George died a year or so. For the record, Roy Roth ( R.A.R. MAGIC )now has much of his left overs,His ring flites still come with locking pulls made by George, and very nice they are too!
I wish i had met the guy. I was for a number of years, in the engineering supply buiseness, and George lived about 5 miles from me. The only contact i had was a couple of grumpy letters telling me that " he was no longer involved with magic".
strange that the letters were always on i.b.m note paper.

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Re: "Martin type" pull?

Postby Pete Biro » July 16th, 2003, 3:58 pm

Yes, someone told me Hammerton has passed away... :( I have a card sword he made for me. It is the standard Unique sword, but Ken Brooke had George make me a second blade that was much shorter. I wanted it to fit into my close up briefcase. :genii:
Stay tooned.

Guest

Re: "Martin type" pull?

Postby Guest » July 18th, 2003, 10:40 pm

First to agree with P.B. concerning Tommy Wonders fantastic explaination concerning take-up reels. It's at present the best available work with them.
I had an opportunity last year to get exposure to many different take-up reels and the handling via Billy McComb. The difference between "yanking" the cage Blackstone style and being able to freely handle the cage and make it "melt away" the way Billy does is like night and day.
The biggest advantage IMO is you dont have to be in a hunched ready to attack position..you can look relax and handle the cage freely right up to the vanish.
And that concludes my two cents........

Guest

Re: "Martin type" pull?

Postby Guest » July 19th, 2003, 2:48 pm

Danny Dew let me examine several of his Jon Martin pieces many years ago. I recall the hold-out very well. Danny told me that he used it for, of all things, the Six Card Repeat! Think about it, he said, the spectator actually counts the cards with his own hands, some are thrown away and, when they are counted again, six remain. I never knew if he was serious or just pulling my leg. Anyone ever see him perform that effect?

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Re: "Martin type" pull?

Postby Pete Biro » August 4th, 2003, 12:47 pm

Never saw it performed, but I had the holdout that delivered small packets of cards to you... sold it... argh...
Stay tooned.

Bede Hammerton
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Re: "Martin type" pull?

Postby Bede Hammerton » September 10th, 2009, 5:50 am

I was interested to read that you had a George Hammerton "copy" of the Martin, as George Hammerton was my uncle.

Bede Hammerton

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Re: "Martin type" pull?

Postby Tom Bennett » September 10th, 2009, 6:43 am

I just want to stress again that you really should read Tommy Wonders treatment in hie Books of Wonder Vol.II on this topic.
Best
Tom
Check out my magic blog www.escamoteur.de

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Q. Kumber
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Re: "Martin type" pull?

Postby Q. Kumber » September 10th, 2009, 12:33 pm

Paul Stone recently had for sale a George Hammerton pull (I think of the birdcage variety). It was in mint condition and he may still have it for sale. He was looking for 500.

He also had a card sword and it may also have been a Hammerton one.

David Alexander
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Re: "Martin type" pull?

Postby David Alexander » September 11th, 2009, 3:36 pm

Hammerton take-up reels have a built-in release that is very handy. The Martin reels I've owned all had a separate key that was needed to unlock the reel.

Jim Riser
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Re: "Martin type" pull?

Postby Jim Riser » September 13th, 2009, 1:50 pm

As David mentioned, the Hammerton take-up reel is entirely self contained with no parts to lose. It is an improvement over the original Martin version; but still needs improving.

Here are a few mods that I did on an Owen version of the Hammerton to make it more usable:

http://jamesriser.com/Magic/TakeUpReelMods/Info.html

I feel that there is still room for improvement on the reel design itself and have been playing around with the design/workings for the past few years to make the thing easier to set up and use. If I get time, I'll make up a number of the final design for a select group of performers.
Jim

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Pete Biro
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Re: "Martin type" pull?

Postby Pete Biro » September 16th, 2009, 11:04 pm

Nice job James. BTW, I sold my original Martin take-up reel to Tommy Wonder to get him started. I still have my Hammerton, as well as a Hammerton sword (with two different length blades.. the standard and a short one that would fit in my briefcase). Unfortunately, I had to raise cash following a divorce and sold off about a dozen Martin items.
Stay tooned.

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Chas Nigh
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Re: "Martin type" pull?

Postby Chas Nigh » May 13th, 2012, 3:50 pm

Danny Dew was probably emulating the Vernon Routine for 6CR by using a holdout instead of loose in the sleeve.


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