Magic Tricks

There are times I really wish I didn't have to use my copper cups, but plastic is too toyland-ish. You know, those living room performances at dinner parties where your audience is middle aged. Copper is far too formal, plastic ruins the mood as they start to take you for a kiddy magician. These are great for that audience. I would not use them at a child's party or at larger college or corporate events.

That said, these ARE wood. They aren't fragile but you can't drop them onto hard floors. The won't ding. They'll split.

They are fairly well turned for the price, though one of my set wasn't fully widened at the mouth. It tended to ride high on the other two cups. No worries, I just grabbed some 120 sandpaper and spent 15 minutes with it, opening it up until it fit will onto the others.

The interior isn't finished and the wood hasn't had any chemical stabilizer added. I can see a few steaks of light coming through the bases when I hold them to the light. I'll be adding, gradually, some citrus oils to the interiors to help stabilize them against humidity changes (we get wild swings in humidity in Texas).

They are nicely balanced. Being wood, you don't get that "tink" sound when you load a hard object, which is very nice. They are finished on the outside with what feels like polyurethane; really slick. Dry hands will run the risk of having these slip through your grip; use glycerin or some other moisturizer before working with these.