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2 weeks ago

Close-up Magic Table – Finished ProjectThroughout the last couple of weeks I have been posting videos documenting this furniture build. It is now official: This is my latest furniture project, that is now officially completed.Name of Project: Close-up Magic TableMaterial: WalnutDimensions: 48” long, 22” wide, 30” highFinish: Danish Oil, followed by a Maloof formula finish (a mixture of Linseed, Tung and Polyurethane) all followed by wax.Close-up Mat: Pattrick Przysiecki (Patt’s Mats)The client commissioned a table with the following requirements:– To make a table on which to perform close-up magic.– The table should be a piece of fine furniture, made out of a beautiful hardwood like cherry or walnut.– Although the table will live at the client’s theater, it has to be made so that it can easily be broken down for transportation. This will allow her to have a beautiful performing setting for high end private shows.– The table must have a servante.– The client also requested a performing surface ideal for card magic.Initially, she provided me with a drawing with all her requirements. After looking at it, I refined the design in order to facilitate the ease of break down and transportation. I went with a trestle table design that offers cleaner lines and makes the legs easy to attach using knock down bolt hardware. I also added gentle curves to the entire profile of the legs and table top. Curves are friendlier, inviting, and pleasant to the touch.The material of choice was walnut. Walnut has a tight grain, and it is really enhanced when it is oiled. The mat was custom made for us by Pattrick Przysiecki of www.pattricksmagic.com/magical-mats IMHO, Patt makes the best and most durable mats for close-up magic.And there you have it! Another piece for the books!Thank you so much for following the process. It was a joy to work on this project.#nielsenmagic #handcrafted #ilovewoodworking #closeupmagictable #finefurniture #trestletable … See MoreSee Less

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3 weeks ago

Close-up Magic Table – Video # 6Whew! It has been a busy week for me, as I have been attending and having a booth at the Mystify magic convention here in town (I will write about it in a later post).Here is the next to the last post about the Close-up Magic Table build on which I have been working.After spending a week applying finish to all the components, the final step is to work on the final details. In this video I show part of the process involved in building a “servante” drawer. (For those of you who are not magicians, a servante is a bag, pouch or drawer located behind a table that the magician uses to hide or retrieve props for his or her show.)The servante drawer is finished like the rest of the components, and I line it with a velvet material. In order to keep the drawer from opening during transportation, two clips are added to lock it in place. Because such hardware is not commercially available, I make the simple components for it. This involves machining and polishing a 1/16” thick brass rod, and attaching inserts for the brass screws.The table legs are attached to a trestle using knock down bolts. The table top will follow next.Have a good weekend, folks!#nielsenmagic #handcrafted #ilovewoodworking #closeupmagictable #finefurniture #trestletable … See MoreSee Less

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3 weeks ago

Close-up Magic Table – Video # 5Thank you for indulging me in the documentation of this table build.What follows is probably my favorite part of the process. This is the moment when after many, many hours of work, one applies the finish to reveal its true beauty and why people fall in love with this material made by God.In this minute and a half video (at 2x speed), I am summarizing one week’s worth of applying the finish to the table.Because this table will be indoors, and the wood is so beautiful, my choice for the finish is:2 coats of Watco Danish Oil (with a walnut stain).4 coats of Sam Maloof’s finish. His recipe can be found in his book. This finish is 1/3 boiled linseed oil, 1/3 tung oil, 1/3 satin polyurethane.1 coat of Sam Maloof’s oil finish and wax.The first coat of Watco seals the wood, and the subsequent coats are applied in 24 hour intervals with increasing finer grits of sandpaper. I went through the various fine grits of sandpaper from 400 through 5000. After sanding in the finish, I take a rag and completely wipe it off.The nice thing about this finish is its durability and ease of repair. Should the table get scratched, all one does to repair it is to take a 400 or 600 grit sandpaper and sand the scratch off by wet sanding it with Danish Oil. It works like magic!Have a great weekend, folks!#nielsenmagic #handcrafted #ilovewoodworking #closeupmagictable #finefurniture #finishing … See MoreSee Less

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4 weeks ago

Close-up Magic Table – Video # 4Here is the continued video summary of the current furniture build.For those that are just seeing these posts, I am making a table for a client who requested a beautiful surface on which to perform close up magic.The challenge is that the table has to break down for easy transportation between shows, that it look like a fine piece of furniture, with a performing surface measuring 48” x 22”, it needs a soft mat, and it also requires a servante.In this video (at 2x speed) I am:1. Determining the way the top will be attached to the leg base. I am using knock out bolts for this purpose, and will eventually install two permanent slats on the table top that will connect to the legs with the bolts.2. Making a box that will house a shallow “servante” drawer.3. The client also wanted a small handle to facilitate carrying the table top around. An elegant way to have one is to inset the hardware in the top.4. I am engraving the parts to aid the user in assembling the unit.5. The rest of the video shows me sanding, and sanding some more, and sanding again… I go through the grits from 120 through 220. Not pictured: chamfering the components. The table top was chamfered in the bottom edge with a router bit, as well as the legs and trestle..#nielsenmagic #handcrafted #ilovewoodworking #closeupmagictable #finefurniture #sanding #assemblying #shaperorigin … See MoreSee Less

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4 weeks ago

This is something we did today: Framed a beautiful vintage poster for display.This is an original poster of Annie Abbott made for her performance at the Casino de Paris, circa 1895. The poster is a huge 2-sheet measuring approximately 39 x 59 inches. It is in beautiful condition. It is amazing that it is 130 years old.I will be taking this poster for the museum display exhibit at the upcoming Mystify Magic Convention here in Las Vegas.#vintageposters #stonelithography #magicposters #nielsenmagic #framing … See MoreSee Less

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