Making your own gaff/gimmick cards

[Joshua Robinson]

Have any of you tried it yet? Have you Succeeded at it?

I am trying to split cards to make gaffs that are the thickness of a normal card, not two stuck together. I'm failing at the moment. Can anyone give tips on splitting cards please?

[Don Boyer]

Have any of you tried it yet? Have you Succeeded at it?

I am trying to split cards to make gaffs that are the thickness of a normal card, not two stuck together. I'm failing at the moment. Can anyone give tips on splitting cards please?

Pick up "Cannibal" by Kevin Reylek on the Blue Crown.  Excellent lessons on dry-splitting playing cards - and using the right glue to reseal them.  He showed me personally during a workshop at Tannen's.

[shz]

Split Session by Blake Vogt may also be a good resource for your purpose.

[Don Boyer]

I can't remember where I saw this, but there's a site...  Maybe it's at lybrary.com - they sell blank embossed cardstock for printing on.  Anyway, you can create a custom gaff and print it on the site.  It's a little on the primitive side, but if you want a fairly simple gaff like a half-and-half or a different index, it'll work fine.  It's true that with an Exacto knife and very careful measurements you can do it yourself with cards, but it's very difficult and requires precision.

[10ofclubs]

The biggest tip I can give is to keep the thin part of the card flat on a table and pull on the thick part upwards.
Also, press your cards after you glue them. Don't just leave them out. Otherwise they'll warp.

[MrMollusk]

Another method you could use, which is slightly less direct, is to buy a deck of bank faced playing cards. I've seen a deck of standard blank bikes for about 4 bucks on ebay. You can then line the cards up on printer paper, and print out designs right onto the blank face. I've done this a few times before, and what I have to say is make sure they're COMPLETELY dry until you even touch them. The upside is that with a little know how in photoshop, you can print out pretty much whatever design you need.

[Don Boyer]

Another method you could use, which is slightly less direct, is to buy a deck of bank faced playing cards. I've seen a deck of standard blank bikes for about 4 bucks on ebay. You can then line the cards up on printer paper, and print out designs right onto the blank face. I've done this a few times before, and what I have to say is make sure they're COMPLETELY dry until you even touch them. The upside is that with a little know how in photoshop, you can print out pretty much whatever design you need.

To make the process a bit easier, gently sand the finish from the blank side you want to print.  Use a laser printer.  Then you can use finish (available at lybrary.net) to coat the card back to normal.  Alternately, you can use their stock and card rounder and simply print and cut out what you want.  The supplies they have are incredible.

[KPopFever605]

Oh man. (sigh)

Homemade Gaff Deck Update * ENTIRE 68 GAFF CARDS*
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rd_1e5RZDuE

Homemade Gaff Collection Tutorial
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CWOi46ILz8w

How to Print Gaff Cards
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sK48j9yS2TU

*Note: These videos were made two years ago, so they are very...how do you say...old.

[Joshua Robinson]

Thanks Kpop! Checking them out now!

[shutupdangit]

Just to add to the list of resources, there's an older dvd by Magic Makers (yes, that company) called The Art of Card Splitting that I thought was quite informative.

[Don Boyer]

Just to add to the list of resources, there's an older dvd by Magic Makers (yes, that company) called The Art of Card Splitting that I thought was quite informative.

There are much worse things on this Earth than Magic Makers, Inc. 

[Aaron]

I can't imagine the hellish process of getting the cards in the right spot on a peice of paper.

[Don Boyer]

I can't imagine the hellish process of getting the cards in the right spot on a peice of paper.

How so?

[KPopFever605]

I can't imagine the hellish process of getting the cards in the right spot on a peice of paper.

Just run a test print, tape your card onto that test print, and reprint.

[Don Boyer]

I can't imagine the hellish process of getting the cards in the right spot on a peice of paper.

Just run a test print, tape your card onto that test print, and reprint.

Many home/office printers would choke on anything as thick and awkward as a playing card taped to a piece of paper.  Some better alternatives:

• Start with printer-sized sheets of blank cardstock and print the fronts and backs as you desire them.  Coat them with finish and trim them out, using a corner rounder to make the corner cuts.
• Print to clear adhesive paper and trim/stick to card.  Use an Exacto or similar and you can trim right on the edges of the values and pips, or simply apply a card-sized swath.  If the clear sheet is too glossy, you could try coating it with roughing spray after the application instead of or in addition to the finish coat.
• Get an airbrush or similar, print out stencils of what's desired, precisely trim them and use with paint to transfer the pattern to the card.  Works most easily with spot cards, not so good with courts.
• Get some old-school instruction in carefully merging two card faces split from their respective cards (or more as needed) onto one card and concealing the razor cuts.

All this is deductive guesswork, but the first and last suggestions have definitely been used with success by others.

[KPopFever605]

Well, like I always like to say: You never know until you try. My office-style printer at home works fine, and I haven't had any complaints on my videos, just questions.

[S.C.]

I actually learned from a manuscript called "lickety split". i cant remember who wrote (ill dig through my library tomorrow and update) but its all on the art of card splitting. some really useful info in there.