Nitinol

[haroldross]

Has anyone experimented with Nitinol, also known as Ni-Ti? It is one of several shape memory alloys.

I just bought a few feet of Ni-Ti wire in hopes of using it for a couple of mentalist / card effects.

I'm thinking that I can bend it into a word such as 'red' or a value of a card and put the wire into a hot cup of coffee or tea for the revelation. I'm hoping that I can get the wire to memorize the word or shape and then straighten it out and when I put it in the warm liquid, have it return to the memorized shape. I could also use a match or lighter to do the same.

Is it very reliable? How many times can it be used for the same shape? I guess I should have a backup revelation to be on the safe side.

I'll report back on my findings in the near future.

[Misjief]

H-

I was doing some research on it as well... Just messing around on the net on found some. I was considering getting some but couldn't really come up with a use for it that I could do better with something else. (I hope that made sense!)

Anyways let me know what you think - I heard the best way to heat it up was to use a torch.

-misj-

[haroldross]

I was thinking of using wire ties for handcuffs and then switching out one of the wire ties for a piece of the wire under the guise of stripping the plastic off the wire tie. This would give me a reason for the wire and at the same time take the heat off of it since it was apparently just used in an effect. I don't like to introduce a bunch of 'magical' items without a purpose since people will just assure there is something special about the item. I try to stick with ordinary objects.

[Eoin Lavery]

I too have looked into getting this myself. A while ago i seen on the E illusionist website that they sell a gimmick called wire grams. They are memory alloy which when you heat up reveal a 3 and a heart or a 6 and a diamond etc. They are ready to do for those specific cards obviously, but making your own sounds like a nice project.

[haroldross]

Eoin-

I looked up WireGram on said website and a few others. They sure charge a lot for about 8 inches of wire. They also use a lot of flash paper. I can see where the flash paper would tend to be less harsh on the wire than the lighter or torch.

[Misjief]

H-

I like the wire tie handcuff idea as it introduces the gimmick WITHOUT drawing undue attention to it. Pretty Sneaky! Good Call!

Will flash paper be hot enough (for long enough) to change the wire back to it remembered form? I REALLY doubt it would be able to set it. Just wondering!

-misj-

[haroldross]

The wire seems thin enough and the flash paper does get pretty hot. If you watch the demo videos for WireGram, they use a large sheet of flash paper.

Since I am using 'instrument grade' Nitinol wire, I don't know if that will make a difference.

I also thought of introducing the wire in the form of a small paper clip. Again, an ordinary object that will not raise a lot of concern for the spectators as long as it is used in a prior effect.

[Misjief]

H-

Again - That would be sweet but how convincingly can you bend the paper clip? if you could pull it off that would be a pretty neat trick!

[MagiKen]

I have used the wiregrams for years and they still keep working and remembering their shape. They are the elephants of the wire world. Flash paper works. Most wire reacts at 115F but there are also a 150F and a new version that activates at 97F for body heat activation. You can get 50 foot lengths at around 50 cents a foot on eBay these days for the 115F degree wires.

Who ever sent me a reminder about EXO thanks for the email -- I probably just thanked an automated system. I forgot all about this place. We just had some good threads about this wire on SOMF (Secrets of Magic Forum). Caution for those who like the new SAM rules. You may not like SOMF -- way too open discussions for those who are rigid about every point there.

[haroldross]

I have been thinking about getting some wire about the diameter of regular size paper clips. I don't currently have any way to get it hot enough and long enough to set it.

I had some really thin (instrument grade) wire that was just too thin to work with easily. I kept burning the wire up. I am now working with a bit larger diameter wire.