af er aoLiquido by JP Liquido Effect: 4 The start of a new era in metal bending. You ask for a coin and place it on the spectator's closed fist. Tell him to hold tight and imagine the coin getting hot and soft. Say that he’s going to bend a coin only with their imagination. When the spectator opens the hand the coin is not bent... it's melting! Yes, the coin is really melting. The spectator can see and feel one of the most awkward experiences of their life's. Yes, it's as visual as you can get. Liquido looks like trick photography. Sounds too good to be true? Good. Method: Let me put it this way: | don't want to tell you. | know I'll regret it, but developing magic is my passion, and I'm willing to share it with you. Please keep this one to yourself. I'm completely obsessed with bending metal, coins, and pretty much everything. I'm really addicted. As you read this, you probably already heard of “Phork” my newest Phork bend. Not trying to hype it but keep your eyes open for this one. Back on the subject: I'm constantly looking everyday for new methods of bending objects. | like a lot of magic that is performed with common(or appears to be ) objects. It's much more magical, if you can do something with objects that are familiar to people.Liquido by JP Some months ago, the idea just popped into my head: “How cool it could be to melt metal only with body heat?” A pipe dream? Not anymore. I've heard some years ago of a scientist that made some spoons that would melt on hot water. This spoons were made of a mix of different metals like indium, cadmium, lead. The problem about it is that this metals are toxic, and can kill you. | continued my research for a solution and | started to contact some scientists. | chatted a few times with a scientist that works in Google, Mr. Simon Quellen Field. He runs an online shop that sells some interesting products, including a metal that he invented called: Field's metal. This metal is great. It's a non toxic metal, that is perfectly safe to use and cannot harm you in any way. Field's metal will melt in hot water, like a cup of tea or coffee. | decided to go further with my research and got some books about metals. You can call me a metal expert by now! What you are about to learn reminds me the movie “Terminator” with Arnold Schwarzenegger. The Terminator's enemy was this guy that was made of liquid metal. Who would say that today, 24 years later, | would have the chance to actually find liquid metal.Liquido by JP The idea was to make a coin made of a non toxic and safe metal and be able to melt it with a coffee cup or even better... in your hands. It was not easy to find a solution with the same characteristics of the toxic metals and that would melt with body heat, until I've found Gallium. (Ga) Gallium is a safe metal that is stable at room temperature and actually melts at body temperature (86° F) It's not very expensive compared to other metals. Gallium acts almost like ice when melting. You place it your hand, start squeezing and it will slowly melt. It's solid at room temperature but liquefies slightly above room temperature and will melt in your hand. The metal is obviously re-usable. Material: Gallium - you can get it online at cheap prices. Try: www.ebay.com , or http://scitoys.com/ Plasticine / wax or make a mold out of silicone Hot water to melt the gallium faster A nickel Pyrex measuring cup FIG.1Liquido by JP Setup: First you need to make a mold of the coin. Take your plasticine, make a ball with it, place the nickel on the top and press down. If you want a coin with a lot of detail, you may try to get a silicone mold like | did. You can make it yourself or contact a molds company. Now, remove the coin from your mold, and place your Gallium inside of the Pyrex measuring cup. Heat the Gallium it until it starts to melt. When your Gallium has finished melting, carefully pour it on the mold. (FIG.2) You have to be careful when handling Gallium as it will alloy with other metals. Basically it's corrosive with other metals. This can be a great property: You can melt and deface coins using Gallium. How cool is that? Now that you finished pouring the hot metal on the mold, let it cool down. Don't heat the metal too much or it will take several hours for the Gallium to get solid again. After a few hours... voila! You have your one sided realistic looking coin. FIG.2Liquido by JP Presentation: Now that you have your coin, it can be either used to melt in the spectator's hand or melt it using a hot drink. Actually I've found that the second choice is less messy. Yes, really melting metal can be messy, and you probably don't want to leave a spectator with dirty hands. You have seen all kinds of bending keys, forks, spoons, wires, etc, but melting a coin? That's beyond reality! You can carry it on a small pill box, but don't keep it close to your body or it will melt with your body heat. Melting on the hand: Ask for a coin (I usually ask for a nickel) , use your favorite switch and sleeve the spectator's coin. Ask them to place the palm of the hand face up and hold tight on the coin. You don't want to expose too much the coin. | mean, it's “their “coin so you don't need to bring too much attention to it. Remember, it's a fake coin, and it doesn't have the same level of detail as a real coin. Close the spectator's hand around the coin, and say: “Hold tight to it, really tight. Now, do you know that we only use 10% of our brain? What would happen if we could use at least 1% more? It's not impossible. It has been proven that we don't know the full potential of our body. If you believe that you can bend that coin it will bend. | want you to slowly start squeezing the coin and imagine the temperature raising. Do you feel the coin warming up?”Liquido by JP At this point the spectator will really feel the coin warming up for two reasons: a) they are holding very tight on the coin and that will increase the blood pressure on the hand heating it b) the temperature transfer has begun — your body started transferring heat to the metal. Continue, with your patter, and a few minutes later (usually between 3 and 4 minutes) the spectator will open the hand, and the coin is melting. (FIG.3 & 4) Pure. Visual. Killer. FIG.3 FIG.4 Melting with a hot drink: To melt it with a hot drink, you are going to ask for a coin and use your favorite switch to exchange it for the Gallium coin. Place the coin on a saucer and slowly drop the drink over it. The coin instantly melts. It's even more visual than melting it on the spectator’s hands. Imagine making a spoon out of Gallium and then use it to stir your coffee...Liquido by JP The possibilities of Gallium are endless, you are not limited to coins. You can make spoons, rings, and any kind of metal props! As soon as you can make a good mold you have the world melting... The mold is the most important thing of this effect. If you fail to make a good mold, you'll not be able to create a realistic object. You'll have great fun with Liquido. Final Thoughts: And this is it my friends. Once again, | explored one more magic fantasy: twist reality as we know it. Since | was a little kid | have this curiosity to learn how things work, | try to push myself to the limit when I'm creating new effects and the end result... is wacky as you can see. For the past years I've become a mad scientist, exploring the darkest sides of science. And what | like the most in it, is that | have learned and shared a lot with every single one of you. Thanks for reading. Special Thanks to: Paulo & Carolina, Ruben Custodio, Joana L. , Diogo Carreiras, Kinky, Miguel Garcia, Tim Trono, Murphy's Magic Supplies,Liam Montier, Joylo, and everyone else.DN aC © 2008 Who's Magic™ and Prestige Media Associates LLC alll rights reserved Pek eos) Ou CRE Aue ici eC uC system, RUC Ca Cu ee Rd Peace i