Silk Thru Coat Hanger…

After much experimentation, I’ve landed on using the Tango Ultimate Reel (T.U.R.) for the Silk Thru Coat Hanger trick. I’ve played with most of the major reels and ended up on this Tango reel. There are some things I don’t like about it, but so far it’s the most reliable. The T.U.R. has the smoothest … Continue reading “Silk Thru Coat Hanger…”

After much experimentation, I’ve landed on using the Tango Ultimate Reel (T.U.R.) for the Silk Thru Coat Hanger trick. I’ve played with most of the major reels and ended up on this Tango reel. There are some things I don’t like about it, but so far it’s the most reliable.

Tango ultimate reel magic
Image from www.StevensMagic.com

The T.U.R. has the smoothest pull and one thing that I noticed was that the spring is rolled in a different way than I’ve seen in any other “magic reel”, or commercially sold badge / key ring reel. I’m not positive that rolling the spring this way contributes to the smoothness, but that’s the big difference between this and other reels.


I’m glad I kept searching around for a reel, this one makes me feel more secure when doing the trick. Having a bit of piece of mind when doing something mechanical, that’s a bit knacky is bonus!

Reel Experiments…

The Silk Thru Coat Hanger that I’ve been doing is getting some interest from magicians on Facebook. It’s interesting how many don’t realize that going from the body to the hook isn’t a standard way of doing it. They’re going to try it, but I’m not sure they’ll “understand” the trick. By understanding the trick, … Continue reading “Reel Experiments…”

The Silk Thru Coat Hanger that I’ve been doing is getting some interest from magicians on Facebook. It’s interesting how many don’t realize that going from the body to the hook isn’t a standard way of doing it. They’re going to try it, but I’m not sure they’ll “understand” the trick.


By understanding the trick, there’s a lot that can go wrong with this trick. I think that’s why more people don’t do Silk Thru Ring or even the Silk Thru Microphone type tricks. In the short amount of time I’ve been doing this, I’ve learned a lot about the trick and the props used in the trick.


The first thing you need is a good reel. Right now I’m using a P & L reel, but still experimenting with other ones. I just had a Kirkendall Reel show up yesterday and have a Tango Ulimate Reel showing up today. I’ve even played with using a badge reel.

The nice things about a badge reel is that they are cheap and have a lot more force than the other magic reels. The downside is that they make a lot more noise. When initially experimenting with a badge reel, I 3d printed a finger clip and glued it on one:

magic fingertip reel

I think when I have time, I’m going to 3d print the entire reel housing and put the badge reel inside it. I think there are some things that I can do to quiet down the cheap badge reel and make it usable!

Learn About Your Tools…

In my continuing work with the Silk Thru Coat Hanger routine, one of the things I’m doing is examining the props. Since the props weren’t made specifically for me and what I’m doing, the odds are that they can be improved for what I want them to do. The first thing I did was look … Continue reading “Learn About Your Tools…”

In my continuing work with the Silk Thru Coat Hanger routine, one of the things I’m doing is examining the props. Since the props weren’t made specifically for me and what I’m doing, the odds are that they can be improved for what I want them to do.


The first thing I did was look a the coat hanger. I originally was using a wooden one, however this was pretty heavy and had a seam in a spot where the silk moves and frequently snagged. I ended up buying some plastic hangers at the dollar store and altering them so the were smooth where the silk and thread needed to move. This was a huge improvement.


Next I started to look at the reel. Currently I’m using a P & L Fingertip Reel. I ended up altering this a little bit. Inside the reel, I added teflon discs to the spots where metal touched metal. These discs are sold to add to gimmicked coins to reduce clinking sound and make them slide better.

These teflon discs really added to the smoothness of how the reel retracted.


I also recently ordered a couple of different reels to see if there’s a style that I prefer, rather than simply using the first one I got. I’ve got a Tango Ultimate Reel and a Kirkendall Reel coming this week. We’ll see what I end up using.


Finally I looked at the silk that I’m using. I went from a square silk to a diamond cut one. The main reason is weight, the reel can move a lighter weight faster than a heavier one…or in my case, can move a larger one for the same effort as a smaller one.


All of these little things end up making a difference. At the very least I know my props really well!