The Making of a John Ramsay Style Cup

John Ramsay performed his famous routine using painted paper ice cream cups. Such an item is not my idea of a quality prop. I have toyed around with making several John Ramsay style cups from spun aluminum for some time. Finally, I decided to spin a sample cup to see if it was feasible. The process is rather involved. In the series of images below I have documented how I chose to make these cups. There are other ways that it could have been made. This method was my choice.

After making a steel spinning chuck and follow block, I spun what looks like an aluminum top hat. This is to become a portion of the completed cup. The lip on this cup is purposely left large for later work upon it.

The wooden disc will come into play a little later.

A second cup was started being spun on the same steel chuck.

This second spinning is not completed. It removed from the chuck, the "top hat" is placed on the chuck, the wooden disc is held on the end of the "top hat", and the second spinning is placed on top of the disc and "top hat".

This second spinning is then spun tightly against the "top hat" to match its taper.

The wooden disc serves as a temporary spacer block between the two spinnings.

The second spinning is trimmed and spun down against the "top hat" - forming a flared rim where it meets the lip.

The rim of the "inner "top hat" is formed into a bead around this flared rim - which locks both spinnings together.

Here the bead is being closed.

And completed...

Next the entire bottom of the outer cup is cut away. This frees the wooden disc and creates the recess for the paper coil used in the routine.

With some cleaning up, the completed Ramsay style cup looks like this.

As was clearly shown above, this is a rather labor intensive operation and will necessitate a rather high price on the finished items (set of two cups). Apparently there is considerable interest in my aluminum version of the John Ramsay Cups. Production on them begins the last of May 2006. Those requesting to be placed on the notify list will be the first to receive these new cups.