The Skeptic's Spoon Bending With Acid UL?

[MrRING]

A solid, logical explanation to spoon bending is just bending it enough beforehand to get the metal close to breaking, and then using slight of hand and the weakened metal to achieve the desired effect. Simple, easy, and achievable.

However, there used to be a rather more elaborate theory about spoon bending that was way more extravagant, and it was something I used to hear all the time in the 80's and 90's, possible even from James Randi himself (I saw him lecture at a college student leaders function). The idea was that the bender would have exposed the skin of his fingers to some kind of acid, and that when touching the metal and rubbing his fingers together, enough of the acid would come out of the fingers to weaken the metal's structure and "bend the spoon". That always seemed dicey to me, in that it would likely damage the hands far worse than the spoon, yet this idea continued to be extolled as the most likely scenario for spoon bending.

However, now I can't find any evidence on it now via a quick online search. Was this a short-lived skeptic's urban legend that has been quietly pushed aside to make room for just slight of hand? Does anybody else remember this?

 

[Floyd]

A solid, logical explanation to spoon bending is just bending it enough beforehand to get the metal close to breaking, and then using slight of hand and the weakened metal to achieve the desired effect. Simple, easy, and achievable.

However, there used to be a rather more elaborate theory about spoon bending that was way more extravagant, and it was something I used to hear all the time in the 80's and 90's, possible even from James Randi himself (I saw him lecture at a college student leaders function). The idea was that the bender would have exposed the skin of his fingers to some kind of acid, and that when touching the metal and rubbing his fingers together, enough of the acid would come out of the fingers to weaken the metal's structure and "bend the spoon". That always seemed dicey to me, in that it would likely damage the hands far worse than the spoon, yet this idea continued to be extolled as the most likely scenario for spoon bending.

However, now I can't find any evidence on it now via a quick online search. Was this a short-lived skeptic's urban legend that has been quietly pushed aside to make room for just slight of hand? Does anybody else remember this?

I have not heard about acid being used, but regarding tampering with the spoons beforehand- I think whenever the spoon bender would use their own cutlery, it would draw scepticism straight away wouldn't it?

I recall an episode of Arthur C. Clarke's tv show where there was a man who could emit electric shockwaves from his stomach/chest and I always think of that when considering spoon-bending etc. Maybe they used a similar technique?

 

[Mythopoeika]

A solid, logical explanation to spoon bending is just bending it enough beforehand to get the metal close to breaking, and then using slight of hand and the weakened metal to achieve the desired effect. Simple, easy, and achievable.

However, there used to be a rather more elaborate theory about spoon bending that was way more extravagant, and it was something I used to hear all the time in the 80's and 90's, possible even from James Randi himself (I saw him lecture at a college student leaders function). The idea was that the bender would have exposed the skin of his fingers to some kind of acid, and that when touching the metal and rubbing his fingers together, enough of the acid would come out of the fingers to weaken the metal's structure and "bend the spoon". That always seemed dicey to me, in that it would likely damage the hands far worse than the spoon, yet this idea continued to be extolled as the most likely scenario for spoon bending.

However, now I can't find any evidence on it now via a quick online search. Was this a short-lived skeptic's urban legend that has been quietly pushed aside to make room for just slight of hand? Does anybody else remember this?

I remember this being proposed. At the time, and ever since, my opinion was that this sounded like an extremely improbable explanation,

 

[ChasFink]

I remember Randi would sometimes mention the possible use of dangerous chemicals, speaking as if he knew exactly what they were, but being bound by "the magicians' code" he would never elaborate.

 

[Sharon Hill]

I've never heard Randi mention that. He would always demonstrate with the pre-bent spoons. Maybe he ditched that idea because it wasn't really plausible.

 

[Mythopoeika]

It might be possible to do this with mercury applied to aluminium spoons - but you wouldn't want to handle that with bare hands.

 

[catseye]

It might be possible to do this with mercury applied to aluminium spoons - but you wouldn't want to handle that with bare hands.

We were always taught that it was the fumes from mercury that did the harm, not the actual substance itself. We had a 'mercury spills kit' which was basically cat litter, but often used to poke blob of the stuff about, as long as the place was well ventilated.

 

[Mythopoeika]

We were always taught that it was the fumes from mercury that did the harm, not the actual substance itself. We had a 'mercury spills kit' which was basically cat litter, but often used to poke blob of the stuff about, as long as the place was well ventilated.

My Dad told me not to get it on my skin, because it could react with the skin and be absorbed.
I'm not sure how true that is, but my Dad knew a LOT about health and safety.
When I was at school, a young physics teacher was using a big container of mercury to create a Torricellian vacuum. He put his hands into the mercury, even though I warned him not to (I remembered what my Dad had told me). Drops of mercury ended up all over the floor.
Anyhoo, I noticed that this teacher was absent some time after this event, and I don't recall seeing him again. I do wonder if he was suffering from mercury poisoning.

From Wikipedia:

Mercury can be absorbed through the skin and mucous membranes and mercury vapors can be inhaled, so containers of mercury are securely sealed to avoid spills and evaporation. Heating of mercury, or of compounds of mercury that may decompose when heated, should be carried out with adequate ventilation in order to minimize exposure to mercury vapor.

 

[catseye]

My Dad told me not to get it on my skin, because it could react with the skin and be absorbed.
I'm not sure how true that is, but my Dad knew a LOT about health and safety.
When I was at school, a young physics teacher was using a big container of mercury to create a Torricellian vacuum. He put his hands into the mercury, even though I warned him not to (I remembered what my Dad had told me). Drops of mercury ended up all over the floor.
Anyhoo, I noticed that this teacher was absent some time after this event, and I don't recall seeing him again. I do wonder if he was suffering from mercury poisoning.

From Wikipedia:

I think it takes a while to be absorbed through the skin though. Handling a few blobs for moments shouldn't result in mercury poisoning - it would have to be more prolonged exposure. Also, it's hard to tell whether any poisoning resulted from physical contact or from the fumes which are going to be concomitant with any mercury presence.

 

[maximus otter]

It might be possible to do this with mercury applied to aluminium spoons - but you wouldn't want to handle that with bare hands.

l’m pretty sure that we handled mercury at school, perhaps even immersing our hands in it. lt certainly hasn’t done me any…

*blood-razor-artery-spurt!*

… harm.

maximus otter

 

[Ringo]

I know of many methods for spoon bending/snapping and none of them include acid on the fingers (or acid anywhere actually). There are one or two old methods involving chemicals but nothing dangerous to the touch. 99% of methods are slight of hand mixed in with optical illusion.

A LOT of magic from the 40's to 60's did include dangerous chemicals. This was obviously when you could go to the chemists and get proper chemicals.

Older books are full of stuff like:

To Produce Sulphurous-smelling Green Smoke from the fingertips:

Mix 1 part Super dangerous chemical with 2 parts Cancerous substance. Add glycerol until it is tacky. Smear onto one side of a piece of cardboard.

Mix 1 part Probably on a watch list now with 3 drops of Mildly explosive and mix until tacky. Smear on other side of card. Keep card in pocket.

With hand in pocket, rub thumb on one side of card and forefinger on the other side. Rubbing thumb and forefinger together vigourously produces a cloud of (toxic) green smoke.

 

[ChasFink]

I've never heard Randi mention that. He would always demonstrate with the pre-bent spoons. Maybe he ditched that idea because it wasn't really plausible.

I heard him say it a couple of times, I think once on the Tonight Show and once on the Mike Douglas Show. Something like "There are also ways of doing this which involve chemicals, some of which can be dangerous." He did, however, only go into details of the mechanical and optical methods. One that I particularly liked was when he was sitting on the edge of a raised area of the stage (as Geller and other laid back spoon/key benders would). He would make a distraction in one direction, reaching or pointing to someone in the audience, while he held a key in the other hand and bent it against the floor he was sitting on.

 

[Sharon Hill]

I heard him say it a couple of times, I think once on the Tonight Show and once on the Mike Douglas Show. Something like "There are also ways of doing this which involve chemicals, some of which can be dangerous." He did, however, only go into details of the mechanical and optical methods. On that I particularly liked was when he was sitting on the edge of a raised area of the stage (as Geller and other laid back spoon/key benders would). He would make a distraction in one direction, reaching or pointing to someone in the audience, while he held a key in the other hand and bent it against the floor he was sitting on.

Yeah, that's the bit I had always seen.

 

[PeteS]

I use a concentrated solution of citric acid (used in the food industry) for rust removal on various projects. It will dissolve rust in a matter of minutes, but won't affect plastic etc . I'm going to try this on a spoon bending exercise, but suspect it won't have much impact. If you see me on tv you'll know how it's done.

 

[Paul_Exeter]

Ahh, Uri Geller and the good old 1970s. He never did bend a spoon under laboratory conditions, strange that....

 

[ChasFink]

Ahh, Uri Geller and the good old 1970s. He never did bend a spoon under laboratory conditions, strange that....

But he did rock that 1970s metrosexual fashion look!

...and he was a superhero.

 

[cycleboy2]

An old friend of my brother's is a professional magician, Peter Clifford, his long career includes working with the likes of Derren Brown.

Last Christmas we went to a show of close-up magic and he did some tremendously impressive spoon-bending, including bending a spoon into a near figure-of-eight shape.

It was fantastically unbelievable.