New Staff Help?

Ay-up Hoppers,

I assume this thread belongs here, I wasn't really sure where to put it.

So here's the deal; I want to buy (or build) a new contact staff. I've read Meg's guide on how to make them, but I was wondering if there were any staffs out there that you guys n' gals know of that would suit me, or if you have any specific tips about what to use if I construct it myself.

I've basically realised that although it's a big thrill, I don't actually care about the fire spinning overly much - and would very much like to have a colourful daytime staff for contact.

I like my staffs heavy, with phat wicks. And I'm not really sure how I'd get on with things like http://www.firetoys.co.uk/juggling/Firetoys_Practice_Contact_Staffs_-_140cm.html as I assume they'll be too light.

Should I just get a http://www.firetoys.co.uk/juggling/long_aluminium_fire_staff_100.html and try to decorate it how I like?

And if I build from scratch, would you peeps still recommend kevlar as the weight? Seeing as I don't mind about setting this one aflame, I was wondering if there were other means of weighting the stick.

And are there any other materials I should think about using which couldn't be used for firestaffs?

This probably wasn't worth making a thread about, but I can't decide.

Toodles.

You have a lot of options and i would reccomend building your own. i think the easiest way to weight a staff is to cut a t-shirt in half and use each half for an end of your staff then wrap that in duct tape. You could use different tapes as well if you want a more decorative look. As for materials, aluminum is pretty much standard for the shaft, but i know a couple people that use copper or even steel tubes.....this will ensure you don't have a light staff but you prolly wont be able to spin much with it...especially the first couple weeks.

good luck

Hey there Poje, still lurking around eh? Lost the game recently? You have now!

I could rip up some T-shirts for weights, I hadn't thought about that... I was also contemplating using inner tube.

I've got a hollow aluminium tube I think I'll use. I prefer the weight being predominantly at the ends of the staff, with very little weight to the shaft at all. I don't know if that's daft or not, but it's what I get on with best.

Steel tubes? How much heavier are they?? Yikes.

Way heavier. The only thing with aluminum is check the wall thickness. If it's an aluminum tube for say....a show curtain rod...odds are it will be too flimsy.

Weight on the ends and not in the middle is good...specially for contact.

I dunno why i didn't say inner tubes, some friends of mine have been making a bunch of practice staves with cut open inner tubes as the weight. and it's easy cux you can just staple it to itself then wrap and deco in tape. If you dont screw it all into the tube after you finish though, after so long the drops will cause the ends to move and become kinda cone shaped.

I refuse the game :-p

Maybe you can put 2 pieces of dowel in each end with a bit of space between them and add lead pellets or somthing like that between em.

I re-did one of my staves with a new design: I drilled out a hole in the dowel ends, first. I took a lag bolt and some washers, slipped them inside a tennis ball and screwed it down onto the dowel. Some expanding insulation foam filled the void of the ball and I used electrical tape to decorate the outside. The foam and washers gave it weight.

Unfortunately, the foam kind of makes it very difficult to ever change out later, but so far the round shape and spin have been working fine.

I've got some steel tubes and they're not that heavy but definately heavier than aluminium and more likely to stay straight as they are 2-3 mm thick metal. I#d suggest dowel and bolts to add the additional weight and you can always use the same style of wrapping that goes on a hoop if you want to make it colourful. I'm looking to make a non fire contact staff too so I'll let you know how it goes. but I'll probably make a normal firestaff and add padded wick covers that are colourful that way I will have a back up firestaff if needed I can always just take the colourful tape off the shaft.

Doh I misread yer post but if its not for fire just wrap bicycle inner tubes around it. They're free (just get them at your local bicycle repair shop) just remove the metal thingy cut it open and then wrap it around your staff

if you have like 2/3 diffrent innertubes just cut them in half and add one half on each side and repeat the process

I'm curently in the process of making 3 non-fire contact staffs. Broomhandle, innertube for grip, weight & cushioning at the end, electrical tape, that's all you need. I will be adding a strip of lead flashing (the stuff for sealing the gaps in your roof between the slates) under the innertube wrapped ends, to make them more contacty. It's not really necessary, but I love heavy staffs.

cool, i also posted a topic in the technical discussion about making a contact staff.

i am actually going to make 3. 2 are going to be from thick aluminium tubing so that i can hide the weights in the ends. don't know what the weights will be but i guess i will make them form silicon. for the grip on this staves i will use silicon tubing , a little bit thick ones so that there is grip and a little softness in it.

the other one i am going to make will be either out of solid aluminium or form a PMMA rod. the weights will be made from rubber ( non flexible ) and i will put isolation material around it that you also put around your pipes in the house. this for softness and smacking myself. the grip i will use is neoprene tape on recomendation form meg, and i will mark different points on this staff for gripping.