Forums > Beginner Staff Moves > Handles and grips for Staffs
Login/Join to ParticipateCorporate Circus Arts Entertainer
3,989 posts
Location: Auckland, New Zealand
There've been several threads on grips and handles for staffs, with some of the work involved seeming as much as it takes to make the staff in the first place.Myself, I prefer not to have a handle or grip in the centre at all, although I do like to wind 3m medical tape along the sides to stop the fuel dribbling as much?Obviously (as usual
) I'm the odd one out.Can people please list their REASONS for making their handles and how the handles help or accentuate the way you do staff.This way I might start to undertsand what everyone else is into it so much.Peace, love and mungbeans... 
------------------Charles (INFERNO)newdolbel@hotmail.comhttps://juggling.co.nzHoP Posting Guidelines
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Corporate Circus Arts Entertainer
3,989 posts
Location: Auckland, New Zealand
For contact...It is usually best to have th ehandle flush with the rest of the staff.
That way, when it rolls along the axis and the length, it's less likely to 'bump' up and off when the surface changes.
BUT, it's much easier just to get better at ocntact with what you like first. I'd have to say its more important to have the ends of the staff (wick usually) a bit heavier than some designs have, than anything you could do with the handle...just my 2 cents...
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remember
433 posts
Location: Melbourne, Australia, Earth, Milky Way, Universe
I've found old bike tubes to be an invaluable resource for making juggling and twirling gear. Much cheaper than tennis racket grip, nice and grippy, and good for the environment (recycle!).
just cut through an old tube, lay it out on an old piece of wood (or your polished floorboards if your renting - joking ) then use a really sharp knive to cut out a long strip a few centimeters wide. Might take a bit of practice to be able to cut straight.
Then, wrap strips around staff, secure at ends with electrical tape, and Whammo - bob's your uncle!
-As angels debate chance and fate-
i was riding through melbourne on a midget giraffe, things were peachy.
still can't believe it's not butter
6,978 posts
Location: Melbourne, Australia
but...fallout.. how do you put the tyres back on the wheel?!?!
who's looking out for the tyres?
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remember
433 posts
Location: Melbourne, Australia, Earth, Milky Way, Universe
Ah, i hear ya man. Every time an angel sings, an old bike-tube gets his wings. Or something along those lines. *mumbles off on some irrelivant tangent*
But ultimately, you shouldn't have any wheels left anyway - having been pulled off long ago to construct a set of 360˚ fire-fans.
Waste not want not.
-As angels debate chance and fate-
i was riding through melbourne on a midget giraffe, things were peachy.
Corporate Circus Arts Entertainer
3,989 posts
Location: Auckland, New Zealand
And here I was, thinking this thread was about handles and grips.
Sometimes i'm am so naive...
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14 posts
Location: Christchurch
I have a friend that uses rubber tubing for all his staffs,
I don't like them because where the rubber overlaps it creates a very uneven surface, of course he's used to it and can handle them pretty well. next time I make up a pair I think I will try to find something like tennis racket grip ,maybe something less slippery, sort of a thin foam would be good for throws..
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564 posts
Location: Vansterdam
errmmmmm..... Looks like I put the most effort into my handles then again I sell the fire staves I make. hehe I'm Malcom's compatition in this area. lol yah right.
my handles are centered on the middle of the staff and are about 1/2 the length of the staff. layered like this:
- metal pipe
- hemp tightly wraped sold
- layer of hock tape (Renfrew made in Canada because we canucks know what hockey is)
- hemp criss crosed to form grip pattern
- another layer of hock tape
In the 60's people took acid to make the world weird, now the world is weird and they take prozac to make it normal again.
Corporate Circus Arts Entertainer
3,989 posts
Location: Auckland, New Zealand
I think you make the most effort of any single individual too, but not perhaps the MOST effort.
That has to go to the InnerCore staff guys, surely...
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564 posts
Location: Vansterdam
so we have to get technical now do we....
yes the innercore guys probably do put the most effort in
In the 60's people took acid to make the world weird, now the world is weird and they take prozac to make it normal again.
still can't believe it's not butter
6,978 posts
Location: Melbourne, Australia
i heard that some innercore guys have exchanged vows with their loverly staves.
just a nasty rumour though...
/whistles
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Corporate Circus Arts Entertainer
3,989 posts
Location: Auckland, New Zealand
Well, I haven't really EXCHANGED vows, I given mine to my four, but am still waiting for a reply
----
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564 posts
Location: Vansterdam
thats kinda disturbing..... then again I think my staff is my child.
In the 60's people took acid to make the world weird, now the world is weird and they take prozac to make it normal again.
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70 posts
Location: New York, NY, USA
jeez charles...can't you ever stay on topic?
heh. anyways. [Frost]...what are the advantages of your handles? and do you have any pictures?
Also, has anyone using a solid staff tried shaving down the staff a little bit where the handle is (like with a lathe or something)? The staff would be a little bit weaker there...but you could have a nice cushiony handle that doesn't stick out too much, making the handle so "fat." Just a thought.
Live as if you were to die tomorrow, learn as if you were to live forever -Mahatma Ghandi
Burning--the process of breaking things down into a simpler form. -Hitokage-
564 posts
Location: Vansterdam
Well here's a staff I made yesterday:
ok so that didn't work see below for link
[ 04. July 2003, 19:13: Message edited by: DJ Dimples [Frost] ]
In the 60's people took acid to make the world weird, now the world is weird and they take prozac to make it normal again.
Corporate Circus Arts Entertainer
3,989 posts
Location: Auckland, New Zealand
Hikotage! how are you! Haven't seen you post for ages (must mean i'm going blind).
I can stay on topic if it try, what was the topic on this thread again?
Oh, and DJ Dimples, those pics aren't showing up on my screen...
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564 posts
Location: Vansterdam
erm I noticed that.... here I made a page with the pics on it.
https://www.geocities.com/fire204_bm/staffpics/staffcon.html
[ 04. July 2003, 19:12: Message edited by: DJ Dimples [Frost] ]
In the 60's people took acid to make the world weird, now the world is weird and they take prozac to make it normal again.
Carpal \'Tunnel
3,749 posts
Location: Europe,Scotland,Both
I coulda sworn thoes were pictures of a fire-stick
This is a post by tom, all spelling is deleberate
-><- Kallisti
564 posts
Location: Vansterdam
yes.... note the handle.....
Thats the best my $20o digital cam can do. You get what you pay for
In the 60's people took acid to make the world weird, now the world is weird and they take prozac to make it normal again.
member
100 posts
Location: no home, between homes, always at home, Germany
I've just made an aluminum staff using red and black leather for the handle, and i'm pretty happy with it. I glued it on using rubbery glue stuff that can stick anything to anything called fulaprene 303. The handle is half the length of the staff. At the ends of the handle and in the centre i've used some electrical tape to prevent the leather from getting kinda frayed or peeled off or whatever.
people are people
Carpal \'Tunnel
3,533 posts
Location: Hampshire College, MA, USA
i made a wooden staff with a leather handel for my friend's birthday. i laced it up with black gimp, and it seems to work pretty well. but, i dont do staff, i just made one for kicks. she said it works well, so i guess thats good
-James
"How do you know if you're happy or sad without a mask? Or angry? Or ready for dessert?"
503 posts
Location: bristol
re: Jez - 'All these posts about staff grips and you missed out the most obvious and the best.
I use self amalgamating tape. This stuff is really good as it provides a none slippery grip, a small amount of cushioning and also once applied it bonds to become one piece so that you cannot peel it off again you have to cut it away. So therefore you do not get the wear and tear associated with using other grips.'
self-amalgamating tape is great. the first and only self-amalgamating tape I used on firestaves turned out to be SOLUBLE IN PARAFFIN. just made a black sticky mess when I spun off
so by all means, use self-amal, but check the damn label first. no point getting unnecessaary gack on yrself
q
ture na sig
member
53 posts
Location: Washington D.C.
I have mine set up with a solid center......like the inner core staffs, and hockey tape going about six inches on each side, and I ribbed it.
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2,530 posts
Location: Manchester, United Kingdom
i remember palying with someone's staff at falmouth just gone, i think it may have been Brad's, and he had a metal staff, with i think it was a white silicone grip, that stood out, but it gave amazing grip and in some ways control in doing the 2 contact wraps i can do
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104 posts
Location: den bosch
I made my own staff from heavy iron tent-pole...
without grip...
and I don't encounter problems while catching my throws...
am I that great or are the rest wooses? (dunno how to write it
)and dark coloured ends?
my staff ends are naturally blackened: I just don't clean 'em!
and cold in wintertime....
oh well, i'll just grab a few centimeters closer to the wicks... :P
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4,696 posts
Location: home of the tiney toothy bear, Australia
sif, my gaffa improv works fine!
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Member
91 posts
Location: knoxville, tennessee, usa
ive tried hockey tape, medical tape, electrical tape, duct tape, tennis grip, carpet padding, bicycle tubes, bare rod, and leather. i still cant find one i absolutely love. that silicone stuff sounds cool though. where do you get it?
if anyone orders Merlot, i'm leaving.
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4,030 posts
Location: Bali, Australia
Written by: punkskull
I made my own staff from heavy iron tent-pole...
without grip...
and I don't encounter problems while catching my throws...
am I that great or are the rest wooses? (dunno how to write it
Trouble with spinning with no grip is when your hands get wet...eg from sweat metal is very slippery. Spinning in a hot climate (here!) that's a consideration. Also there's lots of times when I've been spinning on wet grass, had a drop or else just had the staff lying down and water has got on. It's also just that bit easier to judge where centre is. Also I've found lighter poles better eg hollow aluminium.. the momentum of the ends (wick and fuel) is greater, makes faster & it's easier on the body joints. That's a factor if you're wanting to spin in the long term.
.....Can't juggle balls but I sure as hell can juggle details....
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