Forums > Beginner Staff Moves > the perfect contact staff?
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173 posts
Location: Berlin, Germany
My 'partner in crime' is obsessed with contact staff, and seems to go through them at extreme speeds (they're either bent or broken in less than a month), which starts to get pretty damn expensive.
Our best attempt was with an aluminum rod that had a wooden dowel that fit snugly right in. Many told me this was industructable, but its not true!
Maybe the type of wood in the wooden dowel is simply too soft(cheap, but I have no idea of what type of sturdier wood to use, without making the stick so heavy that its no longer usuable. Im also thinking using a thicker or wider aluminum rod would probably help. Unfortunately since he really wants to keep his stick to his 'ideal contact stick height' at nose length: a knapp 1.75 meters (yep, people often ask him if he's walking on stilts), making the staff thicker or wider will make it much too heavy to spin.
I'm wondering if anyone out there has any advice or a better solution? I hope I hope!
'There are two mantras in life, yum and yuk. I choose yum.'
old hand
834 posts
Location: Wellington somerset, UK
ummmmm, apart from some strange layered core, or using a lightweight resin of some type i have no ideas, and this is something i have a problem with as well, damn sticks keep bending....maybe some one else will have a better idea.......or just tell him not to drop his sticks ( i know how hard that is to do tho)
Drawings by chalk minds, strech between the stars
Kyle Mclean-
Contact without dance is like sex without wiggling.
A) it does feel as good
B) it does not look as good on film
just lost .... evil init
2,474 posts
Location: Adelaide, Australia
it sounds like your using a really soft aluminium alloy or really big wicks, i use 1.2 mm thickness pipe and then last quite well my current pair only have a very very very minor bend after 10 months abuse from lots of newbies.
it ifs being with wood in id guessing that hes spinning really fast and dropping it really hard, if not them im confused as to what hes doing thats breaking them, some info on the designs of the staffs would help.
Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourself, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous and talented? Who are you NOT to be?
member
173 posts
Location: Berlin, Germany
The contact staff we've been currently using is an alo pipe at 1.5 thickness and an overall diameter of 20cm. I also have my own contact staff at 1.45 meters, and these have also bent. Though funny enough, my smaller 'juggling' staffs that I use for double and triple stick combinations at 1.1 meter length with a diameter of 15cm has only once bent on me (some physics theory would probably explain this phenomena but I wouldn't know it).
Incidently, the last five or so didnt even have wick attached, as its winter and too damn cold to go outside to play, and I've realised, what the hell, its probably going to be crooked again by then anyway. I've just been taping cloth to the ends to simulate the wick weight.
The last batch (one week new) also just have a minor bend, and I suppose they still theoretically work, although its frustrating as all hell. Although I still manage a full steve it kindave bounces across my arms instead of the previous fluid roll. Arggh
'There are two mantras in life, yum and yuk. I choose yum.'
just lost .... evil init
2,474 posts
Location: Adelaide, Australia
get a different grade of aluminium
my stick is 25 mm diameter 1.2 mm thickness 1.5 m long and my sticks get mistreated by newbies on a regular basis
Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourself, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous and talented? Who are you NOT to be?
1,148 posts
Location: Seattle, WA
Or go for titanium. It's a smooth ride, and lasts so much longer. More expensive but worth it, imo. I'd suggest weighting it down a bit to your taste, I find contact annoying with a light staff personally. I can't feel exactly where it is as well as a staff thats a bit heavier, and the speed is easier to control. Everyone's different tho.
EDITED_BY: musashii (1110263554)
First intention, then enlightenment..
Ars Pyronomica
" Life is programmed. Whether death is programmed or not is yet to be determined."
15,417 posts
Location: South Wales
Written by: Ben-ja-bin
after 10 months abuse from lots of newbies.
Oh thats right!
Blame someone else.
member
173 posts
Location: Berlin, Germany
Hmmm, neoprene, where would I buy something like that? Im sure it would work a hell of a lot better than the normal cloth I'm using now, and it would probably more than compensate with the fact that our new training spot has hard wooden floors as opposed to our previous one that was completely covered in mats. The oiling is also a good idea, but I get the feeling the issue is that the wood doesn't actually split, but just gives into the bend.
A friend of mine had already thought about the aluminum quality factor, and showed me where to find a wholesale metal retailer for the best quality. It didnt seem to help much and they don't sell Titanium in tubes. I'm seriously considering maybe using steel rods, or maybe looking for a mixture of steel and aluminum so it wouldn't be so heavy.
In the meantime Ive reverted to practising contact moves solely with my smaller double sticks. Yeah I know, Meghan told me I don't know how many times, I'll NEVER learn the matrix with those shorties, but damit, at least they roll!
'There are two mantras in life, yum and yuk. I choose yum.'
Flying Water Muppet
5,276 posts
Location: Edin-borrow., United Kingdom
I didn't say you wouldn't! I just said it would be hard!
Knoxious can do the matrix with baby stick, I saw it like this:
"the now legendary" - Kaskade
"the still legendary" - Kaskade
I spunked in my friend's aquarium and the fish ate it. I love all fish. Especially the pink ones. They are my bitches. - Anon.
Pirate Ninja
3,882 posts
Location: Galway/Ireland
i can do snes halo with doubles using 1m sticks.
no matrices though
Love is the law.
Carpal \'Tunnel
6,207 posts
Location: "In your ear", United Kingdom
well i can drop two 1m doubles sticks like no noe esle!
Step (el-nombrie)
503 posts
Location: bristol
i've just put finishing touches to a pair of contact staves. i've had problems with stuff bending in the past, and made these staves so that they shouldn't suffer similarly.
i used 1-inch diameter chrome steel (pretty solid by itself), with broomhandles cut to length and stuffed down the middle. the wicks are secured with self-tapping screws which go perpendicular to the long axis of the staff, through the wick, through the steel and wood, & out the other side. so, in theory, this should be extremely resistant to bending, BECAUSE the screws hold the wood and steel under additional compression/tension when you try to stress the staff laterally (i.e. perpendicular to the long axis). steel is extremely strong under tension, and neither it nor the broomhandles can expand or contract more than a millimitre or so ('cos of the screws, y'see).
they've got large wicks (75cm x 10cm on each burner). and they seem pretty stable.
they're very heavy, but i consider that a bonus atm - better for slow contact stuff, and gives a better workout
i would avoid using aluminium: it's just too flexible. and three-quarter inch chrome steel is a bit too bendy also, imo.
q
ture na sig
newbie
4 posts
Location: Dunedin, Aotearoa, New Zealand
I'm assuming that there's some reason you can't just bend the staff back? I've got a fairly cheap chromed steel staff and it bends quite easily, but all you need to do is put it on the ground and press down in the middle and it straightens out nicely. I realise it probably stresses and weakens the metal, but if you're throwing them away anyway another couple months of use can't hurt right?
EDITED_BY: sleeper (1111028063)
member
53 posts
Location: Washington D.C.
Written by: mech
well i can drop two 1m doubles sticks like no noe esle!
HA.... I think that I can agrue that......
And did they get you to trade your heroes for ghosts?
Hot ashes for trees?
Hot air for a cool breeze? Cold comfort for change?
And did you exchange a walk on part in the war
for a lead role in a cage?
--Pink Floyd
water based
5,125 posts
Location: melbourne, Australia
last week i dropped one into my face. hurt.
a guy i know, nick does mad contact, his staff is a really strong wood he got from one of those places where they just have wood (not a hardware store, but u no what i mean)
he then wrapped racing bike tyre (really thin) around the bit u hold, nicely, so it looked good and had grip, then wrapped a heap of normal bike tyre round the ends.
it bounces on concrete a bit, and hes had it for ages.
cheers, pete
"you know there are no trophys for doing silly things in real life yeah pete?" said ant "you wont get a 'listened to ride of the valkyries all the way to vietnam' trophy"
*proud owner of the very cute fire_spinning_angel, birgit and neon shaolin*
member
53 posts
Location: Washington D.C.
Pineapple pete, what type of wood is it? sounds like something that would be a god send.
And did they get you to trade your heroes for ghosts?
Hot ashes for trees?
Hot air for a cool breeze? Cold comfort for change?
And did you exchange a walk on part in the war
for a lead role in a cage?
--Pink Floyd
503 posts
Location: bristol
wooden cores, even in one inch steel, don't guarantee lack of bending
wood is a bit flexible, but the steel deforms plastically pretty easily. you can bend it back up to a point; sooner or later it'll acquire an S kink in it, and those are almost impossible to remove
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Snoochie-boochie-noochies!
663 posts
Location: United Kingdom
Written by: entheogen
Hmmm, neoprene, where would I buy something like that?
try a plumber or diy store for foam pipe insuation if it's the stuff i'm thinking of. looks like a foam tube with the inside diameter the same as the pipe
503 posts
Location: bristol
or a sail/surf shop. they use the stuff to make [and fix?] wetsuits. that's just speculation.
have you tried froogling it?
ture na sig
member
53 posts
Location: Washington D.C.
froogling??
And did they get you to trade your heroes for ghosts?
Hot ashes for trees?
Hot air for a cool breeze? Cold comfort for change?
And did you exchange a walk on part in the war
for a lead role in a cage?
--Pink Floyd
503 posts
Location: bristol
froogle; it's like google, but for medium-sized dry goods
buying stuff, i mean.
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member
53 posts
Location: Washington D.C.
I see.....said the blind man
And did they get you to trade your heroes for ghosts?
Hot ashes for trees?
Hot air for a cool breeze? Cold comfort for change?
And did you exchange a walk on part in the war
for a lead role in a cage?
--Pink Floyd
stick boy!
117 posts
Location: Tampa, FL, USA
......to his deaf daughter......
503 posts
Location: bristol
www.fuckinggoggleit.com
'nuff said
ture na sig
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