Hey,
I have seen the link for buying aluminum hoops, but I was wondering if anyone had experience with making their own. Is the tubing found online flexible enough? How do you connect it? Is it cost-effective?
Contrastingly, if you have bought an aluminum hoop, can you tell how they connected it? Is it welded?
Thanks!
-Sandra
I have seen the link for buying aluminum hoops, but I was wondering if anyone had experience with making their own. Is the tubing found online flexible enough? How do you connect it? Is it cost-effective?
Contrastingly, if you have bought an aluminum hoop, can you tell how they connected it? Is it welded?
Thanks!
-Sandra
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Re: making aluminum hoops
Sun, May 11, 2008 - 5:20 PMI imagin that it would be possible to make your own aluminum hoops but i don't think it would be very costeffective. Your best bet would be to make friends with sombody who works in metal and has acces the the right kind of equipment.
To build an aluminum hoop you would first need to build a jig which is kind of like a mould that you use to bend the pipe into a circle. Then the othe tricky part would be joining it, you could just weld the ends to gether but that would likly make a bump or uneven spot, most of the alumium hoops ar internaly joined with a serries of pins and a smaller peice of pipe.
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Re: making aluminum hoops
Mon, May 12, 2008 - 2:37 AMAre they not just cast in one piece rather than being made of tubing? -
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Re: making aluminum hoops
Mon, May 12, 2008 - 5:04 PMNah the ones i have seen have all been tubing.
I would imagine that haveing a solid one would be too heavy. -
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Re: making aluminum hoops
Tue, May 13, 2008 - 12:29 AMSorry I didn't explain that very well. I didn't mean a solid hoop of aluminium. I meant they were cast that shape, but hollow rather than originally being a straight hoop that was then curved and welded together. -
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Re: making aluminum hoops
Tue, May 13, 2008 - 4:45 PMYeah i suppose they could be made that way but all the ones i have seen at the circus shops have been joined. The guy that i was talking to at juggle art said that they just stated joining them differently(internaly) so yeah the ones i have come across have been joined. -
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Re: making aluminum hoops
Tue, May 13, 2008 - 5:43 PMI have a pair of small aluminum hoops for hoop manipulations (as opposed to hooping) and they are not joined but one piece. I ordered them from Europe though as I couldn't find them anywhere in the States. But this was in 2006 so maybe that's changed. -
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Re: making aluminum hoops
Tue, May 13, 2008 - 7:00 PMcool i wonder if they are made differently beacuse of the differance in size?
The ones i have seen come up to my hip.
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Re: making aluminum hoops
Today, 10:24 AMIf you really want nice Professional Aluminium Hoops contact Trevor at Trapeze rigging.
www.trapezerigging.com
His Aluminium hoops are tubing formed into a circle, and then properly joined with a machined joint piece, and held together with machined screws.
These are 36 inch hoops weighing just 6 ounces and used by professional hoopers all around the world.
If you live in the UK, you can buy these from Hoop Guy.
www.hoopguy.com
To make your own aluminium hoops is difficult, and costly, but if you want to try then as suggested the joining of the tube is the most difficult part. Although getting the aluminium tube into a decent circle shape without kinking it is not so easy either. :-)
I hope this helps.
John.
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