titanium handsticks ?

[mrpink]

I would love to have a pair of handsticks made out of titanium.
So i consider building myself a pair sometime in the future.
Not only would they look cool they wuld be strong as steel and ligth as aliminium.
I was wondering if anyone here have done this before. Or thougth about it and rejected the idea for some reason. And third i've heard that titanium is quiet expensive and would like to know if annyone has a clue how much the material would cost. ( if ill have to pay 1000$ for apair ill have to wait a while   )

[Mattias]

I think it has been mentioned before on this forum, and was just discarded because of the price.
I dont know about price, but a titanium tennis racket usually go for around 1000 SEK. So the material can't be that expensive.
Good luck.

Will you attend NJC in Jönköping by any chance btw?

[Chiok]

I'll go with the "not cheap" approach.  From some researching here at work, titanium in one of it's more common alloys (6Al4V) can be about £50 per metre for 8mm solid round bar.  So a bit more for 10mm bar if that's what you're looking for.  The price can change though depending where you get it from.

It's all a matter of availability really.  But also, machining titanium requires special tools that can withstand the heat and stress they'll see trying to cut it on a lathe.  Putting a thread into a titanium bar is no easy feat.  And if you're using original Circus hubs, they'll probably trash up pretty quickly.

But it's a nice thought to have a near indestructible stick.  Until then, aluminium alloys will probably have to suffice.

Chiok

[mrpink]

Thanx!
I guess i was looking for a 10 pipe about 1 mm thick. Wich requires about half as much material as in the 8mm solid bar. assuming its not more expensive to make a pipe than a sollid bar (maybe it is)  it would then cost about 25-30£ for a metre wich is quiet expensive, but not near as expensive as I feared. Ill call some local company who sell this kind of stuff.
As for the hubbs, i guess ill have to get them in teflon. Or get them custom made in titanium while im about it ...
Yes mattias of course ill be on njc, where else would i bee? I have been to several of the small conventions in jonkoping and they were all verry nice. Chaotic but nice all the same. this will be my first big convention  since 1998 where i learnt the diabolo...

[Matt_]

And if you're using original Circus hubs, they'll probably trash up pretty quickly.

i think the point of taking care of original circus hubs is kind of a moot point by now. i remember when i got my new circus last April, i had alum sticks but didnt have plastic hubs yet. i got it, took it to japan for a week, and probably the week after that the hubs were toast. i cant really see any convincing reason for people to still use those metal hubs (or for Henry's to actually keep putting them on...)

[Chiok]

i think the point of taking care of original circus hubs is kind of a moot point by now.

You mean a "moo" point, yeah...?  I've still got the original hubs from November and I use aluminium sticks and so far ok.  I don't do many full size genocides and my minigs don't really hold alot of twack, so I'm ok from that approach.  I do envisage that I might need them oneday.  I like the weight though, fans nicely.

Back to Mr. Pink, tube is often not as expensive as solid bar.  The extra work is offset by less material.  But if you can find somewhere to find a price, the better.  Titanium is still about 75% heavier than aluminium so there will be more weight to the handstick, but if you use tube, you'll get a much lighter handstick.  Can't deny it's good stuff though.  Good luck with titanium hubs though, probably eat 3 tool pieces before you get the shape unless you run it very slow with lots of coolant.

Chiok

[Matt_]

You mean a "moo" point, yeah...?

nope, moot

2. b. Of no practical importance; irrelevant.

the reason i say this is because the hubs are easily damaged, which leads to a host of other problems. they are easily damaged, so when they're scratched, they have more friction. more friction grabs the strings easier, or fray's the string, or just the metal parts rubbing off onto the string makes the string dirty faster (i had to go through all of that..). on a personal preference note, i prefer the ligher weight (i use standard G2s).

speaking of lightness, i think the titanium handsticks would be sweet, as it's strong and light. i love my henry's sticks, but they bend like rubber and the edge is easily nicked so i have to file it down all the time. i like the MB xtreme sticks' lightness and strength, but they are too damned fat and they keep unscrewing themselves.

[Mithew]

why would titanium handsticks be so great? i mean, aluminum sticks don't break very easily, and if they bend you can straighten them out without much work.

[Matt_]

yeah, but titanium is lighter. which, if you've used the MB xtreme sticks, is pretty cool.

at the mo im pissed at my henry's sticks, which i need to file down AGAIN because they cut my string like a knife in butter...

[eplea]

Titanium rod should cost less than tube as it's easier to manufacture.  Though the difference is likely to vary from source to source.

yeah, but titanium is lighter

If I remember correctly, generally speaking, for items of the same dimensions

Steel is about 40% heavier than Titanium
Titanium is about 50-60% heavier than Aluminum

I use 1/16 Titanium tube frequently for one of my hobbies.

[Matt_]

ok so aluminum is lighter, titanium is stronger? or something like that

[Chiok]

In my experience, tube has always been cheaper than solid bar of the same diametre probably due to material costs.  But Eplea is right, it really depends from source to source.  Also right about the weight aspect, you won't get a lighter handstick, just a much much stronger one.

The MB Xtreme's don't bend because they're 10mm aluminium tube.  This must offset the 8mm solid bar Henrys' are made from.  I don't think I've ever seen a MB Performer stick bend, at least not like a Henrys.  Probably buckle first.

I think there just needs to be a better designed Xtreme stick from the get-go.  And I understand about the dirty hub thing, they really do dirty up your string quickly, good for breaking in I guess.

Chiok
(What hobby would you use tube that small for?)
(and, it's a "moo" point, like a cow's point of view. It doesn't matter.  I'm sure this was discussed before.)

[Matt_]

well, the Xtreme sticks can and do bend, but they are much tougher. one of mine has a slight bend (i was going to take a picture of it, but it's not spectacular). it certainly bends a lot less than the henry's, which are pretty much turned into L's by now.

PS. Chiok, keep in mind that i live in the US and you live in the UK. the back of my car is the trunk, yours is the boot. i go up to the top floor on the elevator, you use the lift. i go to the toilet, you use the loo. i actually went an looked up moo and moot before i mentioned it the first time, keep in mind though that's an American dictionary. and also keep in mind that we Americans aren't fond of British english. i'd like to share a quote from one of my friends: "the British--they invented this language and can't even speak it!"

[Crackers]

The X-tremes sticks do bend but not a lot

[JC]

@Matt_
your comment,
British--they invented this language and can't even speak it!
I find this is hard staff.

For me as a german it is easy to understand english people, and somestimes it is impossible to talk with
us-americans (remembering a phone call to a plant in Texas....), so I prefer the english which is spoken in Europe.
On the other side the difference are not so big,
so try to be able to look beyond one´s own nose.

[Jester]

english is a constantly evolving laungauge
or as some english teachers i used to know said a constantly butchered laungauge.

i've been in australia for the last year where i've found grammer going out the window words joining and slurring togeter and me having to ask people what they r saying and i'm from New Zealand thier next door neighbour

americans are also famous for being diligently ardently phonetic in any and all pronounciations forgetting that its the exceptions rather than the rules that make english special its really funny hearing them pronounce foirign names

sure this makes everyone harder to understand but thats part of meeting people from other places. if the world was easy it wouldn't be as fun

hmmmmmmmm       Rantaholic                               But mabye important

and uh yeah titanium handsticks
would be cool. unnessecery cool but then most cool things are
I'd use them and treasure them if i was given some but wouldn't buy them myself

Peace and love to the world

[Chiok]

Ah right, I've never used the Xtreme sticks, so I'll have to take words for that.  I used solid 8mm bar for my aluminium sticks, and the right one is bent a lil, but not very much.  I can't see how people bend their's so drastically.  I understand people get a lil heated when things go wrong...

I think titanium tube would be the best thing to use to reduce the weight of the sticks (padding and other stuff weighs too).  And you'd have to attach a threaded insert to screw a tip onto like the MB sticks.  It'd take a bit of work but I can't see a problem with having an MB Xtreme style stick, but with smaller diametre tube and stronger inserts.  Won't be as light though I don't think.

As for the "moo or moot" point.  It is a "moot" point, we use that word too.  The point I was referring too is a Friends quote from Joey (thinks the word is "moo", his logic reckoned it had something to do with a cow), which I wish I never brought up...  I thought more people would recognise that...

Chiok

[Sean]

I can't see how people bend their's so drastically.  I understand people get a lil heated when things go wrong...

Nah, it's almost entirely from infinite suicide genocides on my part at least. If I nail the axle of the diabolo in the air with the stick, or hit the floor with the end of the stick any aluminum stick will bend. My xtremes have been bent pretty badly. They even get a nice stress mark when they bend!

I have some thicker walled aluminum tubing of the same outside diamater on order from a hobbey shop. This aluminum is only about 20% heaver and most of the xtreme weight doesn't come from the aluminum itself. We'll see how it goes.

[Guy]

Titanium is quite a bit heavier than aluminum, but titanium destroys standard tool steel, and hence would not only be expensive to buy, but would be expensive to make any kind of string fixing on the tube.  Titanium rings are more valuable than gold ones btw.  Ti would be no better than Al.

[JC]

The string fixing could be out of aluminium, it is not necessary to made it out of titan, the tube is enough.