What Are Clubs?
Juggling clubs, or simply clubs are a prop used by jugglers. A typical club is in the range of 50 cm (~19.7 in) long, weighs between 200 and 300 grams, is slim at the "handle" end, and has its center of balance nearer the wider "body" end.
Clubs are sometimes referred to as "pins" due to their resemblance to bowling pins. However, the two vary greatly in construction, weight and weight distribution, and are not interchangeable for most purposes.
Making Your Own Clubs
Tools needed:
Utility knife or Scissors (something to cut tape with, or you can just tear it)
Hack saw, or Circular saw(or what ever you have available for use to cut PVC piping)
Components:
10 ft. 1/2 in. PVC pipe
Electrical tape
Friction tape
Empty plastic bottle (I used 16.9 oz. Pepsi bottle)
Spray paint optional
Utility knife or Scissors (something to cut tape with, or you can just tear it)
Hack saw, or Circular saw(or what ever you have available for use to cut PVC piping)
Components:
10 ft. 1/2 in. PVC pipe
Electrical tape
Friction tape
Empty plastic bottle (I used 16.9 oz. Pepsi bottle)
Spray paint optional
I decided to go with a 20 inch club based on that many professional juggler clubs range from about 19-20.75 inches. With the 10 ft. pipe you should be able to cut 6 equal length pieces, unless you are like me and the last one will come up a little short. After making these I would recommend cutting them to 19 3/4 in. segments as my final product ended up coming out to 20 1/4 in length, that way you will also be guaranteed to have enough for 6 equal pieces unlike my 5 20.
In this step keep in mind 2 things, first you will want to lock air inside the bottle this will add strength to it so it doesn't just get all crushed. Secondly, you will want to try to keep as uniform a weight as possible. To do this you can cut your smaller pieces of tape to the same length. For your longer tape pieces cutting it would be impracticable, just count how many times around you wrap it and do the same number for every club.
Start by sealing up the handle end of the club. I did this using 4 piece of electrical tape that is cut at approximately 2 inches. Make an asterix shape with the tape similar to the exaggerated one in my picture.
For the handle I made it 1/3 the length of the overall club or approx. 7. I used black Friction tape similar to what would be on a hockey stick to wrap around the previously taped end and then worked my way up. I then taped a few times around just at the very end to give it a slight knob. You may think this type of tape is too harsh, feel free to use something else to your liking or even just the bare pipe, but be sure to add the knob at the bottom as this will help hold the 4 other pieces on better.
Next place the bottle on the end(with a 1/2 in. pipe it should just barely fit) and mark where it comes to. Put some tape starting where your mark is and work about 1 in. up 2-3 times around with the electrical tape should do. This step is probably not necessary I just figured it would create a better seal.
Put your bottle on and when you get to the tape you will have to force it and twist it all the way till the pipe is to the bottom of the bottle. Make sure you twist with the tape so that the bottle is not just peeling it off as you twist.
Now start from about an inch or a half inch below the bottle and wrap around the neck of the bottle all the way up just past the threads for the cap and then back down again.
Now you should have some nice clubs to practice juggling with. However if you do not like the look of them, and I didn't get inspired to do this until writing this, but you can now paint them.
Start by sealing up the handle end of the club. I did this using 4 piece of electrical tape that is cut at approximately 2 inches. Make an asterix shape with the tape similar to the exaggerated one in my picture.
For the handle I made it 1/3 the length of the overall club or approx. 7. I used black Friction tape similar to what would be on a hockey stick to wrap around the previously taped end and then worked my way up. I then taped a few times around just at the very end to give it a slight knob. You may think this type of tape is too harsh, feel free to use something else to your liking or even just the bare pipe, but be sure to add the knob at the bottom as this will help hold the 4 other pieces on better.
Next place the bottle on the end(with a 1/2 in. pipe it should just barely fit) and mark where it comes to. Put some tape starting where your mark is and work about 1 in. up 2-3 times around with the electrical tape should do. This step is probably not necessary I just figured it would create a better seal.
Put your bottle on and when you get to the tape you will have to force it and twist it all the way till the pipe is to the bottom of the bottle. Make sure you twist with the tape so that the bottle is not just peeling it off as you twist.
Now start from about an inch or a half inch below the bottle and wrap around the neck of the bottle all the way up just past the threads for the cap and then back down again.
Now you should have some nice clubs to practice juggling with. However if you do not like the look of them, and I didn't get inspired to do this until writing this, but you can now paint them.
Juggling Clubs
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