Staves for Sale

[Oso]

First off, Gene, if you object I'll delete. Your company doesn't offer a 7' straight staff so hopefully you won't look on it as competition.


Ok, so I needed to find some straight staves at least 7' long for the staff set I just learned.

couldn't find any.

So, I had some made and am curious if there is a market for them.

They are 7'.

Made of Ash. That's the same wood used for baseball bats.

They are not round however but 8 sided. I sanded ours down a bit to take the edge of the corners.

I've got a good source for the ash and am handpicking very straight grained stock.

We've been using them for about a week and they are holding up very well to the two person drills.

I can retail them for $25 + shipping. I talked to FedEx but need to take one by for them to give me a firm price on that but it might be as much as $10 each due to length.

Quantity orders could be arranged and the price per would drop some.

In the next week or so I'm going to have some pics up on my website.

Any feedback appreciated.

[sean_stonehart]

Actually you could've gotten the staff at Brendan Lai's ... Al has them there up to around 15' ...

Just an FYI...

[Oso]

Link?

thanks, I looked around but not there.

are they straight ? I found lots of stuff tapered but no straight.

[norther practitioner]

Why do they need to be straight? Why can't they be tapered, real staves are tapered, as they are just a fairly raw wood product.

[Oso]

well, for one, I broke my waxwood staff doing the two person set to this form.

so, I wanted something stronger.

also, IMO, if the staff set calls for striking w/ both ends of the staff then both ends need to be strong. the thin end of a waxwood staff would break on a real hit in half of the moves of this set.



I found snail mail and phone number for Brendan Lai's supply company but no web site info.

[norther practitioner]

Understandable with the 2 man stuff I guess....

[Oso]

if it's done right....just saw some weak 2-man forms this past weekend....intended blocks weren't even getting within a foot of the attack....

[Ming Yue]

Oso,
I will get those photos to you very soon, and will post a couple here if you like.

[sean_stonehart]

Yeah Brendan Lai's doesn't have a web site. Just give them a call & ask for Al. He's Lai Sifu son.

As far as "straight"... they don't have any angular bends or anything like that, but like all wax wood have bumps & notches & their own "personality".

[Becca]

I also sell staves, but usually from events. FedEx is definantly your best bet for shipping, but that price you quoted sounds a bit low. Keeping in mind I've only shipped 4 staves, I've found it costs about $15-25 to ship anything over 6' and double that if the client wants it shipped next-day. Also, don't forget the cost of the packaging. I've found that it is much easier to buy FedEx's tube packaging, as it is ideal for shipping and then you don't have to go looking for a supplier for that, as well.

[Oso]

Thanks Ming. Go ahead and post em.

Sean, ok, so you're talking about the waxwood 'limb' type stave...i guess if I got one long enough I could cut it down at a chosen section and have a pretty thick one w/ not much taper. I still think I'd probably break one though unless it was really thick, which I don't want.

Becca, I figured it would be a little higher but the guy wouldn't hardly say a price at all untill I bring one in, which I'm gonna do monday.

what type of staff do you sell?

[Becca]

Custom. Part of the reason I usually only do events is that I prep the staves before hand then cut and seal them on site so the stave is exactly right for the client.

I camp alot and find excelet pieces of wook on my hikes. I do the rudimantery shaping while out there then finish it on my wood laith at home. Sometimes I carve dragons and such into them. After a while I got quite a collection of them going, so I take them down to a gun show and sell them at a stall. I don't make much off of them, but it's a great hobby. :)

[Oso]

cool, do you have pics?

Ming Yue and I took some pics of the staves, full length and detail and a couple of poses from a form.

hopefully she'll get them either here or on my website this week.

[woliveri]

Guys,

Staff > plural = staves?

or

Staff > plural = staffs?


I think the latter.


My brain cells are popping all over the place. Would an English Major please stand up?

[norther practitioner]

The only reason that I like the waxwood so much is the feeling of the energy. I like the flex... the taper adds to the complexity of the striking.

[Becca]

Guys,

Staff > plural = staves?

or

Staff > plural = staffs?


I think the latter.


My brain cells are popping all over the place. Would an English Major please stand up?
Same difference. It's a preference. If I say staff, sometimes people get confused. Everyone seems to understand that a stave is a long strait round piece of wood with lots of uses...


And no, Oso, I don't have pics. I honestly hadn't thought of taking any. :o I'll do this the next time I get my digital camra out, though.

[Oso]

Ok, so it looks like it's going to be $35+ for shipping and handling.

frigging pricey which I know is why most companies don't carry them.

for those that PM'd me, I'll contact you this evening when I get out of class.

thanks

[Ming Yue]

here they are. :) sorry for the delay.

[Mr Punch]

Stave is a back-formation from staves which is the plural of staff. Its a very old back-formation though, and all of staff, staffs, stave and staves are perfectly acceptible.

They look nice.

[Oso]

Stave is a back-formation from staves which is the plural of staff. Its a very old back-formation though, and all of staff, staffs, stave and staves are perfectly acceptible.

They look nice.


yea, got in a debate a while back on the pronunciation of debacle....both ways you hear it were said to be ok by a college english professor we ended up consulting, there was money on it :)



Thanks. I've never used one I liked better.

[norther practitioner]

they look nice....

35 bucks for shipping though.. wow, that sucks... no wonder no one really carries them.

[stma]

Got my staff on Friday and had a few days to check it out. Very nice. It is almost as light as rattan. My next one will be 1 1/2 inches thick as I like things a little heavier. There is a certain plasticity to the wood. It will bend a bit a hold that shape, but it is easy to straighten out by hand and it stays straight until you do something to bend it out of true. It can be bothersome, but it is not a show stopper. I am hoping the 1 1/2 inch will have less of a tendency to bend. The octagonal edges are new and therefore kind of sharp. Shouldn't be a problem for most karate and kung fu staff work. If you want to use it for a spear shaft you will probably want to sand the edges a little smoother. In my neck of the woods, you just can't get a 7 ft staff. I think this item is well worth the price.

Joseph Crandall

[Oso]

Thanks for the kind words.



Need to work the kinks out of the packaging and shipping procedure but I think I'm gonna attempt to set up a store on my website and get into full bore production of staves and short sticks of all sized in ash and hickory.

[stma]

Hmmmm, 7' hickory might be fun to play with......

[Oso]

yea, I have a good source for a lot of hardwoods but ash and hickory are the only two that have the properties needed for a good stave...maple is ok too but kinda expensive.