DIY Hoop Making And Repair

0 CommentsMonday • October 17, 2011 • by Imei

I had a little accident. After placing my hula hoops on an unused light bracket that I thought was safe and practical, I forgot to keep the light off the circuit one dark evening about two weeks ago. The result: two perfectly good hoops with three-inch sections melted almost completely through. Luckily, they melted so slowly, there was no damage to either the light bracket (which apparently gets hot enough to melt things over a few hour’s time!), and nothing caught on fire. Since I’m the type of person that hates wasting things and hates unnecessarily adding to the world’s garbage dumps, I felt there was only one choice. I would have to learn how to repair and make a hoop. Here is a blog post on how you can repair a hula hoop, which is also the same process of making a hoop.

Hoop repair is just a hacksaw away.

How To Repair Or Make A Hoop

What you’ll need to make your own hoop:

1. Professional gaffer’s tape. You can buy it online from places like TapeJungle.com in a variety of bright colors.

2. A mini hack saw, such as the Stanley 6 or 10 inch with a medium sized blade.

3. Plumber’s piping, 3/4 diameter. This is available in 100 ft. rolls costing around $38.

4. A lighter or a small-flame torch.

5. A  plumbing connector piece made for 3/4 inch diameter plumber’s tubing for each hoop you wish to create or repair.

6. A yardstick or measuring tape (optional, if you need your hoop to be a specific diameter).

Making a hoop doesn't require a lot of advanced knowledge, just elbow grease and heat from a flame.

In my case, the melted portion on the two hoops need to be removed with the hacksaw. Cut straight through, and don’t be afraid to just go for it in terms of cutting away. You want the two ends to fit snugly together, so concentrate on getting a clean and straight edge.

After removing the melted piece, carefully fit the connector in by warming the ends of the hoop one at a time with a lighter or small-flame torch. This makes the ends pliable enough to insert the hard-plastic connector into the two ends of the hoop. The hoop ends should then meet fairly closely together, especially if you cut the ends cleanly with the hacksaw.

If the flame isn’t warming the ends enough, you might have to use hot water to soak the ends. In the case of my hoops, a flame was enough.

Finally, cover the area where the two ends are now touching with professional gaffer’s tape in the color you wish. You might also wish to inspect the entire used hoop for other bites in the gaffer’s tape, as sometimes broken tape (especially metallic ones) can have sharp edges that irritate skin as it rolls over the body.

To make a hoop, you’ll need all the same materials as repair. Measure off the amount of piping you’ll need to make your hoop. The larger the diameter, the slower the hoop will be (because of weight as well as the force you’ll need to get it to move around you), but the easier it is to work with for beginner or intermediate hoopers. Expert hoopers will likely want a smaller and lighter hoop for faster work.

After using the connector piece to create the base of the hoop, your imagination is all you need to create the design. I recommend crawling the Internet for design ideas, and then use lightweight tape decorate it to your heart’s desire.

Wanna Make Your Hoop On The Cheap?

If you live in the Seattle area, hooper Thierany Seriflame is offering a one hour hoop-making workshop! For the cost of the hoop itself (and a little extra to cover studio rental space), you’ll get a hoop and a mini-hooping lesson at the end. The catch: we need eight paying participants (or less if someone wishes to make more than one hoop) to make it worth it, as the materials are more expensive to make a single hoop than it is to make eight hoops. The hoop making workshop will include all the materials to make a hoop of less than 42″ in diameter (and in limited gaffer tape colors, unless you have your own).

This is a really inexpensive way to start hooping with a professional grade adult hoop, as well as to be in the environment of enthusiastic learners. If you’re interested in making a hoop of your own, please email me off line at info at hips for hire dot com and put the words “hoop making workshop” in the subject box.

If you decide to make your hoop on your own, please send a picture [or better yet, a video!] of you and your new hoop.

Posted in: belly, dance, how to

Tagged with: hoop making workshop, hoop workshop, hooping, how to make a hoop, repair, repair a hoop