I made some cool transparent sticks, here's pics!

[Pikeymikey22]

Check these puppies out. I made them last week in my School's design & technology department. I just shoved some rods I bought on a lathe.... I think it was perspex or acrylic... I can't remember what type of rod I ordered. Whatever it was, it was 15mm diameter (about 5B thickness).

SO, I sawed off two lengthsof this rod, just over 16", then put a template onto a computer, and used that computer to control a clever little lathe. This was all to make the taper and tips. I also rounded off the butts. Then I just buffed up em all nice and shiny. Aint they pretty.

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y221/pikeymikey22/GS.jpg

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y221/pikeymikey22/GS2.jpg

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y221/pikeymikey22/GS3.jpg

They are just a touch heavier than Vic Firth 5Bs. I tapped my ride a bit with them, and it sounds brighter and more rich than with nylon or wood tipped sticks. They also have the slightest bit more bend in them (if you try and bend them, not while playing).
I don't use em too much, I fear they might snap :( haha....

[samsamthegiantman]

Sell that idea, my friend. :)

[fullmetalhaallee]

Sell that idea, my friend. :)

do it, those are awesome

[-TheGlassPrison-]

I would buy some.
In pink.

[styler]

i would definitely buy, make em glow or something ontop of being more durable and they would make great marching sticks most likely

[Futuro]

You could make some money off poeple with that idea. Sell them for 10 bucks a pair.

[-TheGlassPrison-]

you could also make some dirty toys :o

[Panopticon]

fo' shizzle

[fatcow2000]

how much for a pair dude?

[BlindWriting]

If you made them look a little more durable, then added a layer of wood on the tip and maybe even the shoulder, those would sell, definitely. Hell I'd buy them. Awesome job.

[Juicy_Forlorn]

Those look awesome :thumb:
How long did it take to make them?

[ValeOfShadows]

That is the best idea ever. I want a pair. I wouldnt use them id show them off.

[yourstruly]

Haha, those are ****in rad man. Good work.

[rockindrummer]

Those are really cool man. lol nice job!

[sam'drummerboi'ellis]

Get a patent for them and go into production. Gtet a patent first though or else someone might steal your idea. But before you start selling you gotta make sure no one else is already sellin those!

[Bryan Blakey]

If you made them look a little more durable, then added a layer of wood on the tip and maybe even the shoulder, those would sell, definitely. Hell I'd buy them. Awesome job.

I think the point is to not have wood anywhere on the stick. :p

[Parradiddle Pete]

Arent those gonna be really heavy? Make me up some blue ones in the size of vic firth steve gadd sigs which dont leave marks on the heads and i'll take 3 pairs :P

[EdBanger]

You could have a blackout before you start to play and then people would see these floaty green sticks. That'd be awesome.

[Pikeymikey22]

I'm glad you all love them so much.... haha

If I could track down some rod with a thin metal pole down the centre, that'd be peachy, no? That'd add to the durability.... but also the weight :(

They took me like an hour, but another pair would only take like 15minutes, cos I've now already got the design on the computer, and I've learned where the stick over-heats, and I worked out a bit of a routine by the 2nd stick.

Problem is, it cost me about £10 for a single metre of rod. (Thats 1 pair's worth, plus a lil bit). So, It'd be like £15-20 a pair if I sold em (thats $26-35 US). If I can find a place to buy lots of rod at once for less money, I'll do that.

And as I said earlier, they are only marginally heavier (like 10-15% maybe) than Vic Firth 5Bs. Btw, I can do any tip shape you want! However, I'm limited to a few set thicknesses, i.e. what sizes the rod comes in.

I could coat them in a nifty invisible glowy paint, I suppose. I can get that from eBay at a nice price. It'll add to the cost of the sticks though.

[Pleaseme]

Where abouts in England are you? Those sticks rule! I wish our school had a CNC lathe.
With the thickness problem, you could always just turn the rod down a little, to make 7A's, etc.

[Bub]

Heh that's pretty good. Keep playing with them to check for durability, you don't wanna sell them people if they snap on the 4th hit. And check their affect on cymbals...might get a nice sound out, or might damage them a bit...you dunno til you try. They look cool :thumb:

[CasB]

I wouldn't like bashing my cymbals with those sticks.

[billdrum]

Looks great! I'm not sure how they'll be under regular useage, but they're a cool novelty item if nothing else.

[alexmonty12]

haha, i'd buy some. How much though o_0

I'd like to think i wouldn't use them, but after about a day of owning them i wouldn't be able to help myself.

[knie]

haha nice. very professional looking.

[HeLLmO]

those are really sick, amazing work dude, i would seriously buy them, even if i did just end up hitting ppl with them for fun

[Jublian]

I reckon make another pair (if you're sentimental about breaking those) and jsut have abash around your kit for about an hour, or use for a week or so to test their durability before you think about production.

I like em too...

[Jezen]

They look amazing, but you gotta consider how they work. Do they slip more easily? Do they snap quickly? Do they chip after a while? Are they straight? Balanced? Weight matched?

[ToneDef™]

They look really good. I cant help but think that it has been tried numerous times and that there's a reason why they're not freely available on the market. Do they damage your cymbals? Break easily? Do they shatter into tiny pieces? They do look cool though and if they turn out to be playable then you got yourself a product my friend.

[AtomShip]

Wouldnt they be no better than aheads if you put a metal rod through the center?

[dumbassdrummer]

Good work making shapped peices of plastic.

As for drum sticks? If this was found on some website it would get flamed by you guys. Those lighted sticks? They got flamed.

Neat work, but I wouldn't let anything that isn't wood near my cymbals.

[darrell]

I think the rim of the snare drum would eat up those sticks pretty quick. They seem pretty cool, though. Maybe nice for jazz or something... not really for metal or hard rock (where many drummers beat the crap out of the drums)

[Der Meister]

I think the rim of the snare drum would eat up those sticks pretty quick. They seem pretty cool, though. Maybe nice for jazz or something... not really for metal or hard rock (where many drummers beat the crap out of the drums)

I imagine that rim shots would actually crack them

[Panopticon]

Wouldnt they be no better than aheads if you put a metal rod through the center?

wouldnt be the same...ahead sleeves are made of hard plastic...which is (contrary to what you may think) pretty soft...acrylic is much harder...and plus...ahead sleeves are like really thin...there would be a much bigger layer of acrylic then there is on aheads...

[PremierManiac]

^ But they would look a lot cooler.

It would be sweet if you put a tiny LED in them to really make them glow.

[Fuzzy]

Those are gorgeous. I'd wire some neon through 'em and hang 'em on my wall. Would be the sex.

[puppet.master]

dude look freaking awsome i want some

[Pikeymikey22]

Great news!
I played with them for about 5 minutes flat out, and theres no marks on them. I jammed through parts of 'Led Zeppelin - Rock and Roll'. My cymbals are still in one piece, too. I gave the edges of my cymbals a few good whacks, and theres no marks to the sticks.... I even smashed out some rim shots on the snare. On a particularly loud hit I got a tiny dent on the stick, but I had to look at a certain angle to see it. Looking again now, I can't find it.

Ive got a nagging feeling that this means the stick will go all at once in a furious explosion of brightly coloured plastic shards, destined for the unfortunate drummer's eyes. I've got some shorter off-cuts, I'll run some tests to see if they shatter or not.
These are acrylic (i think), so they are denser than wood. It's got a slight bit more bend to it, however. You can feel a bit of a difference during play, but its just different, it didn't hamper me.
They are as straight as the day is long. They weight the same as each other, and are fairly ok balanced.. I just need to make a longer taper on the next pair, cos I prefer them less top heavy. To someone who plays 5Bs, they'd be perfect as they are.


Well, they certainly don't feel like wood. These ones I made feel a touch top heavy, but thats just because I didn't give them as much of a taper as I could have done. More taper means less material at the end of the stick, which means it'd be less top heavy. It's totally adjustable, just gotta alter the shape during production. Simple.

LEDs would be cool, I agree, and maybe they could work.... Perhaps just one in the butt of the stick, complete with a small hearing aid battery or AAA or camera battery, or whatever. Because the rod is light-collecting it'd behave like a big fat fiber-optic cable, and the entire stick would light up. I hope :p

Pleaseme, I'm in Billericay in Essex. And yes, our lathe in school rocks. We also have a laser-engraving machine, and a huge laser cutting machine. We also have a medium sized swimming-pool, at the bottom of which my submarine project was stuck for a few days :lol:. . . . . . . .Excuse the essay, folks.

[FockerTheLopper]

I can see Joey Lars and Mr. Lee using these in about 2 years.

[SkaRabbit]

they are already sold but only in disney land i have found out.they glow

[sonicst0rm]

Yeah, if you hooked up an LED to it, the whole thing would light up and glow and look cool. That's a killer idea :P

But, you have to watch out for acrylic especially. They're so hard and when you bend them, they store up a lot of energy, and when they snap, they REALLY go boom.

Example:
I was messin around with PVC and potato launchers. You can check pressure ratings (220 PSI etc). One day I put an old pipe in a vice grip to demonstrate an explosion. It exploded into a bunch of pieces after a few turns and i got a cut on my arm. stupid i know, but whatever. Just be careful. Drumming will not break them tho, unless you manage to hit it off node or something where it would snap. If it did tho, it would cut ur hands. That happened to me with a wood baseball bat once.

if you want to buy more acrylic, check http://www.mcmaster.com/ (go down to raw materials, u can choose plastic types) for solid cylinders. they come up to 10 ft in length for very cheap. not sure about green colored tho. You can also read up on the shattering effects. They have many different materials on the site, so you could always check out the pros and cons of different plastics. You could also try PVC, which would be DIRT cheap, and probably have similar properties, and even be a little softer.

[-TheGlassPrison-]

You should coat it with some sort of laminate possibly.


i dont know.. :(

[LittlePound]

those look great and i agree with everyone hear, sell them, and even if they aren't durable if you're selling them for 10$, it wouldn't matter cuz that's cheaper than most sticks anyways. Go for it

[aznriceball]

i have a friend thats into this kind of stuff. she probably wants a 2S. only needs one though

[crazyguy832]

Those are friggin amazing.

*stickasms*

Seriously, though, if I had cash to waste I'd buy a pair.

:D

[milkmit]

cool stuff man. not my cup of tea, but good idea and I think you should definitely look into going commercial if there seems to be potential (further testing goes well, you find a fair-priced supplier, etc).

actually, you've inspired me to go and post a thread on a question that's been nagging me recently (regarding silkscreening, and a possible "market" printing custom bass drum heads for bands and such).. time to go write it. :)

[Drum Phil]

Make me some pink ones :D

[LittlePound]

i have a friend thats into this kind of stuff. she probably wants a 2S. only needs one though
Ok one minute....is my mind in the gutter or were you really implying something here?

[Jezen]

No I think he really was being vulgar.

[Drum Phil]

^ ^ ^ ^Pot. Kettle. Black?

[Jezen]

Woah, that was weird. I was just about to go downstairs, and boil water in the kettle, to put in my pot noodles which are in a black pot...

:smoke:

[fatcow2000]

cool stuff man. not my cup of tea, but good idea and I think you should definitely look into going commercial if there seems to be potential (further testing goes well, you find a fair-priced supplier, etc).

actually, you've inspired me to go and post a thread on a question that's been nagging me recently (regarding silkscreening, and a possible "market" printing custom bass drum heads for bands and such).. time to go write it. :)

im looking into getting that done.

[milkmit]

im looking into getting that done.

cool, check out the thread I just posted. I don't want to further pollute this thread with my idea. :)

[rotary alchemist]

Yeah man. Those sticks look mad as. How much for a pair man?

[ABeautifulDissonance]

oi man you should seriously look into business. If you patent it you could always sell it to someone if your not into production. Have you looked around to see if any rod wholesalers (for lack of a better term) sell those rods cheaper?

[Pleaseme]

Hmm, Essex huh. I'm tempted to ask you to make me a pair (priced at more than just material cost) so i can **** around with LED's and stuff...me wants some!!! Would that actually be possible for you to make some more? I'm guessing you were originally just messing around, is there a chance you will actually make more to sell?

[sleepless]

I'd like to place an order.

[Parradiddle Pete]

^ But they would look a lot cooler.

It would be sweet if you put a tiny LED in them to really make them glow.

I tried it, it was hard 2 enclose the wires, but it did look awesome

[drummer172]

Those are pretty sweet! I stick with wood however.

[Pleaseme]

I tried it, it was hard 2 enclose the wires, but it did look awesome

Maybe it would be possibe to make an small unit that comproses of the LED, battery and wires all in one, and that can then fit into a hole in the bottom of the stick. Ah well who knows, theres loads of room for experimentation.

[osiecki]

I would buy some.
In pink.
1 2 ****in' 3

[Drum Phil]

Maybe it would be possibe to make an small unit that comproses of the LED, battery and wires all in one, and that can then fit into a hole in the bottom of the stick. Ah well who knows, theres loads of room for experimentation.

Use one of those cheap laser pens.

Threadstarter: Seriously, i'd buy some :) im up north so it wouldnt be too hard to get some. Although some sort of insurance would be needed cause of Osiris' antics

[fatcow2000]

Use one of those cheap laser pens.

Threadstarter: Seriously, i'd buy some :) im up north so it wouldnt be too hard to get some. Although some sort of insurance would be needed cause of Osiris' antics

he should call these "BaSa" sticks.

[drummer172]

^^^But then he would be a little b itch!

[Brokensticks]

Osiris should be shot.

[Parradiddle Pete]

Maybe it would be possibe to make an small unit that comproses of the LED, battery and wires all in one, and that can then fit into a hole in the bottom of the stick. Ah well who knows, theres loads of room for experimentation.
We had the batterys (two small watch ones) at the butt-end a secret thing in the middle (the piece de resisstance (sp?)) and the LED inside the nylon tip, it looked AWESOME. I'm thinking of taking the project back up try and get it lifted off of the ground again

[Killjoy]

W00T my 900th post....
oh cool sticks dude :)

[Pleaseme]

Hehe that sounds pretty cool! I really want to see how using one LED at the bottom shining up would look, especially if say, the stick was clear and a red/blue LED was used.Mmmmmm.

[FarFromElysium]

that is sick. i would def. buy a pair just for fun

[MeaninglessPhoto]

dude. I need to call you trump, because you my friend will make some mad profits off of those.

[The Ska Man]

You shouldn't have posted your idea on the internet, those Chinese bastards have a sattelite in my head.

This might sound crazy, but its not that farfetched.

In grade 5, I had an idea. You know those Beyblade top things? I was obsessed with those. My science project was going to be an arena that incorporated magnets into play, and the tops would have oppositely charged magnets, so that it would vastly change the way you played. 3 Months later, the company brought out an arena that did that.

Yes...........

[Massik Kretal]

That's craazzyyy.

[Plan B.]

Those would be awesome to play shows with.

I also agree with the pink colouring, would be most gnar.

[FiRsT ClasS ChUmP]

man those are some cool sticks dude:thumb: id love to own a pair!
nice 1!:chug:

[Win A Rabbit]

while they look nice, it's not an original idea. my friend brought me back clear acrylic sticks with an LED light in the butt end a year ago... from disneyland.

i played with them for a day and hated them. the ones i had were giving off these bad bad vibrations any time i hit a drum or cymbal.

[Zefie]

*drools*

If you can, try to write stuff inside with a laser, now that would be really awesome..

[Andy_was_here]

My sister bought me some of those for christmas. She got them off Ebay, they're from Disney land.
They are clear and have a blue LED inside that lights up everytime you hit, so the light flashes i time with your playing.

[Andy_was_here]

My sister bought me some of those for christmas. She got them off Ebay, they're from Disney land.
They are clear and have a blue LED inside that lights up everytime you hit, so the light flashes i time with your playing.

[Andy_was_here]

My sister bought me some of those for christmas. She got them off Ebay, they're from Disney land.
They are clear and have a blue LED inside that lights up everytime you hit, so the sticks flash in time with your playing.

[moogoogaipan]

Get a patent for them and go into production. Gtet a patent first though or else someone might steal your idea. But before you start selling you gotta make sure no one else is already sellin those!
http://www.vistalites.com/reference/glasstix.htm
not to rain on anyone's parade...but the kids don't know how to use google's search engine.

[\m/-CHeV-\m/]

i think they would just snap more quick with a metal rod through the center..
in that way the have no margin to bend a little whatsoever...
anyways.. I'd get 3 pairs ;).. 1 for on the wall, 1 for hitting people for fun and 1 for playing :p:p

[\m/-CHeV-\m/]

http://www.vistalites.com/reference/glasstix.htm
not to rain on anyone's parade...but the kids don't know how to use google's search engine.

that's too bad man..

[Repercussionist]

^^^ Triple post! Oh god, make it stop!

[\m/-CHeV-\m/]

what triple post?? i didn't triple post :O

[Taffer]

SO COOL, I want them!!
And CHeV, it was Andy_Was_Here who triple-posted. ;)

[Andy_was_here]

wow.... thats a new one.
Sorry about that.

[Berk]

those are really sick, amazing work dude, i would seriously buy them, even if i did just end up hitting ppl with them for fun
Like a light sabor!:p

[Casade]

l would seriously buy them, even if i did just end up hitting people with them for fun




:p that would be soo funny

[Jezen]

Like a light sabor!:p

Sabre*

[goalieman92]

wow. they look good. I'd say get a set of wuhans to test with so you don't crack your good cymbals. And btw, those arn't had to do by hand on a lathe but much easier to mass produce with the CNC. I might have to make myself some, just out of a different material, or maybe start my own stick company.

[drummr_137]

I might have to make myself some, just out of a different material, or maybe start my own stick company.

Better get that patent quick!:p

[Loser]

Sabre*


Saber if you speak proper (aka American) English.

[Hunted By a Freak]

Awesome idea man.

[Dunmore]

you could do the same with wood on the same lathe, make some nice
"signature" sticks, those would be cool if people paid you to make sticks with the wood, tip, diameter, taper and length they like. Those would sell, even offer some new materials like the acrylic, good machine work my friend!!!

[Hunted By a Freak]

Yeah, those might be somewhat marketable if they don't break too easy.

[goalieman92]

Better get that patent quick!:p
That's why i said a different material. I'm not gonna steal his acrylic idea, I'll probably make my own custom sticks. The only problem ismy scool doeasn't hav a CNC so I'd have to do it by hand.

[Loser]

Make them out of rubber. That might be neat.

[crazyguy832]

Make them out of rubber. That might be neat.
If you want that, go and play your kit with dildos.

[Loser]

If you want that, go and play your kit with dildos.


How heavy are dildos? I don't want to wreck anything.

[crazyguy832]

How heavy are dildos? I don't want to wreck anything.
:eek:

I... don't... know...

:amaze:

[matty2cool]

heyy!! i think ur a bright guy but i want a pair if u wuld sell em on Ebay i wuld buy em forsure but i dunt like the tip i wuld ant a nice White tip ( i forgot wut its called)..

[sweet_nothings]

heyy!! i think ur a bright guy but i want a pair if u wuld sell em on Ebay i wuld buy em forsure but i dunt like the tip i wuld ant a nice White tip ( i forgot wut its called)..

nylon.

how the hell is he gonna make the tip in nylon? as far as i know, you can't just melt it then dip the stick in. and i doubt he can put a nylon tip anyway, making it seperate would mean it'd have to be stuck on, which wouldn't be stable. building it in wouldn't work, it's make out of a single rod.

nice going, though it's been done.

[Motleyguy]

They sell those at Disneyland in California. Well not exactly the same, they have like american flag designs all over them, my buddy got a pair when he was there. Looking good though man.

[D-G]

You should probably find out how much force you need to snap them. If they break a lot easier than normal sticks, try finding stronger stuff.

[Brokensticks]

If you want that, go and play your kit with dildos.

:lol: So true. They would come in different sizes too, try them out before you buy them kids.

[Loser]

Imagine glowstick drumsticks. Glowsticks require cracking to activate. These sticks would automatically "crack" a little bit each time they hit, which would eventually cause them to glow like a glow stick. They could be like one time use things for gigs where there are lots of people on ecstasy.

[Brokensticks]

Imagine glowstick drumsticks. Glowsticks require cracking to activate. These sticks would automatically "crack" a little bit each time they hit, which would eventually cause them to glow like a glow stick. They could be like one time use things for gigs where there are lots of people on ecstasy.

That would be sweet but i'd personally rather just use a stick that lights up always if you turn it on.

Threadstarter - Have you used these sticks much? How are they?

[Flamacue]

Good work, those look cool. Not my cup of tea, but well done.:)
You know what would be a cool idea, if totally impractical? Having miniature fans on each stick that keep you cool while you play. Whichever way the stick is held or turned, the fans move at the same time so that they're always blowing upwards and powerful enough to blow cool air onto you.:amaze:

[Blank]

They're not that cool.




/jealous :upset: