Roach Spreader

[laqsilver]

HEY ALL, I am trying to help all you dancers out. But, a good product needs good public imput. I am working right now on new ideas ofr re-inventing the ROCKER spreader. I want a lot on imput. I already have the "fold down" antenneas for grass dance. I gots the spreaders. I am a long time dancer. Been going to powwows for 50 years now. Lets get these heads together and make it easier on all of us. I got this thread started, lets see what happens. My other email is [email protected] or check out www.laquays.com

Later

[Wakalapi]

That's some NICE metalwork on your site, there!

I am in the process of making a rocker spreader for one of the kids on my drum. The base is cut from several layers of thick leather, glued and sewn together. Next I drilled a hole in the center and mounted a brass spring with various hardware. At the top of the spring is a piece of brass square-dowel (or whatever they're called) with two nails epoxied in for the mounts. The only thing I need to do next is modify a small gate hinge to keep it rocking only back-and-forth. Right now, it sproings in every direction but one dancer told me he thought that'd be cool. Well, the dance I am making it for would like the directional control and the "customer's" wishes are what count today.

Of course this pales in comparison to custom metalwork. If I were to make a wish-list suggestion, I would be looking for a more "compact" suspension system for the feather mount, such as a single spring with the post through its center, hinged at the bottom. This is what I am attempting in a home-made variety.

[bwhite]

I like that rocker on your site. I've seen them made like that a couple of times, with the springs under each end.

Mine is the good ole rubber band method. The rubber bands, stretched across two "posts" in the front and the back, give the spring action. The hinged part in the middle has a heavy piece of wire through it that bounces off of the rubber bands.

It rocks very well, but is a pain to pack into a suitcase.

Wakalapi, you definitely want your rocker to rock in only one direction. Keep trying that hinge. (if you wanted your feathers to rock in all different directions, wouldn't you just wear spinners?) Just a thought.

[laqsilver]

keeping feathers on

what about sockets for the rocker end to slide the feather in and use a pin to hold in just like my 2 socket, single and now chicken dance spreaders???????????

[White Powwow Dancer]

laqsilver
You have nice work here keep it up.

[DeusExMachina]

Man that is some nice work. okay, i like a rocker that has some really dramatic movement. not just a little back and forth movement. i want a LOT of back and forth. so i use a center hinge and thin rubberbands to get the motion.

[3D.Smith]

will I get any of the profits if I help?

I came up with a new design. untested though...

[laqsilver]

And we continue

I have seen a lot of different ideas and have been working with several dancers to come up with ideas. I use to be a feather dancer and am a grass dancer now. That is me on my site.

Thanks for the good words. I appreciate it.

I do this for profit??? Wow, who would have thunk.

Well back to the design board.

LATER

[crazywolf]

ideas and questions

Boozhoo niji,

I am working on a roach for my outfit, and I got some questions about the spreader. Like... exactly how big is the spreader in relation to the roach base? The roach I have now is made up of strung hackles, and it sticks up fine no matter the spreader.

The one I have now, was crazy crow ordered, and I totally did not like the design. I so totally didnt like it I never wore it till I ripped it apart and rebuilt it. I have the Fancy Dance book, and followed their directions for the rocker to the letter with one exception. On the parts of the hanger that point up, that you slide the feathers on, I bent a loop where you would just bend a right angle. I did this so I could physically tie my feathers to the rocker. I had to work pretty hard at getting those, and I aint gonna risk loosing them. The loop is a small and easy thing to do, and it really doesnt look that bad.

I plan on redesigning the whole rocker though. I have been thinking about it for a coulpe of years now, see what you think. Like I said, its current design is from the Crazy Crow book, with a piece of broomstick with some holes drilled in it, and using coat hangers for pivot points and rubber bands to bounce off of. It doesnt seem to matter how many or how few rubber bands to use, I gotta thrash my head to get the thing to rock proper. I have tried adding different wieghts to the rocker, larger and smaller feathers (till I got the ones I have now) and oil on the pivot point. I am 33 years old and my neck gets a good kink in it after a hard days dancing.

I am a mechanic, so I look at everything from the point of view of how I can improve on a design. I am thinking of having the whole spreader and rocker made from silver just to make it look better. I am also thinking of using small ball bearings for the pivot point. You can get them extremely small, some competition yo-yos use bearings in the center for long spins, for maximum tricks. I think these are the smallest ones I have seen but they dont have just the bearings, and the yo-yos cost around $100.

I still want to use the rubber bands, springs are pretty set, once you have them, you cant easily change them. Rubber bands can be changed in a second. They also come in different colors, LOL.

Derek

[sookout sh'nob]

HEh, when you said silver I immediately thought "I bet I could make one in copper" ( i'm a machinest/[roject engineer's son)... which led me to another thought - how diff metals behave in diff cirumstances. So...

Have you thought about the flexibility and elasticity of different metals at all? Not sure it would make a diff, but you never know... and it is just a thought ;)

[crazywolf]

different metals

Boozhoo niji,

Yeah I have thought about different metals, silver is the way to go. Copper is tougher, but how are you going to keep if from corroding? It turns a bright green color that tends to stain and transfer to organic materials. You know like those copper bracelets that everyone wears... they eventually give the owners a nice tattoo around their wrists. Plus I have used copper before, in a bustle. It was cheap and easy to manage. I used copper tubing for the extenders. It was heavy, but I polished that tubing to a mirror shine, and then clear coated it with waterproof marine grade varnish. Needless to say, the varnish was no match for the sweat I put out when I was dancing, and the thing started to corrode at only 5 months.

No the silver spreader I have, is just starting to corrode at 5 years. The trouble is, it is warping, so I am gonna have to go with some thicker stuff. Maybe the man I will comission to build the thing will know more about silver and its alloys than I do, and can make it stronger. Right now I am more worried about the design of the thing, gonna make it from a stop sign for starters. I can hack off that and screw with it as much as I want, when I get the final result, I will have it permanently made.

Derek

[SaltRiver Cheyennes]

Cheyenne Rocker

Hey yall this is a cool thread and I would just like to put my particular style in the books. I use some tin sheet metal that you can get at Home Depot or Ace hardware store . Actually you can go to your local whatever ...any who .. I use sizzors and cut the size I need for my roach . Pretty easy enough . Then I will get my other two supplies nice and handy - they are a clothes hanger ( or if you want something a little more sturdy check out what your local hardware store has in wire gauge) and your pick of either a wooden or strong plastic thread spool. Hammer and drill w/bits. With the spool you will need to drill a hole either in the middle or the very bottom all the way through the spool. After you have drilled a hole use some of your wire and feed it through the spool and bend wire down on both sides. Now look at it , the wire should look like a 3 sided square. The spool should move easily w/ Rocker effect . Next step is to get the field goal look . You should know what I mean . This is a bit tricky, the way I do it is to get the wire to come up through the bottom-you will want to remember that at the top you will want to drill a few more holes in the spool to get the field goal look . But as I come up with the two wires I will twist the wire so that it is strong and will not move . (Use needle nose pliers to manipulate wire ).At the top- the two ends will protrude through where the wires holes were drilled, this will look like an antaenna ears. Then with a little cosmetic touch up make your super bowl uprights. Next to get the Rocker effect remember that the spool will be bouncing off of Light brite rubber bands . So drill holes use some of the excess wire and insert wire down then drill another hole bring wire up drill another hole bring wire back down and hammer down both sheet metal and wire to make stiff . Place the rubber bands on these mini post of the metal spreader .Zoom Zoom Zoom your Rockin! [email protected] Later

[standnbear]

HEY ALL, I am trying to help all you dancers out. But, a good product needs good public imput. I am working right now on new ideas ofr re-inventing the ROCKER spreader. I want a lot on imput. I already have the "fold down" antenneas for grass dance. I gots the spreaders. I am a long time dancer. Been going to powwows for 50 years now. Lets get these heads together and make it easier on all of us. I got this thread started, lets see what happens. My other email is [email protected] or check out www.laquays.com

Later

i know this thread is pretty old but it got me thinking. this is what i came up with.