How to Craft a Square Hoop

For the Hoop Convergence a couple of years ago, I made this crazy square hoop, just for fun. And it was fun! Afterward, so many people asked me how I made it that I thought I would share it with you here. Here goes:

I used 4 90-degree connectors and plumbing pipe, just like with a regular hoop. I used 160 psi for this one but it was awfully heavy. Next time I’ll use 100 psi.

There are two tricks to it. You have to lay the tubing out in a warm place so that it’s pliable. Then bend and flex it til you get one long straight piece. Tubing is straight when it’s created. It’s just being on the roll that makes it bend toward roundness. So the first trick is to get four straight pieces of equal size.

The second tricky part is assembling it. I recommend having another person to help you. You need to be able to apply equal leverage pushing from both sides. I use the boiling water method, which means, boiling water on the stove, put one end into the water for about 30 seconds, then insert the connector and let it cool.

– Push it as far onto the connector as you can. You want the two pieces of pipe to meet at the center with no gap of exposed connector.

– Next insert another piece into the water for 30 sconds, insert the connector and let it cool. You should now have a piece that looks like an “L”.

– Make your other “L” before proceeding.

– Now here’s where you’ll need help. Insert the open end of one of the “L” pieces into the hot water, then insert a connector as far as you can.

– Insert an open end of the OTHER “L” into the water for 30 seconds then push the two “L’s” together as far as you can. This can be unweildy because the two pieces tend to want to flop in opposite directions. That’s reason one why having a helper helps. Reason two is that it can take a lot of force to push the piping so no connector shows. (It’s even more difficult with the final one.)

– Repeat with the last two pieces and the final connector.

– Wrap (which is another whole can-o-worms … I recommend using gaffer’s since it’s the grippiest. It’s tricky wrapping corners though. You’re on your own there…)

Hope this helps! I can’t wait to see all those square hoops out there. As Revolva says, “It’s Hip to be Square!”
And, to that end, here is a little video she made of us playing with the Squoop at Shakori Hills: http://www.youtube.com/user/revolva76#p/u/17/04o85ElKRoU (Hint: I make them smaller than this now. Still, this was fun!)

EDITED TO ADD: I think the perfect size is your arm’s length, palm-to-palm. Measure that, divide by half, subtract however long the corner of your tube is (probably half inch or so each side) and you know how long you need your tubing. If it’s too big across, you can’t reach across and grab the opposite side. If it’s too small, you’ll have trouble core hooping with it, at least at first. I think this formula is the formula to the happy medium.

I’ve been playing with shapes with this and I happened to catch on film a funny experience with my bird. Check it out: hmo532hOBhQ