Stage poles are mainly for poling outdoors or doing public performances, at a venue that does not have poles. Though they can be used as a home pole, it is not recommended, as that is not their intended use. It can be used as a home pole if there are no other options for the individual. Keep in mind that the bearing may need to be periodically replaced due to heavy use.
Stage poles have a lot of flex. That is because they are not secured at the top. Though the dancer probably won't notice the flex, it can be seen by bystanders. The first time I used my stage, in front of my fiancee, his eyes got huge and he said "sooo much flex." It's okay honey, it wont break!
*Sorry for the mess in the background. This photo is of my x stage lite and 40mm chrome insert, in my living room. My ceiling is vaulted so it goes to 12 feet at the peak.
Now, on to the meat of this post, the stage features! The pole comes with two triangle carrying cases, for the pie inserts, a wheeled case with a handle, for the base, and a carrying case for the pole (much like the x pert bag.) The pole itself is connected via an x joint, which I covered in a previous post.
The base of the pole comes folded up in the wheeled case.
The underside of the base has silicone on it, much like their floor to ceiling poles, in order to protect the surface it's on. Looks like I need to replace one of my silicone feet!
The legs of the base articulate for folding purposes, so you need to make sure, when you open the legs up, to straighten them as well. If they are not straight, the pie pieces will not fit together properly on the legs.
Above: articulated legs
Below: straight legs
The center leg has a hex screw that locks it into place, so you know which way the legs should fold when putting the base away.
The legs of the base have little tabs on them in which you can place circle weights. This is if you need some added stability for your stage. i.e. if you monkey towards the top of your poles, like Timber Brown
If you need even more stability, there are legs that extend further out of the stage and lock into place.
Leg pulled out of the stage
button on leg locks leg into place, in an extended position
leg fully extended
To put the legs back in, just press the button and slide them back in
Do you need to pole on an uneven surface? They've got you covered! The feet of each leg can extend down to level out the stage.
Foot all the way up
Foot extended down
Now we are ready to put on the pie pieces!
Each pie piece has a pin that locks the pieces into place. There are two on each pie piece. The corners of each piece have holes in them, which you place over a rod on the leg to secure the piece on the legs.
The pin in its open position
When you turn the pin it automatically snaps into place.
The legs have holes in them for the pins of the pie pieces to lock into, as well as two rods for the pie pieces to slide onto.
I've had my stage for at least a year and I JUST noticed that there is felt on the pieces to help the pieces slide onto the base easier. Aren't I observant?
To put the pie pieces on the base, you place the piece between the legs
then you slide the end of the pie piece under the lip of the plate.
Lower the pie piece down over the rods
and slide the hole over the rod. Make sure you do this on both sides of the pie piece. Next snap the pins into the locked position.
The pole mechanisms itself can be a bit confusing, so I am going to detail them here.
The pole and base consist of grooves and screws to lock the pole into place and prevent it from rotating. There are two screws that hold it in place, a regular sized screw about mid way on the bearing unit, which you tighten to lock the pole into place, and loosen to remove it, and a small (although it now might be larger) screw towards the base of the bearing unit that you are supposed to leave alone.
The groove on the bearing unit in which the normal screw locks the pole into place.
This screw stays in the stage and you either tighten it to lock the pole into place, or loosen it to remove the pole.
This regular locking screw is marked with the X pole "X" (not the spin mode screws)
The groove where the smaller screw slides into. This is located on the opposite side of the bearing.
This screw is always in place, so you should not have to adjust it.
Small locking screw on the outside of the stage
Since this is an awesome stage, you know it has to have a spin mode as well! This is partly where I got confused. The spin mode screws stay in the bearing unit at all times. The base of the stage has empty holes in which you insert the hex key, once you have the pole in place. The pole must be in stationary to remove or insert pole.
The spin mode screws
It's hard to see in this photo, but the hole on the left is the locking screw marked with an X. The screw on the right (and the screw located on the opposite side for the stage to it) are the spin mode access holes.
One final note about this pole. It can be used on both the X stage and X stage lite. Notice the top screw in the photo above. There are 3 of those on the bearing unit. They are what hold the bearing unit onto the pole. If you loosen them, you can slide the bearing unit up or down.
X pole did a nice video on converting between the x stage and x stage lite:
The pole itself is offered in 50mm, 45mm, and 40mm in either chrome or brass.
I love my x stage lite. It is a fabulous product!
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