Wayang golek rod puppets are created in family workshops. The master carver makes the head because it expresses the personality of the character. There are ceremonies before carving strong puppets like gods or demons. The head is roughed out from soft wood with a saw or adz. Then the details are chiseled in. Younger family members do the bodies. The articulated arms are hinged with rattan, string or metal fastenings. The central support rod is attached to the base of the body where it is hidden by the clothing. The women make all the costumes.

Wayang golek wooden puppets are heavier than leather shadow puppets and more difficult for the dalang to carry, so there are only about 65 to 70 puppets in a set. Puppets play more than one character in these smaller sets, but they must match the type. The dalang's role is the same and the stage is similar, but without the screen. Sometimes a wayang golek puppet called a tayub or gambyong, dances at dawn at the end of a wayang kulit performance to remind the viewers to consider the message of [the] play.  Rod puppets are produced for plays, for tourists, and for wealthy Javanese collectors who use them only for display. (Golek, brackets mine)

A significant difference for the dhalang is being more exposed behind a table or on a platform than he would be behind the screen in wayang kulit. As happens in puppet theater, however, the audience will focus on the puppets to the extent that they ignore the dhalang manipulating the puppet.

As with wayang kulit, the puppets are elaborately arranged in order before the play begins, and they are separated, some to the right and some to the left, according to tradition and the nature of their character. Finer, more valuable puppets will be stored stacked carefully in a puppet box, while others may simply be laid on the ground. Before the performance, the puppet rods in both wayang golek and kulit stuck into the ground to be ready for the dhalang to take it up at any moment. Assistants know the order in which the puppets are to appear, and carefully retrieve, replace or store the puppets as needed. A dhalang may choose from several puppets of one character depending on the scene in which the character is needed. In this manner, a normally bold puppet may show his humbler nature, or a humble puppet may appear angry or bold. (Long, 1982, 6) Sometimes not only the arms of a wayang golek puppet move, but the legs also if needed for specific comedy. Some wayang golek puppets may appear on horseback, or upon mythological animals such as dragons. (Golek #2)

Wayang golek may be different from wayang kulit in only one way, in the shape and form of the puppets, but this difference is so significant that it warrants individual attention.