Sparkly poi.... new ideas....

Ok so having done an extensive search of nearly all the threads containing “wire wool” and “Sparkly poi” respectively

I have come up with a bit of info.
But I have discovered an answer to a common myth .
Yes there are lots of sparkly poi threads but most of them are useless with limited info
And some quite outdated advice that is actually quite dangerous ………….

Wire wool spinning is spinning of wire gages (usually made of chicken wire) filled with burning Wire wool it is very very dangerous as hot lumps of molten mettle are spraying out all over the place.

But it dose look very pretty.

I have used Wire wool a few times and hear are my following top 20 tips.

1 make sure your cage construction is solid (don’t want it falling apart mid spin)

2 make sure the holes in your cage are quite big not to big about 1 to 2 inches across

3 use fine grade Wire wool it works better the finer the better

4 don’t pack your cages to tight you need good air flow over the wool for it to work (as we found out in Falmouth)

5 opposite to 4 don’t pack it to loose the burning wool wont pass its burn to the rest of the wool effectively (trial and error to get this right)

6 you don’t need to dip if you do your cages are badly constructed with not enough air flow.

7 spin fast but don’t do any body-cross moves (rotation flowers ect) (in-fact don’t to flowers you don’t want the poi head spinning towards you) (buzz saws are right out)

8 don’t make your cages to big this will make them heavy and un-wielding

9 try to make the bottom of your cage round improves air flow over the hot end of the wool

10 in-fact tube shaped is best no sharp edges to catch on stuff

11 if you want to have longer burn time line your cages with a metal can so only the end of the wool burns and the rest feeds down into it as the wool burns away

12 if you do have feed tubes make sure they are smooth or the wool will just snag will not feed into the end of the cages

13 spin in the open (I mean open your back yard will not do)

14 don’t spin near any combustible stuff IE the dry ground, cars, people, buildings that sort of stuff. best done after a good rain shower

15 keep people and animals well back say 20 m or so (you never know what might happen (we once had a head come completely come off))

16 keep all skin and hair well covered ( I got a very bad burn just by one glancing my arm)

17 if stuff dose go wrong drop them and walk away don’t try to put them out they are dam dam hot if you can drop a very damp towel on them or even better fire blanket

18 when you have finished don’t try to empty the remains out straight away wait for it to cool the lump in the bottom is semi molten metal and is hot

19 empty the remains into a metal tin it will still be hot for a long time (don’t want to start any fires now do we )

20 be sure you are a good spinner don’t do silly stuff and practice with full cages unlit to get used to the feel of them




Out of the links I did find some were vary good please read them all before even attempting wool work


This link has some great safety info by fireNice and has some good replies.

Wire wool Safety

This one has a bit of useful info and some nice links by fluffy

(LINK COMMING SOON SEARCH IS PLAYING UP )



A quote from Frodo someone who’s advice I would trust.

Written by: Frodo

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use the finest grade Wire wool that you can, DON’T dip, and don’t light!!!

sound confusing? well just use a normal household 9V battery, thats what i use, dry Wire wool and a 9V it makes an even brighter wall of wooll!!!


don’t take my word for it, try it!!

frodo out

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Hear is a pick of a good design with a feeding tin for longer burn times.

http://home.wanadoo.nl/rhoutappel/plaatjes/poi/wirewoolpoi.jpg



This is just an example one of the many picks I have found and is how not to go about it not enough space sparks are hitting what looks like a wooden fence and who knows what is on the other side of the fence ( may be a cat doing an impression of a dog wwooooooooofffffff)

http://www.homeofpoi.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=3444



Always think safety first



ps if someone could spell check this for me I would be most grateful

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Written by: funken

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Black Bush Poi
its a hollow tube with a kevlar rope X on one side and the chains atached to the other
you can fill it with Steel wool and it lasts a while
grets steve

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