Need basic help (sorry I'm slow)

Ok, here is the deal. I have been reading some posts on the board, and looking for tutorials or info pages on getting started with fire poi. However, I haven't really found any basic info on the topic. I have been spinning glow, photons, and fabric poi for close to 8 months now, and I am really ready to move on to a new challenge. I have spun fire twice, but I can't ever seem to keep the wicks lit. If I spin them at all the go out. I have to go really slow. I used a pair of homemade towel wicks, and citronella / lamp oil. I would really appreciate any help on the subject of fuels, tips on preparing wicks/chaind for twirling, and any other beginner fire tips that the board could over. thanks

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There could be any number of problems.

Your wicks might be too small. Unlikely, but it's a possibility--they'd have to be awfully small for this to be an issue. Or you may have bound the towelling too tightly.

You might be twirling too fast before the fire is well caught. Citronella takes 10 seconds--maybe more--to really get going.

You might not be giving your wicks a good soak, or they might be wet, or your fuel might be contaminated with water--hard to know without seeing your exact setup.

There are several threads on wick construction - kevlar and towell. If you do a search you'll find them fairly easily. You'll find the search button under the big post reply button.

Finn

Thanks a lot for the help. I think I will try buying some kevlar off the site, and making a real set. My first attempt was kinda flawed from the beginning simply because I used towels, which probably weren't made out of the greatest material, and my choice of fuel. Adam, you're from austin too? What do you recommend for fuel, and where can I get it? I also have another really stupid question for the more advanced fire dancers. What steps do you take in preparing right before you spin. I soaked my wicks for several hours, and spun them un-lit to get rid of excess fuel. Anything else I should/shouldn't do.

Tricky--
Yeah, I'm in Austin. There's a local group that meets weekly you might want to hook up with. Contact me privately at adamrice@crossroads.net for more info.

The fuel I use is lamp oil, "ultra pure". It's expensive ($13/gal), but it's nice to work with. I get it at Breed & Co on 29th near Guadalupe.

I don't soak for anywhere near as long as you--with new wicks, it seems to take about 5 minutes to get a good soak; with broken-in wicks, it seems to take only about 30 seconds. Naturally I spin off the excess before lighting up.

tricky, i feel your pain, i just made my own wick/fire poi and i failed big time. i'd just give up and buy the official setup, you know what they say happens if you play with fire...

i worked on it a little more, in my opinion, the best way to 'make your own fire poi' is as follows. You'll need a coat hanger, and old t-shirt, two screws, some string, some fuel. Cut the t-shirt into some good size pieces (2 feet by 8 inches?), cut the coat hanger into two rods (8 inches?) fold the t-shirt and wrap it very tightly around a coat hanger, screw into it so it is held tightly, bend one end of coat hanger into a hook, and the other a loop, pull on the loop end so the hook is wedged into the t-shirt, tie string around loop end, repeat for other poi, dip in fuel, lite.

Jamie - are you serious about using string for firepois? The safety issues concerning this are absolutely huge...there is any number of ways that the strings can be weakened, or catch fire or break with the end result being one of the poi heads suddenly flying through the air and hitting someone, or landing on a roof or whatever.

Only use metal cables or chains for fire poi, anything else is just too risky...

As for tying the strings on, this will force the strings to twist up as there is no swivel to account for the rotation of the poi when holding the handle in a frim grip. By some fishing swivels or something of a similar design to attach to the handles and preferably to the poi heads as well.

Please don't forget to mention that when you put the screws in they should be sunken below the level of the cloth, making it much harder to be burnt by the super-hot screws during an impact. These screws can burn on contact otherwise.

Also, keep a close eye on the material when burning as tends to flake off a lot. This isn't a danger in itself, but you will find when a large portion has burnt away your coat hanger and screws become a nasty type of mace which is hot and has sharp bits poking out of it.

You also forget to mention spinning off the excess fuel so that impacts won't leave a burning residue on skin and clothing...

Not meaning to sound harsh, but be very careful of giving advice to others if that advice is likely to hurt them or damage property (i.e. flying flaming poi heads).

Thanks guys...

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Charles (AKA INFERNO)

newdolbel@hotmail.com
http://juggle.co.nz/fire/fire.html

quote:

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flying flaming poi heads

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That's It! That's the name of my new band.

One Night Only! The Flying Flaming Poi Heads!

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