Regarding ballchain metal splinters.Ow Ow

OW.. Tonight my ballchain laid my finger open and I had to dig a BIG metal splinter out of it. OUCh. This cant be healthy, okay ,now I have a bunch of questions.. Is there different grades of ballchain? and Did I buy the crappy stuff? and that is why this happened? what is the best ballchain to use? HAs anyone else had this problem? PLEEZE help ME.......wah wah wah It HURTZ..I want my DADDY..

Ball chain is a tricky beasty. It is really hard to tell when it is going to break into a thousand shards from overuse.

Maybe use dog chain or any chain with welded links instead?

yeah! go to the hardware store and pick up some light welded link chain. it's the best. cept getting it to swivel is a beast.

and you need to replace your ballchains right now. if you got a metal splinter from them, they probably need to be retired.

gees ..I really like ball chain I mean I REALLY LOVE ballchain . it doesnt tangle like other chain. I didnt have any idea they would wear out and peel....
I thought they were going to last longer than me...! well which is best, stainless or some other kind?
thankyou so much for your response

Ball chain wears out. Quite quickly from what I have been told, but its also the best to spin with..(in my opinion). I think that all chain wears, and that it isnt as easy to tell when ball chain is wearing as it is with dog chain.... But in saying that I have also seen dog chain snap for no apparent reason...
so its very hard to say what happened with your chain hun... Have you had it for very long?
Hope your finger gets better

Yes ive had them a long time, apparently too long.I have several pair and lots of people have used all of them so, they have got plenty of use..I agree ballchain is wonderful stuff but ,I guess I better plan on buying some more, I still dont know which is the best to buy. www.ballchain.com offers a few different kinds for sale... HO HUM...
And thank you, my finger started getting better the very instant i got the splinter out.

You could always buy some of this, I've been using it for my chains and I've had no problems.

there are a several types of ballchain. you have the nickle plated steel kind. the non-plated, stainless steel kind won't shed nickle plating flakes like you have experienced.

As for ballchain wearing out, yes it does. 13 gauge you should flip after 30 to 40 burns and then through out after another 30 or 40. 15 gauage will give you like 100 before you need to put the end that was by the wicks close to the handles and perhaps another 100 before you need to replace it. I've never seen 20 gauge break. And for what it is worth, percentage wise, I have seen normal link chain and swivel combinations break far more often than ballchain. Both chain types heat fatigue, but, as Valura said, you can tell when ballchain is getting ready to crap out on you, but not link chain.

Another benifit to ballchain besides it's non-tangly nature is that is doesn't have as much heat capacity - i.e. when you do get tangled in it, it will not burn you a fraction as much as hot link chain will because it has less metal and therefor holds less heat to burn you with.

Ballchain is the only thing I'll spin with, but you've got to keep on top of its maintanence, and avoid the plated type. Go to ballchain.com to see all the varieties. They don't have a listing of types per se, but if you look under their "precut lengths" page, you'll see a variety of types. Basically there is brass, aluminum, and nickle or brass plated steel ballchain - none of which are good for fire poi (though the pure brass is ok for practice poi), and then there is the stainless steel variety - a little more expensive (at least in the local hardware store in Housotn), but the only kind appopriate for fire poi. Note that all the anodized/colored ballchain is either plated or aluminum, so don't be tempted by that like I was (Aluminum ball chain breaks really fast when you spin with it - even just glowsticks).

Hope that helps.

WOO HOO Vanize ..YOU ROCK... ...you have been ever so helpful, thankyou very much..you answered ALL my questions AND more...

my pleasure.

I'm a huge advocate of ballchain, and I find that anyone who doesn't like to spin with it either hasn't really tried it or can't be bothered with equipment maintainence ( )

I've been meaning to write a writeup on ballchain for the articles section of HoP... perhaps I'll actually get around to doing that some day.

one thing nobody has mentioned yet is that a thorough check before you spin is deffo advisable. I always look at every link before every spin. Doesn't take more than 30 secs with a few quick tugs along the way so you can see if anything is splitting.

Safety first....especially the folks watching well within a "fly-off" range!!

Hope your finger heals nice a quick, and like Vanize said the stainless won't splinter like the coated stuff and is most likely stronger as only lower grade steels will require coating.

I agree with everything Vanize has just said.

Ballchains are the way forward

yo,

just noticed that hop ballchain is NPS, is that Nical Plated Steel?

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