Monkey fist core material

What do you use to stuff in the core of a monkey fist poi? Does it have to be fire-proof material or can I just use something super absorbant like cotton balls?

I use a 1.5" wooden ball. You can acquire these from craft stores, they are sold as doll's heads, I think. I then drill a 5/32" hole through the center of the wooden ball and another 1/4" hole half way through. I make a loop of 1/16" stainless wire rope (from West Marine) through the hole and I swage an oval onto the two ends. The swaged bit will fit nicely inside section of wooden ball drilled to 1/4" leaving a loop out the end. My wicks, which are a "four-fingered" monkey's fist not of 3/8" kevlar rope burn for 7-8 minutes without any additional absorbent material in the core. I've heard of people using absorbent material in the core, but I've never actually seen this done. To make a nice looking knot, a nice round core is required.

It was great to meet you last night, Heath.

And, I can attest to the "nice round knots" and burntimes of Heath's poi!

is there anything hard and highly porous and absorbant? It would definatly be the perfect core.

How about a hollowed out wooden ball that has holes in it kinda like a whiffle ball. You can then stuff that with absorbant material.

im pretty sure it's awfuly tricky carving out hollow balls. Ive been meaning to take up a carving project for awhile.

Hmm

see if you can Find aluminum ball of some sort
Cut ball in Half and Drill holes in it to allow Fuel to escape onto Kevlar
Fill it with absorbent material and Put Back Both Parts to make the ball agen and Tack Weld the 2 Half's together then Wrap Monkeys Fist around Ball

Sorry If this Makes No Sense But any Feedback Would Be Great

Why not a tig weld, if it's aluminum?

i got Confused for a Second it was Late when i Typed that out

How about a smaller monkey fist? That way youd have an absorbent core for the larger knot... but of course the centre of the smaller knot wouldnt be absorbent.

oh... how DO you use absorbant material in the middle?

is this neccessary?

LOL

this is probably the reason why my monkeyfist broke after 10 burns....

monkey fist seem to unravel after a while if they are not tight enough in the beginning. Here is a article on how to make monkey fist with a knot core: firemecca.com/t-tutmf.aspx
tie a pretzel knot, then tie a two loop monkey fist around that, then tie a final larger monkey fist around that.