Forums > Help! > Embarassingly stupid ball chain question..
Login/Join to ParticipatePooh-Bah
1,626 posts
Location: Southampton, United Kingdom
So I want to make my chains a little shorter. If I just cut one of the thin bits between the balls and use that as the top of the ball chain, that's OK, right? I just don't want to break my first set.
Sorry.
Believe me, I searched long and hard before asking such a dense question. There's probably a good reason it doesn't seem to have been asked before.What a wonderful miracle if only we could look through each other's eyes for an instant.
Thoreau
Pooh-Bah
2,014 posts
Location: Galveston, TX, USA
Yup, that's perfectly fine. If you were to purchase your ball chain in an actual shop (i.e. not via online) that is exactly what they would do to give you some from the massive roll of the stuff they have. This is of course assuming you have some sort of connector that then links to the ball chain.
Pooh-Bah
1,626 posts
Location: Southampton, United Kingdom
Yeah I do
Thanks a lot, I just thought I'd better ask as there's no way I'll manage to get more before Glasto next wednesday 
What a wonderful miracle if only we could look through each other's eyes for an instant.
Thoreau
Carpal \'Tunnel
3,136 posts
Location: Warwickshire, United Kingdom
I shortened a set from hop this way a few years back. Then I changed the chain completely cause ballchain sucks
You just gotta be careful you close the clasp completely around the end balls, it's gotta be the more likely point to fail
Pooh-Bah
1,626 posts
Location: Southampton, United Kingdom
That's cool. I got it pretty tightly closed, which was surprising considering how hard it was to open it up.
They're swinging much nicer now, thanks guys.
What a wonderful miracle if only we could look through each other's eyes for an instant.
Thoreau
Fool
2,020 posts
Location: Cornwall, UK
Written by: flid
Then I changed the chain completely cause ballchain sucks
Except it doesn't. Ball chain rules.
"I believe the cost of life is Death and we will all pay that in full. Everything else should be a gift. We paid the cover charge of life, we were born."
Bill Hicks, February 1988
Carpal \'Tunnel
3,899 posts
Location: Austin, Texas, USA
ballchain only sucks if you are vegan.
-v-
Wiederstand ist Zwecklos!
playing the days away
7,263 posts
Location: The Middle lands, United Kingdom
ballchain does suck....if you don't look after it or secure it properly or buy the wack non-stainless steel variety
Let's relight this forum 
1,262 posts
Location: Cornwall & Oxford
i agree, ballchain does suck goats and it breaks easily and doesnt whip catch well!
Aim high and you'll know your limits, aim low and you'll never know how high you could have climbed.
Mumma Hen
6,391 posts
Location: Brisbane, Australia
I love ball chain and have never had a problem with any of my ball chain from HOP
TAJ "boat mummy." VALURA "yes sweetie you went on a boat, was daddy there with you?" TAJ "no, but monkey on boat" VALURA "well then sweetie, Daddy WAS there with you"
Carpal \'Tunnel
3,899 posts
Location: Austin, Texas, USA
stainless steel 15 gauge ballchain is God incarnate.
I won't spin fire with anything else. ever.
-v-
Wiederstand ist Zwecklos!
addict
475 posts
Location: Van Diemans Land, Australia
I personally use SS oval link.
But one thing i love about spinning with ball chain is. You can feel all the weight on the end of the chain (the fire head)
With SS oval link. You can feel the weight all the way up the chain
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member
15 posts
Location: Independence Oregon, USA
i never saw that page before which Malcolm made a link to above. Now i understand completely why my NPS #15 ball chain eventually broke ( after about a year of hardcore use ). i don't remember reading any warnings that it was not appropriate for fire, but maybe those were added after i bought it. i am also a vegan ( almost ), so that may have been another part of the problem. i am very happy with the oval twist chain, it suits my needs and my large cathedral wicks very nicely.
i do miss the maneuverability of ball chain though, it was especially nice for buzzsaws ( though i have adapted to my new chains ).
Carpal \'Tunnel
3,899 posts
Location: Austin, Texas, USA
ALL chain must be inspected and occasionally replaced. even SS welded oval link can fail from heat fatigue eventually unless it is quite large size.
granted it lasts longer than ballchain, but really, it takes all of about $4-5 for a couple hundered burns to maintain your ballchain. it isn't like that should be a huge burden on anyone. If it is, the rest of your fire equipment is probably substandard too.
A year of hardcore use will fatigue your equipment in its entirety. Inspection and maintianance are not optional for fire performers!!!
-v-
Wiederstand ist Zwecklos!
member
15 posts
Location: Independence Oregon, USA
No, my fire equipment is not substandard.
HoP's Barman. Trapped aged 6 months
4,437 posts
Location: Staines, United Kingdom
An eye for an eye only ends up making the whole world blind
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member
15 posts
Location: Independence Oregon, USA
But i admit that i am substandard.
Carpal \'Tunnel
3,533 posts
Location: Hampshire College, MA, USA
I beg your pardon, but what does being a vegan have to do with ballchain?
So far as I've heard, most metals have little to do with cruelty to animals.
Or am I just being dense and not getting the joke?
-James
"How do you know if you're happy or sad without a mask? Or angry? Or ready for dessert?"
Pooh-Bah
1,626 posts
Location: Southampton, United Kingdom
Didn't you know? They extract the metal for chains from the bodies of goats. All those cans they eat's gotta go somewhere.
It takes 4 goats to make one #13 ball.
What a wonderful miracle if only we could look through each other's eyes for an instant.
Thoreau
member
15 posts
Location: Independence Oregon, USA
Written by: vanize
ballchain only sucks if you are vegan.
i never quite thought about it, but it doesn't make any sense. Does it?
member
53 posts
Location: dallas, texas, USA
twisted oval link is likwid's preferred chain of spinning.. lol
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