Forums > Technical Discussion > fire fingers

Posted: 4th Jul 2001
I've described my own approach athttps://www.crossroads.net/a/writing/firemaking.htmlBasically I take two longish pieces of wire, bend them in the middle, and twist them into a tight spiral. I leave an eye where the bend was, wrap the wicking around that, and penetrate the wicking and the eye with a thin piece of wire, which I wrap around and twist off. I leave the ends untwisted, and bend them into finger coils.

Laugh while you can, monkey-boy

Posted: 16th Jul 2001
https://www.geocities.com/masterfyretr/Tips/Tips03.htmHe
makes quick and easy torches by using white glue to afix cotton cloth to the wire. The water solaluble glue dosn't disolve in the oil based fuel and cures harder with the heat of being burned. I used denim from an old pair of jeans.

Posted: 21st Jul 2001
I don't use fire fingers, but on my hand wicks (which are very similar) I wrap and tie the wick, and secure it with white glue so it can't unravel in case I stop paying attention and let it start to smoulder.

Human salvation lies in the hands of the creatively maladjusted - Martin Luther King Jr.

AnonymousPLATINUM Member

Posted: 19th Sep 2001
Whats the typical number of finger wands on one would put on each hand? 2 or 3?

Posted: 18th Sep 2001
as with everything to do with this art, its all personal preference.frenzie and I just made some for ourselves - 3 on each hand, very short (4inches of wire) with leather finger coverings.thumb, middle finger, little finger.

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Posted: 30th Sep 2001
Ok, hopefully this isn't getting too "NASA" about your question, but this might take your thoughts in other directions ...I was watching an Extravaganza (basically a glorified topless revue, but we won't get into that) the other day and one of the performers was dancing about with two long (30cm at least) jets of flame issuing forth from both her hands.She was not topless, and quite obviously (to me ) somewhere in her outfit she had stashed away a cylinder of iso-propyl butane or LPG or somesuch, a regulator/non-return valve (lets hope) and two flexible tubes ending with steel piping (prolly insulated so she could hold them).It looked quite good although it could have been done way better ...By the way, I noticed a few of you balking at the thought of gas, and rightly so! This is dangerous stuff boys and girls, if you're not 100%, leave it alone!If you are, or know someone mechanically inclined it should be relatively easy to modify a gaz camp stove to suit your needs.SAFETY! SAFETY! SAFETY! (Yes I know I'm shouting, but it's important!)Make like a set of Freddy Kruger-like gloves ie. a flame to each finger or go with the above mentioned 'flame from each hand', keep the flames(gas flow) smallish, and you should be able to blow them out like candles.For clarification, this looks *nothing* like an acetylene torch (thats just nuts, ok?), it like a bunsen burner with the valve closed (remember science at school ?)Don't burn yourself.Bish

Hasst du etwas zeit fuer mich?... Dan singe ich ein lied fuer dich ... -Bjork/Nena

Posted: 30th Sep 2001
I think that if you plan on using more than 3 wands per hand, you're probably better off making fire-gauntlets. Getting 4 or 5 separate wands onto each finger (and off) could be difficult.

Laugh while you can, monkey-boy

Posted: 30th Sep 2001
I'm wondering how quickly, if at all, the finger coils on Adam's design get too hot to use?

Posted: 1st Oct 2001
Emthen--Depends on what kind of wire you use.My first iteration of the design used baling wire. Heat conduction wasn't an issue, but baling wire isn't durable, so I was looking for something else.Second iteration used aluminum wire. Heat conduction was a big issue, because Al is an excellent conductor of heat. If you used a relatively cool-burning fuel, squeezed out your wicks thoroughly, and were generally careful, you'd be OK, but I was not satisfied with that. In my testing, I could go 8 minutes before a wand got uncomfortably hot. I only made a few sets of these.Third iteration used stainless-steel wire. Heat conduction with this, again, is not an issue. These models worked pretty well.I am now on my fourth design iteration (which I have not documented yet), which is based on a completely different design using a brass tube instead of wire. In my testing, thermal conduction has not been an issue with this, either.

Laugh while you can, monkey-boy

Posted: 1st Oct 2001
Thanks!Will give it a go with small wicks and see how it goes. =)