Forums > Technical Discussion > Instructions for making/using sparkley poi!

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pjmember
277 posts
Location: Baltimore, Maryland, USA


Posted:
I'm sure you are as sick of reading about sparkly poi as I am. I think a lot of that is due to the fact that there do not seem to be any *real* instructions on how to make them in the archives or anywhere on the net.(and if there are, I've been too dumb to find them.) Well, here is a complete recipe for something that works from someone who has just done it.I made some sparkley (not sparkler) poi about a week ago, but I have been so busy that I have not had a chance to burn them until last night. What follows is how I made and burned them. This is by no means an optimal setup, but it works at least as good as any other sparkly I have ever seen.Basically, all you do is make terry-towel wicks, and wrap some steel wool arround the terry towel before wiring them up. Soak them in your fuel of choice (I used white gas) spin out, and light!Here are the specifics: I had never made terry towel wicks before (tbelieve it or not, he first wicks I made were kevlar) so hop on over to https://www.geocities.com/firepoi/construction.html
and read the instructions on towel fire wicks. I didn't quite follow these instructions -- I used more wire for safety and tried two differeing wiring designs but that really didn't seem to matter.Instead of terry towel, I used an 8 inch square piece of denim (from an old pair of jeans) folded into quarters (down to a two-inch strip) for each poi. I used 0000 (very fine) steel wool because that was all I had. (in fact, this project got started when I found a dozen pads of the stuff while housecleaning.) I unrolled the pad, and then re-rolled it arround the denim core.And, that's all there is to it! I got about 30 seconds on *intense* sparks, likely due to the fineness of the steel wool I used. The wicks continued to burn for an additional 2-3 minutes from the fuel in the denim. I'm sure that coarser steel wool will burn longer, though with perhaps less intense sparks.So, there you have it! I plan to experiment quite a bit more before heading out to burning man, but I'm not sure I will have time to document my results. In the meantime, have fun!Oh, and remember to be careful. Hot burning flying metal bits can be very dangerous. I did this in the center of a large yard right after a heavy rainstorm with no one nearby. I even wore lab goggles while spinning. Anyone who attemps this should be sure to take similar precautions. Unfortunately, this was very much a spur of the moment thing and I did not have a camera to take pictures. frown Maybe next time...-p.

Knagimember
397 posts
Location: Brunswick, Ohio


Posted:
I'll add my two cents. I feel like a steel wool expert now. Goto the hardware store ask them for something thinner then a coathanger but that will still hold it's shape well. Get steel wool too. The more the merryer! I've burned though about 40 pads now. I get it in huge bricks of pads :P I also used smaller ones that I found in the paining isle of big lots they had a cilineder shape. So I threaded 4 pads onto the wire. bent it over so two pads per side. then twisted and brought the wire back down so the 4 pads were right next to each other. Squeezed down the bends I had, then wired up a normal towel wick ring out of the wire. Your gonna have to see how to make the towel wicks It took me about a dozen trys to get the ring right. But I soaked them in karo just real fast enough to coat them spun *all* the excess off. Then lit them waited about 10 15 seconds for them to warm up and be rdy to shower. Then went nuts! First time I did it, I didn't have a clue what was comming..... Neather did all the other ppl standing around me :P It was all good though it was a large group of ppl having a pyscho bon-fire 15 tall Flames. yada yada yada Burning Corn if you wanna read about it :P. I know I ended up showering alot of ppl. but after they scrambled outa the way they started that mad cheering that I love so much. :P Also LOOK BEFOR YOU TURN! I turned and moved into a reverse weave at my side and didn't look soon as my eyes got around I saw this dude getting showered. I had my shirt off and remember the bits hitting me and just falling off without any burning of flesh. I also got hit in the back by exploding fireworks and a few to many near misses with bottle rockets during the night. Second party i did them at was at a nice quarry, sandy beach and the band jamming out on the stage that wasn't even 50 feet away. Launched them off a small penisuala out over the water. I experimented with the cage design abit and was very pissed. I stuffed a whole bunch of steel wool pads into a gutter strainer. not only was it nearly impossiable to light but almost no sparks came out. The losser the wire wrap the quicker and more of a shower affect you will get. When it was in the strainer I got about a 2 minute burn time with the wire wrap it goes for about a minute. Didn't shower anyone but myself that time, but also did't get that wicked crowd cheer. At Playa del furgo I plan on bringing like 12 sets or more and finding a bunch of pyscho spinners like me and having a sparkly poi orgy around the bon-fire showering each other with flaming bits :P------------------We are all in the cosmic movie. That means the day you die you watch your whole life repeating for eternity. So you'd better have some good things happen in there and have a fitting climax. --Jim MorrisonMost Memerable crowd saying "Hey look that dude's gonna set himself on fire again!"[This message has been edited by Knagi (edited 15 August 2001).]

We are all in the cosmic movie. That means the day you die you watch your whole life repeating for eternity. So you'd better have some good things happen in there and have a fitting climax. --Jim MorrisonIt's going to come from a direction you didn't predict at a moment of chaos which you didn't see coming. -- NYC


pjmember
277 posts
Location: Baltimore, Maryland, USA


Posted:
Oh, you'll be in good company at PDF. Most of the Baltimore Calefaction Society will be there, in fact, most of the PDF organizers are also fire spinners. ;-)-p.

DmAlterEgo
128 posts
Location: Londonish


Posted:
Is there any way of quickly converting some standard Cathedral wicks into Sparkly Poi?Thanks!Dom

We're nothing but the nerds they think we are


Knagimember
397 posts
Location: Brunswick, Ohio


Posted:
I'm sorry but.. Did you read any of the above befor you posted that? wink How many spinners are gonna be at PDF this year.. Just an off hand guess.

We are all in the cosmic movie. That means the day you die you watch your whole life repeating for eternity. So you'd better have some good things happen in there and have a fitting climax. --Jim MorrisonIt's going to come from a direction you didn't predict at a moment of chaos which you didn't see coming. -- NYC


flash fireBRONZE Member
Sporadically Prodigal
2,758 posts
Location: Sydney, NSW, Australia


Posted:
oooo - looks who's developing an attitude!! winkmaybe we should make Knagi a mod, eh pele. wink grin

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UCOFSILVER Member
15,417 posts
Location: South Wales


Posted:
Hahahahaha.
biggrin

squarefishSILVER Member
(...trusty steed of the rodeo midget...)
403 posts
Location: the state of flux, Ireland


Posted:
I take it flash fire that you're totally taking the piss,

Didn't you read Knagi's post? The first time that he used wire wool he did'nt know what he was doing, wasn't even wearing a shirt and managed to spray a bunch of people with steel wool.

The second time he was pissed as a fart and still went ahead and did it anyway..

And people wonder why it's difficult to get insurance for fire performances?

Please.

Mint SauceBRONZE Member
veteran
1,453 posts
Location: Lancs England


Posted:
humm reading the instructions maybe we need to delete this thread not exactly safe info to be giving out especially if it is the top search result on Google

before i met those lot i thought they'd be a bunch of dreadlocked hippies that smoked, set things on fire ,and drank a lot of tea but then when i met them....oh wait (PyroWill)


Mint SauceBRONZE Member
veteran
1,453 posts
Location: Lancs England


Posted:
[Old link]

before i met those lot i thought they'd be a bunch of dreadlocked hippies that smoked, set things on fire ,and drank a lot of tea but then when i met them....oh wait (PyroWill)



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