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firestarter

member
Location: San Francisco, CA USA

Total posts: 2

Posted:15th Sep 2001hey all, i have a solo performance coming up this week and i am curious how one can make a cauldron for performances -- small scale of course. i would just be using it to re-light my tools during my performance.

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saffire

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Location: North Queensland,. Australia

Total posts: 27

Posted:16th Sep 2001A cheap, easy option would be a brass or copper decorative pot-plant holder. A stand should be simple enough too, Get Creative!
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Give it plenty of time to cool down before moving it though, metal stays hot for ages!!

DONT PANIC
Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy.

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firestarter

member
Location: San Francisco, CA USA

Total posts: 2

Posted:17th Sep 2001the brass/copper poi idea is a really good one. i still have one more question for ya: how does one keep the flame alive and kicking in the cauldron? i know people who use a roll of toilet paper and soak it in fuel then just turn over the cauldron when they are done to cut off air circulation and kill the flame. yet that method is messy and leaves burnt toilet paper all over the place. any other suggestions for keeping a good flame inside the cauldron?thanks for your help =)

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Xochidance

member
Location: The Beginning

Total posts: 18

Posted:17th Sep 2001I read on a magician page that he uses a metal bowl, but has kevlar wicking on the inside. Instead of kero, he uses meths and colors his flames for added effects. You could use jeans, or... dunno, get creative!

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NYC

NYC
Location: NYC, NY, USA

Total posts: 9232

Posted:18th Sep 2001Sterno Cans! Er.. I mean chaffing dish fuel cans! I'm a big fan. You can color the flames and such and they rarely go out, even in heavy wind. I found em for $0.44 US each. I love em!

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Yes, let's go.
[They do not move.]

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Ade
SILVER Member since Mar 2001

Are we there yet?
Location: australia

Total posts: 1897

Posted:18th Sep 2001You can also use camp stoves (generally available at disposal stores or camping stores) they are heavy duty cast iron and work really well as portable cauldrons.Alternatively, you can actually buy real cast iron three legged caulrdons in Oz, there must be one in your locale somewhere....And I generally use metho in mine.ade

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Kosmik Lunatik

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Location: mass

Total posts: 58

Posted:19th Sep 2001Hey guys I know this isn't my thread and all but I was just wondering, if you take a pot of fuel and light on fire it won't explode will it, won't the flame just stay on the top. If so you could just keep dunking your poi in the flaming liquid. If not it was just a stupid idea.Peace be the journeymatty

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NYC

NYC
Location: NYC, NY, USA

Total posts: 9232

Posted:19th Sep 2001It depends on the fuel. Either it will explode, in which case you shouldn't have been using it as a poi fuel in the first place, or it needs a wick.There are a few setups that will burn on top of the liquid, but I wouldn't use em... they'd get too hot and burn too fast.

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Yes, let's go.
[They do not move.]

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Charles
BRONZE Member since Jun 2001

Charles

Corporate Circus Arts Entertainer
Location: Auckland, New Zealand

Total posts: 3989

Posted:19th Sep 2001[the whole crowd groans as Charles, the Energizer Safety Bunny, runs onto the stage]Whoops, burning containers? Even fuel like lamp oil can explode if there is a curved neck or resouiveure (i can never spell that word!) above the fuel where the gas can collect. Especially if the gaseous area is larger than the exit hole, you can get small explosions.These very seldom smash apart the container, but usually shoot flames up into the air which can easily hit the person dunking or light up trees or other things.Another problem is that the explosion tends to offbalance the container and can knock it over. All of a sudden you have a huge spreading puddle of fire that is often impossible to put out and is going to go where it wants and burn whatever it wants.This isn't to say you can't do it, i have a 2litre tin that I use for dunking my staff, and it reguarly lights up. It doesn't have a neck, the top is open and just as wide as the body.I have tried {ONCE} to blow it out when its alight with hardly any fuel in it [ie lots of gas] and the explosion burnt my face and knocked the tin over.Perhaps the most dangerous point with a burning container is that innattentive people (we all know the ones i mean) can knock it over without looking. Or, even pick it up to look at it (d'oh!), burn their fingers, drop it on their clothing or feet and set themselves alight.People can be really stupid, and they could well kill themselves or inflict 3rd degree burns.I only ever leave my tin burning when its miles away form the public and I can keep an eye on it...Safety Bunny signing off
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------------------Charles (INFERNO)newdolbel@hotmail.comhttp://juggling.co.nz

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xaeda

member
Location: Sydney, Australia

Total posts: 129

Posted:29th Sep 2001hey :-)dammit, I was gonnna just pop in and then out but it looks like I'm hooked again ;-)Um, I helped make a pyrotechnic cauldron effect once (with help from an all-knowing pyro guy), with a cauldron from a second hand store. I made a wiggly loop out of thick wire, wrapped cotton rags around it quite thickly, and then bound it on with more wire. This sat inside the cauldron and was soaked with meths and boric acid (green flame). We had a huge contraption with sparklers and stuff above it, but the cool thing was that it was all ignited electronically. If you can get access to pyro gear (you may need a permit for this......in NZ you need a permit even if you only want to buy one sparkler outside of guyfawkes season), you can get these little electronic fuses which will light most things with a low enough flash point - meths works but kero would probably need pipematch as well. Just thinking that you could do some quite cool effects by gesturing towards the cauldron and having it burst into flame. Just an idea, I'm not sure if you have access to pyro stuff or not :-)seeyaxaeda

the memories fire, the rhythm falls slow....

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xaeda

member
Location: Sydney, Australia

Total posts: 129

Posted:29th Sep 2001oh yeah...I once did a gig as a guest at a big community festival that was themed around fire. They were silly enough to have a large communal bowl of pegasol, (charles - can you translate this to a non-nz name, I can't be arsed checking). Of course it got set on fire (pegasol has a slightly lower flash point than kero, enough for it to burn unwicked, but is not as explosive as meths etc, and it's still oil based). So, pegasol and its equivalents do burn unwicked, but aren't as explosive as, say, meths. I guess if you were *really* careful you could have a cauldron of the stuff. But the flame was big, and as charles says, the bowl can't curve in.....this one was a curved metal baking bowl which seemed to be a good shape. I certainly wouldn't reccomend it, but it's possible.x

the memories fire, the rhythm falls slow....

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Charles
BRONZE Member since Jun 2001

Charles

Corporate Circus Arts Entertainer
Location: Auckland, New Zealand

Total posts: 3989

Posted:2nd Oct 2001-----------------Great idea Xaeda, have a look at http://www.homeofpoi.com/ubb/Forum7/HTML/000230.htmlfor
a related topic on remote or time based lighting of equipment.----------------And Pegasol (to those not in NZ and maybe aussies) is imported here by Gull Petroleum.It's exact name is Pegasol 440 Special. There are other Pegasols around that are not suitable for fire, so be careful.It's mainly used as an industrial cleaner, just like kero but without the smell or fumes. Please note, this doesn't mean it is safer than kero, it's actually a little more toxic. But people think it's great coz there is no smell, very little soot & not much smoke. It's an essential for most paid gigs or any indoor performance.I think "Shellsol" is a more common, northern hemisphere equivalent but please please check it before using any.Cheers------------------Charles (INFERNO)newdolbel@hotmail.comhttp://juggling.co.nzPS Xaeda, Kero and Pegasol will both burn unwicked, they merely need to be about room temperature or higher, with a lot of access to air. As said before, my tin regularly lights up when I dunk a lot during performances, with kero & pegasol being the only fuekls I use.[This message has been edited by Charles (edited 01 October 2001).]

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xaeda

member
Location: Sydney, Australia

Total posts: 129

Posted:1st Oct 2001thanks charles.I think the other pegasol is Pegasol something A, or something along those lines. Man, I used to know all that stuff, shows how long it's been since I bought any! As far as I know, it's not dangerous in an explosive sense, just a lot less pure than Pegasol and so there's no point in using it instead of kero......in fact it's quite possibly worse. It is a bit cheaper, but it's not worth it. However, don't quote me on this, I could be wrong.also a clarification for overseas people......please don't confuse shelsol with shellite! heh that may be a bit of an obvious tip, but I once knew someone who used shellite for fire juggling, it's absolutely horrid stuff and has an awfully low flashpoint. xaeda[This message has been edited by xaeda (edited 01 October 2001).]

the memories fire, the rhythm falls slow....

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Knagi

member
Location: Brunswick, Ohio

Total posts: 397

Posted:14th Oct 2001Everytime I hear of someone setting thier fuel dumps on fire I always think of someone.. "Hey kids it's fire marshall bill!! Lemme show ya somethin!"------------------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!"

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

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smilee

member
Location: San Diego,CA,USA

Total posts: 40

Posted:14th Oct 2001I spin at the beach, so to keep a continuing source of flame I just dig a hole and put a lit candel in it. Ofcourse I'm careful to keep my fule a safe distance away.

later - Smilee

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