Forums > Technical Discussion > Making a Fire Flag
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stranger
2 posts
Location: USA
stranger
2 posts
Location: USA
Posted:
Hey all!
I'm looking at making a fire flag similar to like a marching band color guard flag. I will be using a 6' pole and a 35" x 52" fire-flag area.
Key decisions I need to make are:
* type of pole material
* wick or rope?
* other problems?
I know the poles that are easily available come in aluminum, fiberglass, and wood. I can cover the wood in taping to make it fire-proof.
Which would work the best? All three spin about the same; I'm most used to aluminum. Fiberglass is slightly heavier but I can handle it fine. I've never spun a wooden flag.
I will need to weight the pole to properly spin and I'm not sure if the wooden poles would allow this to be changed easily.
As for material. Obviously a 35"x52" sheet of Kevlar would be ridiculous. It's best for a flag to be slightly curved when spinning to prevent flapping and drag. I would have to create a pattern of vertical and horizontal "stripes" of material. Would it be better to get strips and sew them together or rope and knot it together to form the shape? Which would move better in the wind?
(this will be my first ever homemade fire prop)
Do you foresee any other problems? How can I keep the pole from heating up too much?
Hey all!
I'm looking at making a fire flag similar to like a marching band color guard flag. I will be using a 6' pole and a 35" x 52" fire-flag area.
Key decisions I need to make are:
* type of pole material
* wick or rope?
* other problems?
I know the poles that are easily available come in aluminum, fiberglass, and wood. I can cover the wood in taping to make it fire-proof.
Which would work the best? All three spin about the same; I'm most used to aluminum. Fiberglass is slightly heavier but I can handle it fine. I've never spun a wooden flag.
I will need to weight the pole to properly spin and I'm not sure if the wooden poles would allow this to be changed easily.
As for material. Obviously a 35"x52" sheet of Kevlar would be ridiculous. It's best for a flag to be slightly curved when spinning to prevent flapping and drag. I would have to create a pattern of vertical and horizontal "stripes" of material. Would it be better to get strips and sew them together or rope and knot it together to form the shape? Which would move better in the wind?
(this will be my first ever homemade fire prop)
Do you foresee any other problems? How can I keep the pole from heating up too much?
member
2 posts
Location: Texas
2 posts
Location: Texas
Posted:
All I can say is this: that is a whole hell of a lot of fire, especially if you are planning on using a standard 6' pole from color guard (been spinning flags for years). But I do have a suggesting. Attach links of ropes (I would say about five or six) along the length of half your staff and then weave/knot more rope to that in a cross hatch patter (sorta like a hammock. The hard part would be the soak, unless you were able to somehow detach and reattach your "flag" from the pole and soak it in a tin or jar of fuel, I would imagine getting a good soak will be a problem, and then to cool and put out that much fire would be very difficult. as well, because generally I would think it is a bad idea to soak wick in water. All in all it is gonna take quite a bit of rope or wick. But I do love the idea of spinning a fire flag.
All I can say is this: that is a whole hell of a lot of fire, especially if you are planning on using a standard 6' pole from color guard (been spinning flags for years). But I do have a suggesting. Attach links of ropes (I would say about five or six) along the length of half your staff and then weave/knot more rope to that in a cross hatch patter (sorta like a hammock. The hard part would be the soak, unless you were able to somehow detach and reattach your "flag" from the pole and soak it in a tin or jar of fuel, I would imagine getting a good soak will be a problem, and then to cool and put out that much fire would be very difficult. as well, because generally I would think it is a bad idea to soak wick in water. All in all it is gonna take quite a bit of rope or wick. But I do love the idea of spinning a fire flag.
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