Juggling with torches by Ken Zetie

Introduction

This fire devilstick is easy and cheap to make. It doesn't taper, but you will get used to a straight stick after a while. Its best strength is that even when sooty, or wet, it will afford excellent grip. A downfall of many commercially produced fire devilsticks is that they are covered in holographic designs on materials that do not offer reliable grip under these circumstances. Before you read any further, I apologise for my crude diagrams, which I drew in MS Paint. They're not great, but hopefully you'll find them useful anyway.

Materials

• 1x 60-70 cm long, 1.75 cm diameter metal pole, depending on your length preference. Metal type doesn't matter much - anything you find in your local hardware shop should do just fine. Thanks to Little Paul (a rec.juggling newsgroup poster) for this tip: aluminium conducts heat more slowly than most metals, which means that after a long burn, the middle of the stick won't be as hot as it would be had you used copper.
  
  
• 4x 2cm long self-tapping screws.
  
  
• 4x screw-cups, to fit above screws.
  
  
• 2x lengths of wicking. Wider wicking will give a bigger flame and look more impressive, but slow the stick down more when in use (the flame increases air resistance). I would not recommend using wicking wider than about 65 mm, although it depends on the length of the stick you're making. In terms of length, use enough wicking to allow you to wind it 3-4 times round your pole. Most standard wicking is Kevlar, but some manufacturing companies pride themselves on their special weaves, which include other fibres. It is also possible to buy wicking interwoven with wire, to give extra strength.
  
  
• Skateboard grip-tape - this is expensive for one roll (I paid £6 - around US$10.50 for mine), but in one roll, you'll get enough tape to make several firesticks/devilsticks.
  
  
• Access to an electrical drill and the right drill-bit size for your screws. To find the right size bit, hold the bit in front of one of your self-tapping screws. If you can see the threads of the screw (the spirally bit), but not the main shaft, that's the right size of bit. If you can't see the threads, or can only see a tiny bit of them, you need a narrower bit, and if you can see the screw shaft, you need a wider one.
  
  
• Access to a hacksaw.
  
  
• If you want a heavy stick, you'll need some dowel which will fit inside your tube.
  
  And that's all you'll need!
  
  

  Instructions

  
  1. First cut your pole to length using the hacksaw. Then, you need to mark some crosses on the pole, using the hacksaw, where you want your screws to go. Lean quite heavily with the saw, so that the crosses are well defined. This will prevent the drill from slipping later on. Bear in mind that you may want the wicking to overhang at the end of the pole, because mine shrunk, leaving uncushioned pole at the end.
     
     
  2. Put the drill bit right in the centre of the crosses, where the two grooves cross. Drill two holes at either end of the pole, where you made your crosses.
     
     
  3. Start winding the wicking round the pole at one end, remembering to leave a bit of an overhang. Make sure you wind it as tightly as possible - this will stop the paraffin burning up too quickly. When you get to the end of the wicking, double the end bit over by about 2cm underneath the current wind. This will prevent the end from fraying. Put a tight rubber band over the wicking to hold it in place while you fetch your screws and screw-cups.
     
     
  4. If you're putting dowel down the centre of your stick, saw it to size and put it in now. Look down the pole to see where the holes are that you drilled and position your first screw, with the cup on it. Use a screwdriver to screw down through the wicking and into the hole you made earlier. This part can take a while - you will probably miss a lot, but just keep unscrewing the screw, then trying again. Eventually, it will go nicely into the hole. Follow this procedure for your other wicking and screws. Take off the rubber bands.
     
     
  5. Next is the most tedious part. Cut 0.5 cm-wide strips of grip-tape, which are long enough to go round your pole. If you have a guillotine, use it because the strips will be straighter than if you use scissors. Put one strip in the very centre of the stick and then start working outwards either side. Leave 0.25 cm gaps between strips. Leave a gap at the end of your stick with no grip-tape. This will make it look good and make the end-sections easier to clean when they get sooty. This section of the manufacturing process will take you a good couple of hours, so chat to someone or watch TV whilst you're doing it - it makes the time go more quickly.
     
     When finished, you will (hopefully) have a durable, quality fire devilstick! Now just get some silicon or neoprene-coated handsticks, and you're ready to light up.
     

     Precautions

     I won't go into fire safety here, but just make sure you take all precautions and know what you're doing before you set your fire devilstick alight. There is a good guide at http://www.foreworks.com/fire.html. Only use paraffin (kerosene, if you're from the US) or Coleman's White Fuel. NEVER use petrol, turpentine, white spirits, ethanol, or any other such flammable substance, other than the safe ones mentioned above. As an extra note, I would add that I cannot be held responsible for any injuries you may sustain whilst using your fire devilstick.
     
     If you have any problems or questions, just post a message on the rec.juggling newsgroup. I hope that this guide has been useful, and good luck to you!
     
     Liam M^cDonagh-Greaves, 30^th January 2004