How to Make a Fire Devilstick by Liam McDonagh-Greaves

What Is A Fire Torch?

It is simply a club which, instead of the usual bell end, has a (usually non-asbestos) flame proof wick screwed or bolted on to a metal sheath. The torch is lit by dipping the wick in fuel and the fuel then burns without damaging the wick (in principle).

This article is on the use of torches: what they are, how to use them (safely), what to use for fuel, how to make colored flames, etc.

• Making your own torches
• Fuel for your torches
• Lighting up your torches
• Juggling the things
• Yes, Virginia, torches can be dangerous
• Making coloured flames

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Making Your Own Torches

Basic design by Tim King, with modifications by Tim Earp; any questions and comments should be addressed to either of them.

I used wooden dowels 7/8 of an inch in diameter for the main body (20" long). In the plumbing department of the same hardware store, I discovered copper pipe fittings that just fit over the dowel and did not easily slide off. These were marked as in-line couplers for 3/4 inch copper tubing. They are just copper tubes about 2 inches long and just bigger than the dowel I had in my other hand. By trial and error I discovered that one of these per torch was not sufficient to stop the dowel from catching on fire, but three certainly were. Two might be, but I didn't want to take any chances. The extra metal did tend to add a bit of weight to the torches, and they may be a bit heavier than what you want, but they spin better (IMHO) with the extra weight. You can also get an end piece that will cover the exposed wood on the tip of the dowel. The copper pieces have little dimples in them and if you take an awl and drive it into the dimples it holds the copper onto the dowel. For added safety, I took some silvery muffler tape and covered the seams between the copper segments.

Now, as for the wicks, I am using old army belts that I got at an army surplus store. I wrapped the belt around the copper tip four or five times and drove a nail through the belt/wick into the dowel to hold it momentarily. Then I drilled two holes through the wicks and into the dowel. I used 1 1/4' wood screws with washers to attach the wicks.

Wrap one end in electricians tape, or bicycle handlebar tape, or tennis racket handle tape to make a (slightly) padded grip. Before you wrap the handle you should consider adding a couple of those copper tubes to balance the clubs more to your liking and then wrap those up under the tape. Also, you should consider getting those little rubber tips, that are put on furniture legs to protect the floor, and screw those (with a washer) into the end of the handles.

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What Fuel Should I Use?

Paraffin (UK) is identical to kerosene (US). I invite translations from down under :) In the US paraffin means a solid wax (candle wax). It is a mixture of mid length aliphatic hydrocarbons. It burns with a smoky flame, is fairly bright and is pretty safe - it has a low vapour pressure.

Coleman fuel (US and available around the world) is a fuel for portable stoves made by the Coleman company. It is called naphtha in the US which is a very unscientific name for a mish mash of the cracked products of rock oil. In England go to a Shell outlet (petrol station) and ask for SBP4. In Germany go to B.V. station and ask for Aral SS, Aral Super or similar product (produkt? :)). In a chemist in Germany you can ask for Waschbenzin or Leichtbenzin. That's chemist as in drugstore (US). This info comes from the Coleman company and these fuels are what they recommend for use in their stoves when abroad.

Alcohol - various forms. Ethyl acohol is also called ethanol or very very strong vodka :) Clear and wimpy flame, no use in daylight at all. Meths (methylated spirit, industrial methylated alcohol) is ethanol with a little methanol added to make it undrinkable (poisonous) and usually some pyridine or liek chemical to make it undrinkable (tastes bad, emetic). Methanol is very nasty and to be avoided. Rubbing alcohol (dead cheap) also wimpy flame (this is isobutanol, or 2-methyl propanol if I remmebr my IUPAC naming convention).

Petrol (gas in the US, petrol in Oz) is not to be juggled with. Just put it in your motorbike engine and let it burn there...

Charcoal lighter fluid or barbecue starter fluid can be just about anything. Tends to be pretty smoky, sort of half way between paraffin and Colemans. Aviaition fuel is heavier than paraffin (ie a heavy fraction of the oil crack) but will burn OK on torches. If you live near an airport, great :)

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Care and Feeding of Your Torches

What do i keep the fuel in? How do i light up?

Keep your fuel in a fuel canister with a good lid, preferably screw top. A petrol canister is ideal, big jerry cans for larger shows work fine. When you want to light up, pour some of the fuel into a smaller container: a baked bean tin works perfectly, an old paint tin will need more fuel per unit depth. Hold the wick in the fuel and be careful not to dunk the rest of the club. If the other parts of the club do get wet, wipe them with a rag (this prevents bits of club burning). Deep each torch and then shake them off individually onto an area away from where you are going to be juggling. Preferably, shake off into a screen or bucket if you are doing lots. It is *very* important to get all the little droplets off so shake well.

Once you have shaken off your clubs (did I say how important that was? Then let me remind you :-) ) light them from another torch, a match or a lighter. When the clubs are cold it may take a while for them to catch as it is really the vapour which burns and there isn't much vapour on a cold set of clubs. Conversely, hot clubs will drive the vapour off quickly and burn for less time.

How Do I Put Them Out?

For a start, do *not* let them burn out and smoulder. This will damage the wicks as the evaporating paraffin keeps them cool. Blow them out once they have died down and dunk them in paraffin to cool them and relight. You *can* extinguish them by dunking straight into paraffin in a large container. Do *not* extinguish them this way is you are using starter fuel or Coleman fuel.

Oooch! My Hands Are Hot!

One of two reasons for this: you could be holding the clubs downward. Natural thing to do, but wrong. The flames will burn up the torch, getting the club and your hands. Always hold them up. If you bend down to pick up a drop, hold the other torches above your head. You get used to it after a while. The other possibility is that your torches have got to hot. They become enveloped in a cloud of fuel which burns in small spots. Also the fuel condenses on your hands and burns gently so you only notice later. Don't use torches for more than 15-30 minutes at a time. Let them cool (in paraffin if you like) between times. The above is dependent on things like the temperature your fuel burns at. Paraffin burns hotter than most so will heat up your clubs more. It also gives a bright flame. If you burn alcohol on your torches (which gives a wimpy flame) they will barely get warm.

How Do I Look After My Torches?

Don't let them burn out or smoulder. Don't get anything other than the wicks wet with fuel. Wipe the torches after use to clean off any soot (soot burns). Hold them upwards always. Leave them to cool before packing them away (the metal gets hot and can damage other bits of the other torches). After a year or so you may want to replace the wicks. Firewick can be bought from most suppliers and a foot or so is enough for a single torch. You should check the width as there are least two standard sizes!

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Juggling Torches

Wow! How do i juggle these?

Just like ordinary clubs. Do it in stages. Unlit in the light for an hour or so to get the feel of them. Then light them up and try them again in daylight. Not so difficult once you get over the fear. If the flames are too large at first, swing them a bit until they die down. You get better and more confident with practice. Try juggling through dusk into darkness. You'll find the dark is a very different kettle of ballgames as the bit you want to catch is not the bit you can see! After a few hours of cascading try relearning a few tricks---under the leg is fairly easy as is the odd double (very pretty with fire).

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What About Safety? Isn't It Dangerous?

Yes it is dangerous. Don't ever forget it.

When the torches are cold you can grab the burning end and drop it without harm. When they are hot you will get a blister at least. Don't juggle close to cloth. Don't juggle close to other people. Certainly juggle well away from your fuel store. Keep a fire blanket on hand and preferably an extinguisher if you think other things may go up. Keep a sensible first aid kit (lint-free bandage, water is a minimum).

Burns

If you get a burn, wash it gently and put a loose bandage over it to keep it clean. When you get into the light check it over, pick any bits out, clean it more carefully and bandage it without getting anything like cotton wool near it. Antiseptic is not necessary usually---burns just need to be kept clean. If you want to use antiseptic do but remember it also tends to kill your skin cells so it doesn't help the healing, just the cleanliness). If someone gets fuel in the eye or a burn near the eye (or other sensitive place) get medical assistance. Burns should be held under cold water (preferably running; if still, swirl the water or the burnt area) for at least 3-5 minutes. Burns go deep quickly and the heat has to be drawn out slowly. It really takes a good long time to cool a burnt area.

Fire Extinguishers

You can buy surprisingly small fire extinguishers ("for kitchen, car, or boat") at any hardware store -- given that they're cheap, small, and lightweight, you might want to add one to your prop kit. Daniel Turbogek provides this warning about dry all-purpose fire extinguishers:

Do not use on people! The powder can cause breathing problems and is bad on the eyes. Never point near someone's face (actually, avoid anywhere from the waist up, because the powder can spread pretty far) -- use a blanket or large thick towel to smother the flames on your body (or throwing partner).

I always have two volunteers, one to hold the blanket and one for the extinguisher. Brief them and have them repeat your instructions. Make sure the extinguisher holder understands that they are there only to prevent burning of grass/theater/equipment.

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Coloured Flames

Many people have asked about this and many have played with coloured flames. On the whole I would say from my experience that there is not a great deal which can be done in this area by the amateur not willing to spend a lot of money and time.

Colouring flame is done by dissolving salts (metal compounds such as sodium chloride) in a solvent which also acts as the fuel. When the fuel burns, it also causes the metal ions to emit on their characteristic wavelengths (just like the flame colour tests in chemistry). To see the colour it is important that the flame colour does not mask it.

The standard fuel for juggling is paraffin (kerosene) or lamp fuel (eg Coleman's). See my file on torches and fire in the FAQ for more info. Unfortunately the metal salts do not dissolve in these fuels which are mostly short and mid-length alkanes and variants, as they are non-polar. You need a polar fuel such as ethanol, which has the advantage of also producing a fairly colourless flame. This is available as 'Meths' or 'Industrial methylated alcohol' with impurities of no consequence (unless you want to drink it!).

Be warned that meths is poisonous. If ingested, drink milk of magnesia (lacking M.o.M., drink plain milk or even water). Do NOT induce vomiting: as corrosive liquids burn just as much on the way up as on the way down, this is not recommended by medical and first aid organisations. If splashed in the eye wash with running water immediately and seek medical advice - meths is particularly toxic to the optic nerve. Be especially careful when mixing -- wear eye protection and thin rubber/latex gloves.

Meths is more expensive than paraffin - about UK$2 per litre in early 1993 and available from most chemists. Also the chemist may refuse to sell large quantities - buy a few litres at a time.

Chemicals for Coloured Flames

Start with the best - boric acid is cheap (about 5 pounds for 500g, enough for 20 or more litres of meths) and gives an excellent bright green colour. Dissolve as much as will go into solution. Any precipitate can be dissolved in more meths. Dip and burn as a normal club - remember to shake off excess carefully. Boric acid can be obtained at chemists and through laboratory supplies. It is a mild irritant but not especially dangerous.

Note: All chemicals will nearly destroy your wicks and clubs if mistreated. After use burn off at least once in clean meths (with boric acid this gives a nice colour still). Then burn with paraffin before storing. Preferably use them on cheap props and home made toys of metal with easily replaced wicks.

Before use, clean the torch of paraffin by burning it as long as possible without damaging the wick. The first one or two times the colour of paraffin (yellow) will continue to burn with the chemicals, producing an eerie two tone effect if you are lucky.

RED Lithium chloride gives a gentle red colour. It is not a very bright flame, it is expensive (more like 20 pounds for 500g when I last tried it) and more difficult to get hold of - lab supplies again being the best option (I shan't put addresses as they will differ for every country. post to rec.pyrotechnics for a list of suppliers).

BLUE Blue is nearly impossible to achieve as it requires a very cool flame. The mark of a good pyrotechnician is his blue. Potassium acetate is wimpish and a poor colour but cheap. Copper salts start green and only go blue briefly as the flame dies away. Both are quite cheap.