Posted by metawaffle Interesting that your setup is so light - one of the reasons I use the bolt is that I like a little weight for swinging.

try it with fairly stiff wire. no "lag" as you get it up to speed and it always stays equidistant from your hand, so fewer sloppy circles.

A coat hanger maybe or even some mechanics wire would do the trick.

The only problem with this whole idea... sparks, burning, fire... all cool things but how do you not get hurt? I have trouble with sparklers... (not normal fire, just sparks)

Posted by LauraL42 The only problem with this whole idea... sparks, burning, fire... all cool things but how do you not get hurt? I have trouble with sparklers... (not normal fire, just sparks)

It does hurt occasionally if you get hit! I melted a hole through a towel and into a lens hood at one point, so it's not surprising, really. If you're spinning it horizontally you're fine, though bystanders may not be

Ha ha ha I used to do this as a kid!

Seems like my leather welding jacket would be great to wear while pulling this off.

How about running a bolt through the axle part of the bike wheel, then chucking the end of the bolt into an 18v DeWalt drill motor. Makes it nice and portable, no pedaling involved.


For the hand-held rig, simple is probably better. Me, instead of using a lighter to light the steel wool, I'd clip a 2" section of canon fuse and just stick it into the wool. The canon fuse is easy to light, and it'd light off the wool very easily.

Also, I learned when making other devices, like incendiary devices, propellants and smoke generators, that you can color your output by using different chemicals.

For instance, if you saturated the steel wool with powdered chemical, you can achieve a variety range of color effects using strontium compounds for reds; titanium, magnesium, or aluminum for whites; copper compounds for blue; barium compounds for greens; incandescent steel and charcoal particles for gold; and sodium compounds for yellows.

May want to wear a mask if you choose to go this route, just thought I'd mention.

I have to admit, last time I did this, I just used a foldback clip and string