Posted by Jerry on December 19th, 2006 — Posted in DIY, Journal, Woodwork
This post gives detailed instructions and photos on how to make a fire sword. But first the disclaimer: Fire twirling is dangerous, and fire swords especially so, due to the large amount of flame attached to this equipment. I have no control over your construction skills or techniques, so I take no responsibility or liability – actual or implied – for any damage or injury incurred from anyone using these instructions.
And so to the instructions…
Materials (makes two fire swords)
- 2 x surplus ski stocks (poles)
- 4 x computer hard drive plattens
- 2 x pine wood pieces approx 7 x 10cm (3″ x 4″)
- 3 metres kevlar wick 5 cm (2″) wide
- Kevlar thread
- 12 x wood screws
- 6 x lengths of wire
Tools
- hacksaw
- electric drill
- 18mm spade bit
- 8mm high speed bit
- scissors or stanley trimmer
- canvas needle
- pliers
- screwdriver
Method
You will need two old/unserviceable ski stocks (ski poles). The first thing is to cut them to length – about a centimetre up from the plastic ring that holds the flat snow disk. The actual measurement is irrelevant – the important thing is to ensure that both swords are made the same length.
But keep the handles intact – they will provide a good grip and the safety straps add an element of safety.
Next take a couple of computer hard disk plattens – these are metal and highly reflective – excellent for keeping heat away from your hands. I used two on each as the smaller disks had a smaller central hole to help keep everything aligned nicely on the pole.
Mark and punch four points and drill holes around the centre hole of the disk. This will provide a means to anchor the disks so they can be used as heat shields near the handles.
The disks themselves can get hot in use, so we want to insulate them from the rubber handles. Wood has excellent thermal insulation properties, so we will make wooden washers to use as spacers from the rubber grips, but also to provide a means of attaching the platens securely to the stock and to the handle.
You will need one for each fire sword – cut two pieces of pine about four inches square and drill an 18mm hole in the centre. I then rounded the corners using a large washer to mark the guidelines and then rounded the corners on a bandsaw – like this:
Now line up the metal disks centred over the 18mm hole in the wooden washer, and drill 8mm holes into the wood using the pre-drilled holes as a template.
Then attach the metal disk to the wooden spacer with wood screws, and slide the whole assembly onto the pole hard up against the handle – note: ensure the metal side is facing the point and that the wood is next to the rubber handle grip!
Now drill two holes through the base of the rubber handle into the wood from the other side and fix the wooden spacer to the rubber handle grip – this will stop the heat shield from sliding down onto the wick when in action.
So now you have something sword-like – but it won’t light until you have a wick.
Divide your kevlar wick into two equal lengths of about 1.5m (about 5 feet) using a decent pair of scissors or dressmaking scissors. Attach one end to the pointy end using masking tape and carefully wrap the kevlar with a slight overlap in a spiral up the length of the sword.
It won’t stay there without assistance, so the next task is to thread your canvas needle with kevlar thread (so the thread won’t burn!) and sew along the overlap up the spiral until you get to the top. This may seem a tedious step, but it is important if you want the wick to stay on the sword. Take care to do this step properly.
Once this step is completed you effectively have a kevlar sheath – which can still slide off the end, so to secure it you will need the next step.
Bind masking tape tightly round three or more parts of the sword. This will stop the kevlar from twisting when you drill holes for the wire.
Mount the sword in a vice and use a centre punch to mark the drill point in the centre of the masking tape. Tap the centre punch hard nough to dent the metal tube beneath. Now drill an 8mm hole through each of the taped bits.
Once both swords are drilled through the wicks and the centre tube, cut a short length of wire for each of the holes and wire the wick securely to the tube, like this:
When this is completed your fire sword is complete and ready to be fueled and used in a fire performance. The wick should hold enough fuel for a good five minute burn. Enjoy your pair of fire swords – safely. Do not use during a fire ban or in areas where there may be a risk of other material catching fire.
Cheers
Jerry
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Posted by Jerry on December 9th, 2006 — Posted in Journal, Music
The Mothers of Intention came to Canberra last night along with wonderful Blue Mountains singer/songwriter Anne Ridgeway, to sing at the Merry Muse Folk Club. It was a great night and the harmonies were amazing!
Anne Ridgway has a rich mellifluous voice that complements her 12-string guitar, and the harmonies added by Rosie McDonald and Penny Rankin-Smith from Mothers of Intention contributed further depth and range. And Tony Pyrzakowski’s deft fiddle playing gave another dimension to the music. The crowd may not have been large, but it was very appreciative – calling the Mothers back for more at the end of the night. If you missed it then you missed one of the folk music highlights for this year.
The Mothers of Intention gave richly of their talents, and Lainey Balsdon’s recorder blends well with Tony’s fiddle and and the power of Rosie’s guitar.
And with energy to spare, they all went down to the Gorman House Markets to once again give freely of their music, and I was privileged to be asked to step in with Tony on the fiddle for our own dueling fiddles moment, as well as a lyrical Ashokan Farewell with the whole band. Anne Ridgeway was there also, so the market goers were given a real treat with some wonderful folk talent 🙂
Cheers
Jerry
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Posted by Jerry on December 7th, 2006 — Posted in Journal
Living in the Western side of Canberra, memories of the 2003 bushfires are never far away. The phone call said it all: “There’s a large grass fire at the end of our street where the forest used to be.” Minutes later I was in the car and heading home. Perhaps a cigarette butt tossed casually from the window to prevent the car’s ashtray from getting dirty, and that’s all it took.
By the time I got to Dixon Drive in Holder I could see that the excellent fire brigade was well and truly on the job, and in a couple of hours had the thing down to a smoulder. Well done guys!
I guess that means there’s a little less fuel for us to worry about this summer – unlike our friends in Victoria who are facing some fourteen major bushfires in the Victorian alps and south of Benalla – Things are not looking good for that part of the country, and our thoughts go out to those preparing their homes or who are already fighting the fires.
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Posted by Jerry on November 21st, 2006 — Posted in Journal, Music
The Majors Creek Folk Festival was – as usual – quite an experience! After the fun and games of finding a campsite before a rear tyre went completely flat, then finding the spare tyre was also flat, I could sense this would be a memorable festival… But then the State Emergency Services came to the rescue with a small air compressor and things started to look up. Good blokes the lot of them – even if they do wear orange jump-suits 🙂
The sessions were good this year, starting fairly low key and then building rapidly. At one point I was playing a reel full pelt, and then someone tapped me on the shoulder – I glanced round and there was Tony Pyrzakowski – the fiddle player from Wheeze and Suck Band and Mothers of Intention. I keep running into this amazing guy and folk festivals, and when we do: it’s on!
We are well matched as musicians and we lark around a lot, playing at being competetive rivals – actually he knows more about playing fiddle than I’ll ever know – but then I know more tunes than he does :-p And it all makes for a great show for anyone who happens to catch us in the mood – especially after a few pints of the good stuff.
Anyhow, after the fire show – Eve hired me to MC the Will o’ the Wisp Fire Circus – it was off to the session bar for a few tunes.
Saturday was a real highlight as Tony and I got going – both of us trying to look casual while the rosin dust fairly flew off the strings. We played some great tunes and the crowd just kept getting bigger as the tunes got faster and faster. That’s the stuff festivals are made of and this year’s Majors Creek was one of the best this year!
Sharon did a special tribute by stitching one of the pictures of us playing! What an amazing piece of embroidery!
There was another great session late on Saturday night when the singers had sunk to Goodnight Irene and the pace was quiet, along came Davydd McDonald – a great young Brisbane musician and it was on again – Da Eye Wifey, Maggies Pancakes and then into some great jigs and reels. Davy stayed with us between festivals and he did me the great tribute of writing me a reel – Jerry’s Reel – so I said to him in my best imitation of Michael Caton from the movie The Castle: “That’s going straight to the website!”
The weather held until Sunday when the wind came up – we managed to get the campsite stowed before the rain set in – and after sitting in on a few concert sets we headed off back to Canberra.
Cheers
Jerry
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Posted by Jerry on October 18th, 2006 — Posted in Journal
I was driving to work the other day and was struck by the lengths to which shopping carts go to escape the rat-race, ending up as homeless vagrants, wandering the streets and highways by day and sheltering under bridges or in culverts by night. Inspired by the Field Guide to Shopping Carts of North Eastern America I decided to document a couple from downunder.
The first is a Romeo and Juliet story of two young lovers – trolleys from different supermarkets, who have run away and are now living rough near the old Weston Creek forest in Canberra
The second is a lonelier tale of a trolley who’s lost and cant find their way back to the supermarket. This one sleeps rough under an overpass on the outskirts of Canberra city centre
Both would be classed as Type B1 – True Strays: Open True – a cart situated on a street or in a park or parking lot, outside of a two-block SOURCE radius. Thanks to MAKEZINE for pointing to the field guide
What is the most remote location you’ve seen a shopping cart?
Cheers
Jerry
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