Pyro's, lend me your ears!?

Question

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uzkNI4YIU2o&feature=related

The comments on it.... are numerous and ignorant, what i want to know is!... Will rubbing alcohol work? and if i scaled up the cloth size would it have a harder time staying alight?

any other general advice would be kewl

Answer 1

Ive done this many times.

Rubbing alcohol, spray deodorent, bugspray, nail polish all work but for a shorter and less reliable time.

I would reccomend lighter fluid as it stay alight longer and is harder to put out.

If you made the ball bigger you would just have to soak it in a lil more of your substance.

Dont give up after a couple tries and you think it might be too hot. just play around with it for a while and youll get the hang of it

Answer 2

ok, 100% pure cotton material, can get it from newsagents usually, then get cotton thread.. HAS to be cotton thread because if its polyester, itll melt..  cut of a strip of the cottonn material thats about as big as your whole hand....   tie it in a ball using the cotton thread (thread it through the ball to make it easier)...  

Douse it in lighter fluid and away you do..

the bigger the ball/the more fluid, the hotter and bigger the flame will be...

Oh yeah, rubbing alcohol will light, sure, it will just burn hotter.. and faster*

Answer 3

I've made those in the past.

You can scale up the cloth size, and thus the size of the ball. If you use lighter fluid, it won't have a hard time staying lit.

You can use any sort of flammable (well, not kerosene, or gas), but lighter fluid for wick lighters, which is what they show in the vid, is the best. The other stuff tends to burn a lot faster and hotter. Alcohol, for example, will burn out almost immediately, and you can burn yourself with it. The lighter fluid they use is designed to soak into the cotton in a Zippo lighter, and gives a nice, strong burning, but longer-lasting flame. Also, it doesn't get too hot.

Just be sure you are careful about not oversoaking the ball, and if you get fluid on your hands, wash them before you play with your new flaming toy. I had a friend in high school who really burned himself badly when his sleeve caught fire.

Answer 4

You must construct additional pylons.