How to Make a Fire Devil Stick
Hey guys, so today I'll be showing you how to make a fire devil stick. For those of you who don't know, a devil stick is basically a weighted stick that you bounce between, control, spin and throw using two smaller 'control' sticks.
If you don't already have experience using devil sticks, I highly recommend NOT using this with fire until you've had plenty of practice using it unlit.
If you do decide to light it up, please use it responsibly and don't blame me if you burn yourself. For a full list of precautions to take when fire spinning, click here. Fire precautions
Aside from all that, devil sticks are a pretty easy circus prop to learn, compared to a unicycle, staff etc, and can look amazing, especially when set alight..
So lets get started making it!
Gathering Materials
So to make this, you will need:
MATERIALS
- 1x 70cm (27inch) length of 15mm (0.6inch) aluminium pipe. The length and diameter can vary slightly depending on your personal preference.
- 2x 20cm (8inch) strips of 50mm (2inch) width kevlar wick
- 2x 8cm (3inch) wooden dowels - they should be just wide enough to fit inside the pipe.
- 4x 1cm (0.5inch) wood screws
- 4x 1cm (0.5inch) washers
- Self-amalgamating silicon tape
- Tennis-racket grip or bicycle inner-tube
Optional:
- Aluminium tape
- PVC tape
TOOLS:
- Drill
- Stanley knife
- Screwdriver
- Scissors
- Tape-measure
Step 1
Use the knife to make 2 marks on each end of the pipe, at 1cm and 4cm from the end - these measurements will vary depending what width of kevlar you use, e.g. 1.5 and 4.5 if you use 65mm kevlar.
Now insert the dowels into each end, making sure the ends are flush with the pipe. Then drill through the pipe and about halfway into the dowel at the knife-marks.
Your drill-bit diameter should be very slightly narrower than the screws you are using.
Kevlar
Cut a small mark into the pipe, parallel with the holes - this will help when trying to find the holes later on, once they're covered.
Tape one end of the kevlar to one end of the pipe, and start wrapping it tightly round. Once you get near the end, fold the last few centimeters under itself and tape it in place. The reason for folding it under is to prevent the fibers unraveling.
Kevlar 2
Rotate the kevlar so that the end is almost directly above the mark on the pipe. Use a pen to mark the same spots on the kevlar as you did on the pipe, i.e. 1cm and 4cm from the end.
Now when you drill the holes in the kevlar on the marked spots, they should be directly over the holes in the pipe. Make sure to have the drill on reverse when going through the kevlar otherwise it will get tangled in the fibers.
Screw in the screws and washers, through the kevlar, and into the wood. Make sure that the kevlar gets compressed sufficiently to keep it in place. You can now remove the tape.
Wrapping
Once you've completed both ends you can move onto wrapping the stick. Start by wrapping the silicon tape around each end of the pipe below the kevlar wicks. A good general rule is that you should cover double the length of pipe that your wick takes up, so for this 5cm wick you should wrap the tape around 10cm of pipe as shown in pics 2 and 3.
The silicon tape will prevent the pipe from having direct contact with the flames and thereby keep it from heating up to high temperatures.
Now wrap the tennis-grip or inner-tube around the mid-section of the pipe, leaving about 5cm gap between it and the silicon tape at either end.
Optionally you can use aluminium tape to add some shine to your devilstick, by taping some around the gaps at each end, and in the middle to mark the balance point (you can also use electrical tape to mark this point)
THE END!
So that's it, you've made yourself a fire devilstick! Now all you need is a pair of control sticks (which you can buy or make your own), some kerosene and you're off! Make sure to read the full fire-safety page previously linked before doing your first fire spin.
Take care, spin wisely, and most importantly, have fun!
If you liked this tutorial, please show your support by voting for me in the Fire Challenge :-)
Links to the things I used to make this: