Do any of you steel wool burners have a better approach to it than this?

I've been using u-bolts, like these:



Which lets me stuff the steel wool in the bend, compress it with the crosspiece, and tighten the nuts. I tie cotton string to the bolt itself, and bring the nut up over it.



The bolt gives it a bit of heft, and makes it easier to swing neatly, and lets me distance the string from the actual burning bit.

I really don't remember how I used to do this as a kid! Anyone care to share alternatives?

Why cotton string? I know plastic string would melt and suck.

Posted by AnAppleSnail Why cotton string? I know plastic string would melt and suck.

Yeah, exactly that reason - I've used plastic string with steel wool, and it melted very quickly. I didn't use it on that particular setup, though, and maybe it would be okay, given that the bolt is there to sink some of the heat.

How is this used? What is its purpose.

Posted by bonnie&clyde How is this used? What is its purpose.

Oh, right, should have mentioned that! Light the steel wool, and it glows a little. Whirl the lit steel wool through the air on the end of the string, though, and it sends out a shower of sparks!

For example:




There are a bunch of other examples in the Light Painting Gallery thread

I'm still undecided as to how artistic it can claim to be, but it's sure a lot of fun! (Just try not to take anyone's eye out or start any fires)

Ah, I see. For shits n giggles & possible injuries. I love it. How bout a short piece(3-6") of light weight chain/cable attached to the bolt, then to the string. This would prevent ur string from eventually catching fire & becoming a projectile. Just a thought.

Posted by bonnie&clyde Ah, I see. For shits n giggles & possible injuries. I love it. How bout a short piece(3-6") of light weight chain/cable attached to the bolt, then to the string. This would prevent ur string from eventually catching fire & becoming a projectile. Just a thought.

I did think about using light chain, actually, but the cotton string seems to be holding up fine at the moment.

Hmm, what if you had a couple of bunches of steel wool spaced out along the string?...

Or ad some of those cheap L.E.D.z to the line for different effects.

Posted by bonnie&clyde Or ad some of those cheap L.E.D.z to the line for different effects.

Now that is an interesting idea.

How about a dog leach? I need to go get some steel wool finally

Wire coat hanger straightened out. bend it into an L, hold the short leg of the L. Then double the steel wool over and then bend the long leg of the L around the wool fairly tight.

Alternately, 12ga insulated wire seems to work nearly as well.

Only downside is the friction of the wire rotating in your hand... can cause blisters so use gloves or figure out something to put the wire in (i.e. small block of wood with a hole drilled through the middle?)







And on a related note, how do you think you could hook up steel wool to a bike wheel (sans tire of course), light several pieces at once and then crank the pedal by hand? Sounds fun but stupid, right? Too dangerous to be worth it, right?

Posted by velcrozeppelin And on a related note, how do you think you could hook up steel wool to a bike wheel (sans tire of course), light several pieces at once and then crank the pedal by hand? Sounds fun but stupid, right? Too dangerous to be worth it, right?

Just dangerous enough to be worth it?

Seriously, that could be interesting.

Posted by metawaffle Just dangerous enough to be worth it? Seriously, that could be interesting.

I KNOW, RIGHT?

It's just a little too unreasonably stupid to try, I fear.

I mean, the faster steel wool spins, the greater the projectiles and the HOTTER the projectiles... and hook that up to a bike? Cool, but... um... maybe not to smart.



Edit: On second thought, maybe it was kind of dumb to introduce that idea to this community...

You could put a motor and a timer/remote starter on it, put like a pound of steel wool on there and get it up to ~1500rpm. Then stand WAY back and watch the action.

I had all sorts of trouble getting my little disposable lighter to light the steel wool in a gentle sea breeze. Is the 9V battery idea more likely to work in that situation?

Try using a nine volt battery to light the wool!

lol I'll try to read posts before posting,completely missed that.

Heh heh

if you're having problems with your lighter its likely because you arent using a BIC. They're the only acceptable non-butane torch lighter, and work well in wind, rain, sleet and snow...even when the flints wet. I know this because my gf wont let me smoke in our apartment, which means Im standing out on the damned porch every day using a lighter, even in bad weather. it sucks :p

and for lighting steel wool...I think your setup is way beefier than you need....I just use a keychain with a little clippy thing on the end:





its light enough to toss into my pocket and works like an absolute charm.

Yeah, the lighter was some cheapie from somewhere, and may well not be a genuine Bic!

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