Forums > Social Chat > Home made fire poi

Posted: 7th Jun 2005
what have done with my normal poi is this, make 2 loops, just like you would if you were going to sew them, but go to your local cobbler and ask if they can put a eyelet in them, i forgot the proper word, but it should look great and be really tight, then thread the split ring through the eyelet, not the middle bit like you would of done if sewn.

get it?!

daz

stupidity is not a crime, you are free to go!!!

Posted: 7th Jun 2005
local cobbler? that's gotta be a welsh thing

I've always used finger loops off HoP for my home made sets, they're cheap and last for ages

Posted: 7th Jun 2005
You could handstitch a box through the connecting point, but you'll likley need some sor of thimble and a very strong needle. I've heard ones for use in Denim are good for this. A metal thimble's what I'd reccomend if you've got one and decide to stitch the loops yourself, or I read on a DIY forum about a sort of thimble glove you can make. What you do is get a gardening glove or something similarly large fingered that you don't want to use for the intended purpose of the manufacturer and cut off the fingers at somewhere between the middle knuckle and where your fingers attatch to your hand, or would in the glove if you were wearing it pulled tight on. Not the thumb though. You get a coin that'll fit well at the end of the thumb and put it there, attatching however you like...glue's probably a good idea, or you could stitch a bit of fabric over the coin tightly on the inside of the glove (turn it inside out to attatch the coin inside it). Then wear the glove as you stitch and push the needle in with your newly armoured thumb, if the material you're trying to go through's heavy duty. For this sort of equipment I'd reccomend a saddle stitch too (two needles, one on each end of the thread and going through the same needle holes from opposite sides, one through to one side then the other to the first), cos it's a bit sturdier, but whatever you're comfortable with should be good. Taping the loop up or using PVA then tape would work, though depending on your poi weight and spin rate it might not work for long, or you could find someone in your area to make them for you, probably with a sewing machine. If there's anyone around there a look in your phone book and/or asking around at your local fabric shops ought to turn up a name or four.
After you have the loops together you can thread in a strong keyring to each top part of the loops that I hope you've left open for just that purpose, or you can buy a couple of D rings or similar from a hardware store to sew in as part of the job.
It's just occured to me that you could buy some prefabricated handles too...Juggleart and HoP definately have them and I think I saw some in the Firetoys store.
If you don't buy readymades and do end up either making your own or having them made fabric becomes a question...Something nonmelting's likley a good idea, so no PVC strips or nylon weaves. Cotton (denim and canvas, that sort of thing) or narrow kevlar should work a treat if you keep your fuel off of your handles and wool I've heard is fairly flame resistant too. I don't personally reccomend leather [insert self ritcheous, pretensious sniff here] but if you aren't bothered by where it comes from it has some very right properties for fire poi handles. I don't kinow how all the fake leathers go as handles, pleather might work ok (let me know if I'm wrong please, and more importantly let ig who's making the things know) or might melt horribly on your hands at the forst sign of too much heat like a lot of other leather substitutes and similar looking things.
*Realises the length of what he's just typed* Well that was a long post.

Chucks nuns
Property of mynci and blu_valley, and proud of it.

Posted: 7th Jun 2005

Yep recomend hand stitch every time, box style as recomended by Seb, like the saddle stitch idea, might go for that myself, although I tend to use very heavy marine grade cotton thread intended for use on large sail cloth, sail repair etc, for personal use nylon webbing for single / double and tripple finger loops, for comercial use I tend to prefer materials that are more resistant to melting etc.

mark

Posted: 7th Jun 2005

Written by: flid

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local cobbler? that's gotta be a welsh thing

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Yeah, what YEAR is it there.

Well, shall we go?
Yes, let's go.
[They do not move.]

Posted: 7th Jun 2005


you can buy eyelets and the tool to put them in for very little cost from a haberdashery (sp?)

Posted: 7th Jun 2005
I find that the tools used for leather work exceptionally well for crafting poi. Eyelets are cheap and the tool is affordable... for loops I hand stitch with a sewing awl, the best $14 I ever spent.

Yellow and blue make green.

Posted: 8th Jun 2005
Wow! Split rings... Yikes!

I refuse to use those things. I don't trust them one bit.
They have this nasty habit of just letting go without warning and poi go off in all sorts of inconveiniant directions.

A quick link is infinantly more reliable, and they're also pretty inexpensive. And since the closure screws down even if the link warps or bends from stress it's not going to let go while you're spinning.

As for finger loops I like leather. But it has to be full hide or close to full hide thickness, because that cheap split leather violates the trust thing again, lol. You can sink a good grommet into that exactly as everyone else described and they'll last for freaking ever.

Personally I prefer rings though, most of my friends do as well.

Jesus helps me trick people.

Posted: 9th Jun 2005
Cheers for the help and advice.

I have now got a piece of tough (roof rack straps) material, folded in half and in half again to make two loops, put an eyelet through the bottom of each loop and threaded the top ring on the chain through both eyelets. I now have a set of well made good quality poi for under 10 bob.

Ian