Tube Core tutorial


I have been using tube core wicks for my fire poi for around 4-5 months. I made my wicks myself, and have been very pleased with the way that they turned out. I recently made 2 more pairs of wicks for my friends Derek (DACRepair) and Sean (fffxc2). I brought the camera along, and took some pictures of the process.

Step 1.

Parts

First, You will need to gather your parts for this. You will need:

  • A hacksaw
  • A drill, and drillbits
  • Aluminum pipe (ours was 3/8" diameter)
  • Wooden dowel that fits the inside of the pipe well (test fit at the hardware store)
  • A ruler or tape measure
  • Fire chains (this tutorial is about the heads, not the chains! :P)

Step 2.

Now, you will want to slide the dowel into the tube, and push it in until the end of the dowel is flush with the pipe. This makes cutting easier, since they will be lined up already, and you will need to make only 2 cuts, rather than 4.

Insert dowel into tube
Dowel inside the tube

Step 3.

Measure and mark the tube at the lengths you want to cut it to. I did 4 inches.

Tubes cut, dowel removed from the tube

Here you can see one of the tubes cut, and the dowel removed from the tube Isn't that nice how the dowel is cut perfectly to the length of the pipe without having to make several cuts?

Step 3.

Use the hacksaw to notch a straight line into the wood dowel at the top. Make a second notch intersecting the first one close to one side (not half way, or the notches are pointless). Be sure to get a bit into the metal too. This will be useful for finding the holes when you have the cores wrapped with wick.

Notches in the tube

After notching the top of the cores, use a straight edge as a guide, and draw a line down both sides of the first notch (the one down the center of the core)

On one side, measure down 1 inch from the top, and make a mark on the line, and 1 inch from the bottom and make a mark. These will be the holes to secure the wick to. Also, measure down half way between the two holes, and make a mark on the other side. This is for the screw that will hold the dowel into the core and the beginning of your wick while you roll the tubes.

Step 4.

Drill the holes as marked. I recommend removing the dowel for this step, but you don't have to if you're careful not to drill into the dowel.

Holes drilled, notches visible

Once you've done this, reinsert the dowel into the aluminum tube. Put a wood screw into the hole that you drilled in the center, and loosen about a half turn, so the head has clearance for a layer of wicking.

Drill a small hole for the eye-screw. Make sure it is smaller than the diameter of the screw. Screw this in.

Step 5.

Now all you need to do is cut a length of wick that is 4" wide, and 2-3 feet long (or longer if you want, depending on the thickness of your material). Make a hole in the wick, and put the center screw on the back of the tube through it. Now roll the wicking around the tube.
Use the notches you made at the top to find where the holes will be, and measure 1 inch down from the top, and use an awl or pointy object to poke through the wicking, and look for the hole. Once you find it (you will feel the hole), Put a screw in, and tighten down (not overtight though). Repeat the same process on the other head.

Congradulations!

You now have your very own set of tube core wicks. Have fun spinning!

Have fun!

Derek spinning his new tube cores

Credits/copyright

Thanks to Sean and Derek for wanting tube cores. Thanks to DMP for being such a great community and helping my poi skills grow.

This article is © 2007 by Ryan S

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