Old Fashion Torch

 I learned this trick from some friends and perfected it myself. Please not that they are relatively unstable and should not be used for anything other than emergency or novelty purposes. I.E. I do not suggest using these to be part of some sort of dungeon themed room since they would probably light your house on fire. 

**Be careful, I do not want some law suit because you are the kind of kid that burns yourself with matches and then you try to make a torch for the fun of it. Whatever you do is your responsibility and in no way is it my problem what happens if you use or misuse this technique**

Step 1 Materials

You will need:
Beeswax 
100% Cotton Rope
A stick 
something to melt the wax in
something to light the torch with 
a knife

Note you MUST use 100% cotton rope otherwise you will have dripping molten plastic instead of a nice clean-burning torch. Paraffin or any other comparable wax will do. Also you should use a cheep butter knife so you don't kill your heat temper.

Comments

[bustedit]

I love that is flagged "popular"! Is there a large demand for flaming torches these days? I guess i am hanging out with the wrong people, becasue I've always wanted to walk around a cave/dungeon/Mayan temple w a torch just like Indiana Jones.
Very cool.

[Terranan]

tiki parties, ftw!

[lolpota]

[e-mail]gggggggggfgggyygghgggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggg

[jeff-o]

I think it's due to all the people watching Survivor and Lost.

[lolpota]

[e-mail]gggggggggfgggyygghgggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggg

[average joe 1999]

"I learned this trick from some friends and perfected it myself. Please not that they are relatively unstable and should not be used for anything other than emergency or novelty purposes. I.E. I do not suggest using these to be part of some sort of dungeon themed room since they would probably light your house on fire."


the friends are unstable and may light your house on fire...:)

[dvacura]

I wrapped what i though was cotton string around a stick after i poured wax on it. Should it be burning bright? mine is pathetic.

[jamesjamesjames]

pouring wax on it will not be as effective as soaking it in melted wax, the wax will cool before it gets absorbed

[Super_Geek]

Ideally you should soak the cord in the warm melted wax so that it has maximum absorption. Then wrap multiple layers over the top of each other, bound very tightly. Using a slightly smaller cord you can get 3 or 4 layers and it will burn fairly bright for a torch.

[Birdy Jane]

randomhand: bbq party idea is first thing I thought of too.
Anyone know a reason why not add citronella oil to the wax?

[NADYSTudiOs]

I would think that you would just have to make sure that it mixes evenly with the wax. I have never heard of citronella reacting with wax in a bad way and they sell those candles all the time.

[NADYSTudiOs]

Just a hint, in the begging of Step 3 you spelt melting wrong. Just saying. Other than that your instructable is great! I have always wanted to have one of these! Thanks for posting instructions, it looks like it will work better than using lighter fluid.

[jack pickle]

Its melting not meting

[fellbaum]

i use diesel its more stable than gasoline

[djzadjza]

i did the same thing with a cotton cloth wrap and some parafin wax. and after you get it burning it burns for 20 minutes or more. thanks for the great idea

[bobwantzanapple]

You realize that when cotton is burned it releases toxic fumes, don't you? I suggest natural twine such as hemp (NOT pot...he- he) because it is safer and better for your lungs to burn.

[Neovenetar]

no, cotton is natural, your thinking of nylon

[bobwantzanapple]

Poison Ivy is natural too, but you don't burn that do you? It's kind of like burning charcoal, how it releases Carbon Monoxide as a natural part of combustion, but if you're moving around a lot, and you're outside, you should be fine, also, I respect your opinion.

[snook123]

cotton is natural and does not release fumes

[bobwantzanapple]

everything releases fumes when burned, it's just that some fumes are more dangerous than others, cotton fumes are slightly more dangerous than that of other natural twine such as hemp, hemp also burns better in some cases

[djzadjza]

i think you need to recheck most of the facts you posted. execpt oviously the poison ivy. you dont want to burn that

[kutz]

I find that paint thinner works pretty well with cotton cord wrapped like in this 'able, but u have to keep reapplying it after it goes out so pitch is best its a good idea to not drip it all over your hand and arm though :P

[EOmfD_0120S]

All Ideas are correct as I have performed this many ways. The most complicated way is to lace burlap with very thin copper wire for the wrap, use a gelatin or waxed base fuel, then once wrap and fuel/oil mixture are applied, coat the wrap with a thick non flamable wax to help control and extend the burn time. Now that is the most complicated and time consuming so as "asibitemytounge" originally stated, the illustrated guide provided is for emergencies and should be used in only those situations where supplies are limited. By the way, the wax is used for 2 reasons. First, most wax contains petrolium jelly which mixed with cotten will ignite and burn slow like a candle and 2nd is using a non petrolium wax to control the burn time. Good Instruction "AS I"!

[JamesTB13]

OORRR, soak your string in gasoline, then the gasoline burns before the string. Also, it's very unclear as to what purpose the wax serves.

[shortw]

Only if you want to look like grandpa.....bald-headed.

[JamesTB13]

Not reall, unless you use some sort of sponge, there will be no gasoline dripping onto your head. That's the way i always knew to make a torch.......works great on small beehives too, you just need a LONG stick.

[Jakace]

 what do with wax?

[shortw]

After you wrap your wooden stick with the rope, you will dip the wooden stick with rope end into the molten wax and let it soak until the stick and the rope will not absorb anymore wax. Take it out of the wax and let it cool down. Noe you are ready to use it whenever you like.

[Culturedropout]

I learned this trick from some friends and perfected it myself. Please note that they are relatively unstable.  Tee Hee! ;-)

[Kryptonite]

Awesome! I would like to make this, seems so simple and effective! Can we get a picture of it lit? Sorry, but my Quicktime player's a bit annoying. D:

And a note to every body else, instead of bumping BSG's comment back up to the top, just comment on the Instructable or other threads and push it down to the bottom!

[RavingMadStudios]

Sorry for the BSG bump. Couldn't help myself.

[Kryptonite]

Thanks for the comment above to push it out of the way. :D

[RavingMadStudios]

Very nice work. I've made torches for theatrical productions many times, and this method would come in handy for that kind of thing. Simple, inexpensive and handy. Well done.

I do disagree a bit about using several short pieces instead of one long one being safer. It seems to me that it would be more likely to drop bits of flaming cord that way, and that you'd have more time to react when one long one burned through, as the remaining cord would still be wrapped around the stick. When I've done torches in the past, I've added a few 1 inch pneumatic staples to hold the rope to the wood, just to be sure. Maybe that would work for you, too.

[randomhand]

How long do they burn for?

would be awsome for a bbq party

[sheepguy42]

 I wonder if leaving the end in the can while the wax melts might result in more thorough absorption of the wax, and perhaps longer burn times?

[LuminousObject]

This is cool. Why is it hard to light though? Is it just hard to get the rope lit once its full of wax?

[knexfan9182]

The size on that file seems a little bit off.