It’s Just a Flick of the Wrist
(How to Make a Wrist Lighter)
Have you ever wanted to be an alchemist? How about a fire mage? An assassin, maybe? Well I happen to have a pretty nifty tutorial for that. It’s easy, very affordable, and such a fun parlor trick!
What you’ll need:
- A grill lighter
$3.00 at any grocery store
- A spark ignition (grill ignition/button)
$7.00 at any hardware store
- Duct tape
You probably have this lying around
- Something to bind everything to your hand (like elastic)
$4.00 for a BUNCH of elastic ribbon at Walmart
- String or thread
Again, you probably have this lying around, but it’s not expensive.
So this awesome little contraption will cost you at most $20.00. Trust me, the looks you’ll get will be so worth it.
Step 1.
Start by taking apart the grill lighter. You probably won’t need tools to tear it limb from limb, but if you’re having trouble, a knife should do the trick. Just be careful.
The only part you need from this is the butane container with the gas line attached (shown below). There will be a small plastic piece that attaches where the gas line begins; this is to release the butane.
Step 2.
At this point, you will need your spark igniter.
This is the model I used however, many different kinds will work. I wanted an easy push button (and man is this an easy push button. I shocked myself a few times playing with it.)
Plug the two wires in as shown below and attach the other sides so that they straddle the end of the gas line.
Before you end up securing them in place, make sure they are positioned correctly. Just give it a few tries by starting the ignition and opening the gas line; if there is a flame, you’ve got it!
Step 3.
You will need to create a harness to secure the flame to your hand. My costume ended up covering up the wrist/hand area anyway so I used some gnarly elastic that happened to be lying around. If you can’t afford this, I suggest using flesh colored fishnets. Make sure that the flame will not touch the fabric. I mean it. You don’t want your arm catching fire. A good way to ensure this is to use a metal nut around the base of the gas line and ignition.
Step 4.
Harness the butane to your arm. That’s right. You get to walk around attached to a tank of butane! (Tank might be an exaggeration).
Step 5.
Tie the string or thread to the little plastic piece that controls the gas. Then tie a loop around your finger. Make sure the tension is right. You don’t want to be leaking all day, nor do you want too much slack. The idea is that you flick your wrist back and BAM! Fire!
So now that you’ve made it, you’ll secure every part to you but keep the ignition button tucked up your arm. I had a scarf that I lodged it into. My reason for this is that I didn’t want to ever accidentally unleash my pyrotechnics.
Have fun and be safe! Make sure your venue won’t freak out… but then again it is always better to ask forgiveness than to ask permission, right? After all, you control fire now.