my monster meteor

banshee — Fri, 06 Jul 2007 16:18:40 GMT

double-monkey-fisted-kevlar-rope-meteor-madness

My new Meteor

SINGE — Fri, 21 Apr 2006 05:48:27 GMT

This is gen one of this design. I made a few mistakes which make the nicest features mute but I'll think everything should go smoothly when i build the next one. This meteor is made of: [lengths are variable] - 1/2inc kevlar cored kevlar rope - 1/4inc stranded steal cabel - 1/2inc nomex hose cover (McMaster Car) - 1/2inc crazy metal splash protecting awesomeness (McMaster Car) - 6 2ounce lead fishing weights - 6-12feet of kevlar thread ( I'll post McMaster part numbers soon) Total: around $30-$50 if i remember correctly You'll need to know how to tie a nice tight monkey fist and how to a strong stitch sew This kevlar rope is supposedly an import from China. I got it from someone at NIBMY back around early December. It is different from the stuff you get from flammaaeterna.com because it has a kevlar core rather then fiber glass. This was essential because I used the inner most core, a 1/4inc strand of kevlar, to pull through the 1/4inc stranded steal cable. I replaced the kevlar rope's core with steal so it was far less likely to break from wear and tear on the kevlar. My last solid kevlar rope meteor broke just above the monkey fist because it couldn't Handel the extra heat from the monkey fist. That's were the magic fire proof McMaster car sheath comes in. So next I tied a monkey fist in one end. Inside the monkey fist were three 2 ounce led fishing weights, 1/2 the left over 1/8inc kevlar rope (that used to be the core). You could use fiberglas for this as well if you want your monkey fists to hold an ungodly amount of fuel. Now here was the tricky part. I slid on the nomex hose cover over the rope. You hands tend to ware on the kevlar pretty heavily and eventually degrade it. Nomex stands up a lot better and feels better to. The nomex cover coverd the lenght of the rope from monkey fist to monkey fist and even a little bit inside the beginning of the fist. Then I slid one feet of the McMaster car fire proof sheath (sheath) right up to the first monkey fist. [This is the part of the process that needs to be refined] Then temporarily sewed the sheath to the rope and pulled the rope back through the last finger of the fist; pulling the sheath with it. Then I removed the stitch and pulled the fist 'almost' tight again. Then I permanently sewed the sheath to the rope so that it would fit inside just under the lateral fingers of over the last finger of the fist; and pulled it as tight as I could. (wow I hope that made sense) Its a good idea to always sew your kevlar thread in a way that makes it unexposed to direct flame. It can take it but it works best when it doesn't have to. The reason this didn't quite work was because when I completed the meteor and began to spin it the centrifugal force tightened the fists so much the sheet came all the way out and no longer protected the rope just above the fist. The steel has kept it from breaking but I theorize that the kevlar will eventually break down if the steel cable isn't baring all of the tension. The next time I make this meteor I am going to attempt to sew the sheath to the fingers that cover the last finger of the fist rather then the last finger its self, as well as not sewing other end of it so that when it gets pulled tighter by spinning it slides through the sheet and stays attached to the fist. The next meteor will also have much less led weight in the end. 6 ounces of added weight is way to much, this is definitely a death meteor that has given me many bruises. I would go for 2 ounce of extra weight on the next one. Also make sure you error on the shorted side when deciding how long to make your meteor sense it does tend to stretch when you break it in. I tied some extra knots, in addition to the mandatory center knot, in mine to make it a bit shorter. * last finger means the rope the enters/exits the fist, I.E the center rope of the meteor Let me know if this was helpful or inspiring in any way. I'd love to hear any questions or ideas anyone might have. SINGE

the meteor accident that i will never forget, nor live down

jaine_is_good_juju — Tue, 21 Mar 2006 07:27:44 GMT

i wish i knew how it happened, and how to do it again

conclave meteor by scott london

Lareina — Fri, 07 Oct 2005 19:07:00 GMT

Lareina — Sat, 16 Jul 2005 13:42:50 GMT

Zachary — Fri, 15 Jul 2005 21:19:27 GMT

Zachary — Fri, 15 Jul 2005 21:19:02 GMT

SINGE — Tue, 07 Jun 2005 00:22:48 GMT

prewrap

Lareina — Wed, 25 May 2005 18:25:51 GMT

meteor in Lareina's backyard

Lareina — Wed, 25 May 2005 18:25:48 GMT

Zach's Fire Meteor Detail

Zachary — Wed, 25 May 2005 12:36:11 GMT

Zach's Meteors

Zachary — Wed, 25 May 2005 12:35:19 GMT

Lareina with meteor at Phoenix First Fridays

Lareina — Wed, 25 May 2005 01:38:45 GMT

Zach on my 30th B-day

Zachary — Sat, 21 May 2005 01:39:14 GMT

Fire Meteor Photo Album