In the 4th century, St. Catherine of Alexandria was tortured on a wheel (they used all sorts of worrying implements in those days) giving rise to the traditional name "Catherine Wheel" for this well-known rotating device.

A wheel is a card or plastic disc with a number of rocket-like thrusters or gerbs (fountains) mounted around the circumference. Each one burns to provide both sparks, and thrust, spinning the wheel around. The fast motion of many wheels adds to the effect.

Most larger wheels change effects as each gerb burns in turn. So, you might have silver or gold, then colours, then screeching.

Price has never been a good indicator of quality with wheels. Some of the cheapest wheels offer stunning performance, good duration and even reversing action. In general though, more expensive wheels have bigger and better gerbs - but be sure to mount them high enough to show off the effect.

The smaller wheels use a different approach to generate spin. A long thin tube is filled with a powder and coiled around a centre disc. As this burns, thrust is created to spin the device. These do not spin as fast as bigger wheels but can still look very pretty and they can last a long time. But make sure you haven't banged the nail in too far - the slightest resistance can stop these spinning.