I looked at your video (nice job!!!). It looks to me like your Spark-Lite is being held too far from the cotton. Let me play a bit ...

(Fresh from the kitchen playing with my Spark-Lite and lighting little bits of cotton balls ... left hand smelling like smoke, and my wife thinking I'm nuts - as usual)

Using non-doped cotton balls (no Vaseline) I was able to light the cotton by the second or third spark.

The first try I held the orange handle with my left hand and spun the wheel with my right pointer finger. It lit on the second turn.

The second try I just used my right hand as you would a Bic lighter. This one lit on the third try, but I was so close that a fiber caught in the Spark-Lite and I had to flick a burning cotton ball off the Spark-Lite.

Moral of the story: get the working end of the Spark-Lite as close to the cotton as possible.

When making Valeline-cotton balls, make sure you don't put too much goop on the ball AND don't work it in too hard. The idea is to leave the ball with a dry, easily lightable center.

Ken K.