Firework setup plans

[Playingwithfire85]

I am just curious as to how many people go into detail and make plans like these for backyard setups? I even have a overlay of the property so I can setup distances from houses and the wood line and all of my sheets are laminated so I can write and rewrite as much as my OCD would like to make me. If so please share ideas.

558

[PyroJoeNEPA]

Hmmmm--I don't think you have enough mortars for a "back yard" show! Just Kidding!!!:D Planning for a small show makes it easy when you get to do a big show. You are only one step away from labeling each rack & gun with que, shell effect, and firing sequence. Keep at it. I am glad you are paying attention to distances from houses, trees, etc. Nothing wrong with planning & laying things out legibly. Good job.

[PyroManiacs]

The only thing I notice is that you have mortar racks vertically and racks horizontally. I suggest you make sure when you are actually setting up that you always setup your racks perpendicular to the crowd. You wouldnt want a rack to fall over and fire in their direction. Other than then that, looks awesome!

[algrant1]

I agree with pm1981. All racks must be perp. to the crowd.

[Playingwithfire85]

I always have my rack perpendicular to the audience. I was simply trying to fit as much as I can on an 8x11in powerpoint slide without scaling down everything. I do have a lot more racks than whats there, almost double to be exact since I have upgraded most of my mortars from fiberglass to HDPE. This is printed up for a backyard show that a friend is paying for so unless I can talk him into more money then shells will be limited. I do number and cue each of the racks but instead of doing them on the ppt I laminate the sheets and write on them with permanent markers so if I decide to make changes later and reuse the sheets. I have attached another file here so you can see how I label things on the back for notes and cue data.
559

I attached a picture of my makeshift racks for cardboard tubes for cheap 1.5"/1.75" shells. It makes it easy to replace tubes as they burn up and more organized in my eyes.

560

[PuroJon]

I am just curious as to how many people go into detail and make plans like these for backyard setups? I even have a overlay of the property so I can setup distances from houses and the wood line and all of my sheets are laminated so I can write and rewrite as much as my OCD would like to make me. If so please share ideas.


You are not alone (smile). I do the same for every show I shoot, small or large. Only real difference is that I use a lot more cakes - and label every placement box with the cake name, and everything to scale. I don't like (at all) making placement decisions during setup unless its something like a blind pyro competition that requires flexibility. Aside from that I can tell you how many ematches (and where the wire runs are) or jumper fuses I need, down to the total footage of the fuse. I can tell you the exact minimum dimensions of space I need for setup. Enjoy the heck out of doing it and am convinced that it averts surprise problems.

Overkill is your friend when planning a show...

[Playingwithfire85]

Thanks for the advice. I was hoping someone would share theirs so I have visual ideas also but I'm sure I can incorporate ideas. I definitely have more cakes than listed. I was planning on using those boxes for firing positions because right now I have 74 cakes which might be a pain to fill in when several are grouped together. Honestly I am to the point that I am overwhelming myself in how I'm going to set things up because I have more than 5 times the mortars and cakes as I have previously.

[PuroJon]

I'd be happy to share a layout sheet or two playingwith, just shoot me a PM. I can't post the sheets publicly because they often contain client info.

Even with 100 cakes - or especially with - I think its important to do layout sheets. To me, the more items you have on the field the more likely that you will have helpers doing the setup; and the layout sheets gives them a guide and takes care of a lot of supervision.

[PyroJoeNEPA]

RE: Racks normally are always perpendicular to the audience--but there are times a parallel placement is ok to use: I have some 1.75" racks that have the tubes angled for mines. Here's a pic:567
When I do use them, they are secured in the front with 2 pieces of rebar & one in the back--or, if I am using several in a "pod" I just end board them. These are fiberglass tubes salvaged from shell kits that have the clay plugs removed & hardwood plugs installed. They work very well for mine fronts.

[Rick_In_Tampa]

Fellow Pyros! I am in the process of designing my July 4th show. I have 41 cases on the way from Spirit of 76. What I don't have and what I can't find are the dimensions of the cakes. I've contacted SO76 and looked at wikifireworks.com and the info just isn't available.

So I was wondering if any of you who have used SO76 products in the past might have that kind of info handy from previous builds.

If you do, and if you'd consider sending it to me, I'd be more grateful.

[Chris23]

Fellow Pyros! I am in the process of designing my July 4th show. I have 41 cases on the way from Spirit of 76. What I don't have and what I can't find are the dimensions of the cakes. I've contacted SO76 and looked at wikifireworks.com and the info just isn't available.

So I was wondering if any of you who have used SO76 products in the past might have that kind of info handy from previous builds.

If you do, and if you'd consider sending it to me, I'd be more grateful.

Hey Rick

I haven't used 76 for a while but my rough reference for sizes are:

500 Grammers packed 4/1
9-12 shots 10x10"
16-36 shots 12x11

NOABS packed 2/1
14x14"

Zippers (vary ALOT) but last I had was a 189 shot packed 1/1 22x18"

"350" Grammers packed 8/1
8.5x8"

200 Grammers
12/1 5x5"
16/1 4.5x4.5"
24/1 3.5x3.5"

Again those are rough guesstimates but hopefully it's a start

[Rick_In_Tampa]

Chris - Thanks for the info. Except for products made by Brothers, the other manufacturer websites are useless for getting dimensions! It's crazy.