If not a wood plug then what?

[Melp]

Over the many years of collecting pipes some of the pipes have wood plugs not many in the 1.4 products, but some have a material I would best describe as a clay type? Not really sure what it is but has anyone plugged their tubes with this type of material. If so is there an advantage to it.
I was able to purchase some 3 dr17 hdpe pipe and I am looking at buy plugs, or try cutting my own. Because of the work that I do during the day I also have available to me a product called smooth on which I use to seam together epoxy tops. Smooth on is a two part epoxy mix that when it dry's is hard as rock and takes a diamond tip saw to cut. I am wondering if this would work as a plug and if so do you need an 1.5 of it in the tube.
My first thought would it get blown right out of the bottom. I could shoot some staples into it while its soft. And since these are 3in shells will that hold up to the pressure.
I was able to get 52 tubes out of the pipe that I purchased and haven't decided yet if I want to make a jig and router out plugs out of 1 1/2 stock which is tough on a router Or I thought of routering 3/4 material and then laminating them together to make up the 1 1/2. Or try the smooth on

I know you guys all have your ways which one is best or do you have a better idea:)

[JulianMeinhart]

I could be wrong but I believe it is essentially kitty litter. You place the tube on a hard flat surface, pour in small amounts of kitty litter and compress it little bits at a time. I don't think this would be a good idea for anything bigger than a "festival ball" sized shell it can't be that strong. Where were you able to buy the pipe or even better do you have like a part number of it?

[Melp]

This vendor is not an advertiser of pyrotalk but I can tell you that they do not have a office or distribution center in your state. I was lucky to find this place and its only 45minutes from my house. Im lucky as they stock almost any size pipe that I could afford to buy.
Because I am able to buy 1.3 I am upgrading my guns from dr11 to dr17 I was told that the local fireworks wholesaler buys 3" 15.5 from what I know it is a couple of hundreds bigger than the 3" dr17. I went with the dr17 because I didnt have to buy 30,000.00 worth of it. I would like to buy some 4" and 5" pipes but I guess a little at a time.

I wish I knew if the smooth on epoxy for plugs would work but I am not willing to experiment with something like this.

[PyroJoeNEPA]

http://www.midwestwoodspecialties.com/fireworks_plugs.html
Quality plugs--and a lot less hassle than making them yourself. I've used their plugs and they are top quality!
I don't know what the adhesion factor would be with the product you have access to would be. You definitely would have to have some fasteners thru the pipe into the material. Ypu could always try one & see--but be sure it is thick enough to take the pressure. I know guys that have poured cement in the bottom of steel pipes [with cross pins in the bottoms] to shoot salami shells out of.
The material in the 1.4g tubes is either clay [bentonite--and it is common to some brands of kitty litter but must be ground up before being compressed to get a good pack] or it is a sawdust/glue mixture or a really cheap flakeboard wood plug.
I've had some fiberglass tubes in the past with the wood plugs that were chipped up from taking the bottoms off the tubes--a mix off gorilla glue & sawdust will fix them right up.
However, I don't bother doing that anymore. I just re-purposed 50 1.75" fiberglass tubes --knocked the clay & wood plugs out & put "real" wood plugs in them. For $.28 a plug & 3 crown staples you can't go wrong!
52 plugs for your 3" guns would only cost you $ .43 ea. plus shipping from WI. Cheaper than burning up hole saw blades!!!

[Melp]

Thanks Pyrojoe Ive already have been in contact with midwest on plugs but with the info on the cement I might also try one or two tubes with the epoxy and some staples. As I said before the epoxy is as hard as cement do you think that I need a 1 1/2 of it in the bottom of the tube?

[displayfireworks1]

Give me a link to that "Smooth" shit. LOL
I want see what you are talking about. "GQ Smooth"

[Melp]

Here is the link to the home page http://www.smooth-on.com/Epoxy,-Silicone-an/c11_1125/index.html you then have to search PC-3 Laboratory adhesive. This is some of the strongest stuff I've ever used. I've had to fix countertops when people move them when the seam is still wet, to do this it takes a diamond tip saw to cut it apart. I'm wondering if I need a 1 1/2 of it in the bottom of the tube .
Heres a question what happens to a pipe if the plug comes out. I've had one go off in the tube but what would happen if the plug came loose?

[PyroJoeNEPA]

Heres a question what happens to a pipe if the plug comes out. I've had one go off in the tube but what would happen if the plug came loose?
For a 3" gun I would try putting in a plug that is at least 1 1//2" thick. Try one with 1" & another with 1 1/2" & see how they hold up.
To answer your question about a loose or broken plug--several things can happen: The shell may exit the gun safely--which is your best case scenario, the gun may twist in the rack from the blowback pressure of the gas & damage the rack sides blowing adjacent tubes out of the rack, or the bottom rail of the rack could be split--but this isn't that common unless the racks are old & "roached out".
Not knowing the cost of the epoxy material you would have to take this into consideration comparing the simplicity of using wood plugs.

[displayfireworks1]

My guess is using the smooth alone may not work because while it may be a strong material, it may not adhere to the hdpe. If you know how to cut your own wood circles go to the scrap wood section of your local Home Depot and see what they have. I was there today and saw a large amount of 70% off price 2x4 etc.

[Melp]

Thats one nice thing of having your own construction Company and working on a different job site every other week scrap wood is not an issue. Im working on two different jigs one for the 1.91 dr11 pipe and one for the dr17 3" pipe. I will be using for the jig for the 1.91 jig more so for the reason I emailed you on dave.