advice/standards for racks?

[josbor01]

I am starting to build my first sets of display racks, for 3's, 4's, 5's, and 6's. is there a standard thickness of lumber for the bottom plate or is it just preference?

[vegassalute]

This post couldn't be more timely, I'm getting ready to do a marathon rack build too. Looking forward to member insights. .

[displayfireworks1]

Not sure if all Home Depots have it, but ask where the scrap wood is for sale. I know where I live they have a section with 90% off the price. This is where I usually find plywood. I have seen some nice quality pieces there from time to time. all sorts of different cuts of wood there. A forums member here locally went to the local grave stone distributor and found all sorts of wood they use to transport the grave stones. He made his racks using that wood. That is when we discovered many of the stones were made in India. He left the made in India markings on the wood racks. LOL

[PyroManiacs]

He left the made in India markings on the wood racks. LOL

Thats pretty cool though!

[displayfireworks1]

Ha, I still have the video in unlisted form, from 2013.
.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RBYrKO0xTus

[Kenny East]

I made a lot of my racks with scrap pallet wood, a business near me throws out 2x4 pieces as well as 2x6 pieces... Most of my racks have a bottom plate that is at least 1.5" thick. For 3" and 2.5" racks... Never built any for larger guns. I would recommend that you don't use thinner than an inch for any larger guns.

[PyroJoeNEPA]

You want your bottom plate to be at least a piece of 2" lumber. That is where all the pressure is centered and the most force exerted. Don't skimp on the bottom plate.



A forums member here locally went to the local grave stone distributor and found all sorts of wood they use to transport the grave stones
After Dave originally posted that video back in 2013 I went to the local "monument" sales place & they told me I could have all the wood I wanted whenever I wanted it. Saved them from having to burn it. I got some really nice pieces of wood for racks there and a bunch of 2' x 12" short pieces from small headstones that I have used for a bunch of assorted projects. I'm using a piece now to build a small star roller base with a windshield wiper motor. Free stuff is great!!!

[thump junkie]

when we were building all of our racks and plugging tubes. we would go up to where they were building mobile homes and raid their dumpsters. about every 3 weeks. we would come back wi th a full truck almost every time. from this free wood we built 25 racks of 3. 20 racks of 4. 20 racks of 5and 15 racks of 6. and we also cut close to 500 plugs. saved us a ton of money.

[displayfireworks1]

I know everyone recommends that Midwest place to purchase wood plugs. It seem to me the hardest part to building these fireworks racks is making the wood plugs. And making them the correct size. I am no expert on carpentry, does someone have some pictures of the tolling they use or can discuss the process. Would be even better to see someone on video cutting a mortar plug.

[BhadDawg]

2602
2603

The cutter on the left is what I used for my 1.87" HDPE and the one on left I have never used, it is 2.22" I believe. The one on the left I have used for over a 1000 plugs and it is still in really good shape. I have looked on the net trying to find these again but have had no luck as far as finding anything this large. I bought these almost twenty years ago and I could have sworn I bought them from an outfit called Midwest, maybe the same ones as the folks selling plugs, not sure.

Very simple to use, simply set them up in your drill press and use a jig or vice on your drill press table to steady the board you are cutting the wood from. they are relatively fast and as you can see durable, and plugs are really cheap this way as you can get most of it from scrap lumber.

[Kenny East]

I usually use lathe turned hardwood, not as long lasting as plugs cut across the grain, but i can turn out a 36" piece in no time... I've also used a drill press with a hole saw... Just remove the pilot bit from the center

[CMiller]

Hi guys, can anyone suggest a HDPE pipe distributor, I've got a workshop and cutting the pipe and making plugs wouldn't be a problem. I've google searched the pipe and none match the specs that I've seen on here. Thanks

[displayfireworks1]

What size mortars are making and what is your budget. Someone needs to know that.

[rocky99]

I agree with Joe on a 2" bottom board for 4inch and up, preferably roughcut. Plywood is fine for the sides.

[CMiller]

I'm looking to build at least 72 SR11 (1.91) 36 SR 9 (1.81) and 2, 30 racks of 1.25 for the small mini shells. My budget is looking at being cheaper than buying individual tubes online. :) For the foreseeable future I'm stuck with the 1.4 product.

[upNdown]

So you guys think that sticking a hunk of one inch plywood in the bottom of a milk crate isn't sufficient?

[Bazerk]

So you guys think that sticking a hunk of one inch plywood in the bottom of a milk crate isn't sufficient?

If you are doing 2in and smaller on the tubes, 1in, hell even .75in ply is fine. Its not going to break through that no matter what you do.

[PyroJoeNEPA]

So you guys think that sticking a hunk of one inch plywood in the bottom of a milk crate isn't sufficient?
The problem with the milk crate is that if there is a tube that blows out it can throw other tubes [with lit shells] out on the ground facing who knows what direction. The wood in the bottom would help with the tube bounce--but not a blow out.
I never was a fan of milk crate racks--and there are guys on here that swear by them and have been using them for a while. I'm not going to resurrect that discussion---.
The point is that a 10 shot rack is relatively easy to build with little to no tools or experience.....they stack well, store well, can be arranged in pods, angled, etc.
Also, there are different types of milk crates out there--some are much stronger than others.
I have several but only use them to store the fiberglass tubes salvaged from shell kits until I have time to "rack them up". As it is I have more 1.75" racks than I can use.

[jamisonlm3]

So you guys think that sticking a hunk of one inch plywood in the bottom of a milk crate isn't sufficient?People have made racks with milk crates in a couple of way from what I've seen. You have those that make them with stock mortars from a shell kit. They either glue, screw or both to a piece of wood and put that in the milk crate. I think this is the safer way because it put space between the mortars. The other way is to knock the bases off of them or use normal HDPE mortars and simply drop them in. A piece of plywood would prevent them from springing out of the crate, but with them so close together, there's not telling what might happen if a shell fails to lift.

[Bazerk]

People have made racks with milk crates in a couple of way from what I've seen. You have those that make them with stock mortars from a shell kit. They either glue, screw or both to a piece of wood and put that in the milk crate. I think this is the safer way because it put space between the mortars. The other way is to knock the bases off of them or use normal HDPE mortars and simply drop them in. A piece of plywood would prevent them from springing out of the crate, but with them so close together, there's not telling what might happen if a shell fails to lift.

I can tell you that I use mine for the 2in canister salutes from Lynch. Im not sure how much more powerful of a shell your going to find at that size, but I have had one not lift and blow in the tube in my milk crate. The HDPE pipe held the blast so well that I didnt even realize it happened until I went to pull the tubes out and they were much tighter due to the swelling of the one that broke. It may have contained the blast due to the fact that the other tubes were so tight to it, but none the less, nobody knew anything went wrong.

[Rick_In_Tampa]

Just out of curiosity... Has anyone ever had or heard of a consumer 60g canister or ball shell blowing out the base or side of an HDPE tube? My soon to be ex son in law (dumba$$) put a few shells in upside down a few years back using the fiberglass tubes that came with the shells and it didn't blow up the tube. So I'm trying to envision a scenario where a consumer shell could blow apart an HDPE tube. Generally speaking I know anything is possible, but it just seems highly unlikely.

[Bazerk]

Just out of curiosity... Has anyone ever had or heard of a consumer 60g canister or ball shell blowing out the base or side of an HDPE tube? My soon to be ex son in law (dumba$$) put a few shells in upside down a few years back using the fiberglass tubes that came with the shells and it didn't blow up the tube. So I'm trying to envision a scenario where a consumer shell could blow apart an HDPE tube. Generally speaking I know anything is possible, but it just seems highly unlikely.

I highly doubt it Rick. As I posted before, I had a 1.3g 2in salute blow in an HDPE tube and it barely put a bulge in it. The plug remained in tact and the tube is still usable although I replaced mine already.

[pyroboom]

Just out of curiosity... Has anyone ever had or heard of a consumer 60g canister or ball shell blowing out the base or side of an HDPE tube? My soon to be ex son in law (dumba$$) put a few shells in upside down a few years back using the fiberglass tubes that came with the shells and it didn't blow up the tube. So I'm trying to envision a scenario where a consumer shell could blow apart an HDPE tube. Generally speaking I know anything is possible, but it just seems highly unlikely.

Notice the crack in the rack and the tube. This is from a cheap canister shell. Loaded up-side-down on purpose.

http://www.pyrotalk.com/bulletin/attachment.php?attachmentid=2948&stc=1

[upNdown]

I never was a fan of milk crate racks--and there are guys on here that swear by them and have been using them for a while. I'm not going to resurrect that discussion---.
The point is that a 10 shot rack is relatively easy to build with little to no tools or experience.....they stack well, store well, can be arranged in pods, angled, etc.
.
I appreciate that. In a perfect world, I'd do things differently. Me and my buddy have been shooting at his house for a few years now, and for a couple of reasons, our only place to shoot is out on the dock, in the pond. The dock is narrow. We make do as best as we can - we'll bring out a board and a rack and shoot them, then repeat and repeat and repeat. This is the first year we're building racks with hdpe (as opposed to poor man racks in years past.) It seems like to get the most shots out there at once, given the footprint restrictions of the dock, the milk crate is our best option.

[Rick_In_Tampa]

Notice the crack in the rack and the tube. This is from a cheap canister shell. Loaded up-side-down on purpose.

http://www.pyrotalk.com/bulletin/attachment.php?attachmentid=2948&stc=1

That's amazing. I wouldn't have thought a 60g shell could do that. Guess I learned something. Thanks for the post!

[jamisonlm3]

A consumer canister shell is pretty potent.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2O1u33j7hF0 - Excalibur mortar with sleeve.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iDex1_c33HI - Older Excalibur mortar without sleeve.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mn-_jSWI4cs - Another Excalibur mortar with sleeve.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kcz07-qrcTM - Small 9 shot rack of DR11 mortars.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-MpT2E8VXWM - Dave's upside down fireworks video. Also features Shogun's 10 break shell.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NNAUeIllBa0 - Yet another Excalibur mortar with sleeve.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yk9vuibRsLk - Yet another DR11 Mortar.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KHaCOtr7wtI - Excalibur mortar with sleeve taken off.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MovgO1wrEXQ - Experimental 10 shot hardware cloth rack.

[Rick_In_Tampa]

Thanks for the links jamisonlm3. Very informative.