Slice & Sweep Stabilization

[MtnViewPyro]

I have been planning on making some sort of rack/stabilizer for slices and sweeps. I made some last year that just held two, but this Years show will have much more of this product. I’ve seen a few holders online and they seem they will work ok. However, I have read (that’s dangerous) that some have experienced a slice or sweep catching the next slice or sweep on fire when placed together. Anyone heard of this? The thick black paper they have seems to be enough to combat that but just curious. Also, if anyone has some pictures of your racks/stabilizer for these products please share.

[ddadmin]

I keep saying once more people move into these slice/modular cakes , there is going to be more and more need for equipement to stabilize them. I may have a picture of what you are looking to create. I'll try to post in the next few days.

[jamisonlm3]

I've helped with some pyromusicals that used slices of difference sizes. They came with a foil paper over the top and I can't remember any setting off another. We put them in a special holder just for them. I made some quick designs of them from what I remember from last year. They just sit down in the slots. The larger one for the larger slices we used and the smaller one for the smaller slices. Sometimes, the larger slices wouldn't sit on the bottom of the holder and we had to put small wooden slats in so they would.

[MtnViewPyro]

I keep saying once more people move into these slice/modular cakes , there is going to be more and more need for equipement to stabilize them. I may have a picture of what you are looking to create. I'll try to post in the next few days.

Thank you. Look forward to seeing the picture.

[MtnViewPyro]

I've helped with some pyromusicals that used slices of difference sizes. They came with a foil paper over the top and I can't remember any setting off another. We put them in a special holder just for them. I made some quick designs of them from what I remember from last year. They just sit down in the slots. The larger one for the larger slices we used and the smaller one for the smaller slices. Sometimes, the larger slices wouldn't sit on the bottom of the holder and we had to put small wooden slats in so they would.

That is a better design then what I have seen. I like the brace on both front and back. The earlier designs I seen basically just sandwich them together and then just have a front and back for the first and last product.

[displayfireworks1]

I remember saying somewhere I was going to post a picture of a modular cake rack , but I can not remember where I said it. Oh well, let me post it here. This is a still shot from my AP certification video.
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http://www.pyrotalk.com/bulletin/attachment.php?attachmentid=2933&stc=1

[MtnViewPyro]

Thanks Dave for the pic. I’m liking that design with the boards for individual cakes. Provides great stability and separates them enough to not worry about fire from one.

[displayfireworks1]

With the new AP Certificate program I am hoping to provide more access to these products for advanced user with fireworks firing systems. When it continues to grow the need for additional equipment will also grow. Currently there are not many if at all companies selling racks similar to the one I have pictured. Display companies are fabricating their own last I heard. Or, people like yourself who are able to create their own.

[Kenny East]

That was my issue when I started adding dominator pro line... Some of their fanned finale boxes have a very narrow base. Didn't want to stake a dozen of them around the shoot site... Made a \___/ shaped holder attached to a pallet... Two rows of 6 worked great.

I like the single shot holders, but where are the racks and holders for all the other products available? I've seen a few but not very user friendly designs, and very expensive.

Like the box with dividers for fans and sweeps... May need to buy some plywood and make a couple. I've always staked the one or two sweeps I use, and every year I find myself in the shop cutting more stakes. So anything to reduce the labor of setup is a big plus.

[MtnViewPyro]

Yeah that’s why I’m going with something like the box Kenny. Stakes on my property is just too much work. Unless I have a jack hammer lol.

[Kenny East]

I've got 2" of top soil over packed sand and clay. ... Usually have to drive all the stakes in with an 8# sledge. Use rebar for any racks not braced to other racks, I bend a j hook on the end... Makes it easier to pull them out. My first large scale show had everything staked, that took way to much time to set up and clean up.

[Mattp]

Would anybody have any dimensions for a box like this?? Or even rough idea of the dimensions of the fansweep/slices?? I have some coming with my order.. but would like to get going on making something like this box.. seems like a great way to support them

[jamisonlm3]

Do you know the dimensions of the fan slices you'll be getting? The one I remember using, the larger one, was roughly 3ft long/wide and had a slot that was 1.5-2". The smaller was the half as long with the same slot width. If you can find out the dimensions of the slices you're getting, I can draw you up a set of basic plans.

[Mattp]

Do you know the dimensions of the fan slices you'll be getting? The one I remember using, the larger one, was roughly 3ft long/wide and had a slot that was 1.5-2". The smaller was the half as long with the same slot width. If you can find out the dimensions of the slices you're getting, I can draw you up a set of basic plans.

Hey, thats really cool of you, thank you.. i dont know the dimensions of them.. i thought they may have been pretty standard.. im getting them from SO76.. guess i can call and ask if they know.. or i can wait till i pick up my order .. but wasnt planning on picking them up for another month.. and im already getting antsy!! Lol

[jamisonlm3]

I know the feeling. Give them a call. I'm bet they'd try and help you as best they can. I just need to know how wide the slice is at it's widest point, how wide the bottom is and how thick the slice is. Here's a image of what I mean. BTW, out of curiosity, which ones did you order?

[Mattp]

I know the feeling. Give them a call. I'm bet they'd try and help you as best they can. I just need to know how wide the slice is at it's widest point, how wide the bottom is and how thick the slice is. Here's a image of what I mean. BTW, out of curiosity, which ones did you order?
I got the 7s rwb bombard slices and 13s cascade sweeps ..ill give them a call tomorrow

[Mattp]

Ok.. the 7s slices are 30mm and i belive 18" long
And the 13s sweeps are 25mm and 26" long.. someone else gave me the legnths so i dont know if thats bottom or top. I would think top because 7x30mm is only like 8".. but the mm sizes are from 76's website.. was thinking of just making it 32" to be safe.. also is the mm sizes the size of the shot?? Or the actual size of the slice/sweep.. basically is it o.d. Or i.d???

[MtnViewPyro]

The mm is the shot size or tube diameter I believe

[jamisonlm3]

32" is probably a safe bet, but you never know. Better to get ahold of more solid information or get your hands on your slices so you can see for yourself before you build only to find they don't fit. Here's the basic plans. This rack lets you use 8 slices in it. There's a 2" wide space for each slice. I used 2x6's for the outside frame with 1x6's for the separators and a piece of 5/8" plywood for the bottom. It should make for a very strong rack for your slices, but I don't think you need as many screws as I have countersinks for. I tend to go a bit overboard on them. Just modified the design however you need. If you need more info, just let me know.

[Mattp]

32" is probably a safe bet, but you never know. Better to get ahold of more solid information or get your hands on your slices so you can see for yourself before you build only to find they don't fit. Here's the basic plans. This rack lets you use 8 slices in it. There's a 2" wide space for each slice. I used 2x6's for the outside frame with 1x6's for the separators and a piece of 5/8" plywood for the bottom. It should make for a very strong rack for your slices, but I don't think you need as many screws as I have countersinks for. I tend to go a bit overboard on them. Just modified the design
however you need. If you need more info, just let me know.

Thats really cool of you.. thank you!! .. thats pretty impressive too that you can make digital plans like that.. and so quick too .. computers is not my thing.. lol. Yes maybe i will wait to make sure of the legnth sizes.. really shouldnt take me too long to build a box like this .. thanks again

[Jay_]

I still will add a 2x1 strap to the sides on these (ran out of wood..too many beers to go get some :)), but I made these this last weekend. Of course the photos are sideways since I cant use the camera on my phone correctly.

Top pic is for the 13 shot slices with a single 15 shot slice on the back. Also a rack of angled 62mm's mixed in on that board as well.

Bottom pic is 5 shot slices. The small ones are for the 5 shot crosettes (sp?) that have a much smaller (25mm or so) tube diameter and are physically much smaller.

http://www.pyrotalk.com/bulletin/attachment.php?attachmentid=3015&stc=1

http://www.pyrotalk.com/bulletin/attachment.php?attachmentid=3016&stc=1

[displayfireworks1]

Nice job on those AP racks. This is the new Frontier for advancing Pyro enthusiasts with firing systems. If I can get the ear of distributors selling these I have some suggestions

[Jay_]

Thanks Dave. Best part is that it’s free scrap wood except for the 1x2 that is on the 62mm rack. Include the cost of the screws and I have maybe a buck in each one of them. I got the idea from your AP video (same image posted earlier in this thread).

Yes I would love to see some more racks out there for this stuff, and see what is possible with all of it.

[Mattp]

http://www.pyrotalk.com/bulletin/attachment.php?attachmentid=3055&stc=1
Made a couple myself.. a little crude but will do the job.. they are pretty much specific to what i have planned for this year.. question.. would you also somehow secure these boxes down?? Or do you think the box itself is heavy enough.. its 3/4 plywood with 1/2" dividers

[jamisonlm3]

We never secured ours because the large one was so big and heavy and more often then not we used put the smaller slices in it to it. The smaller one was never fixed down either. I would treat it as any other rack. You can stake it in places with wood or rebar. 6" boards could be screwed the sides to act as stabalizing arms/legs.

[PYRODAN]

http://www.pyrotalk.com/bulletin/attachment.php?attachmentid=3074&stc=1http://www.pyrotalk.com/bulletin/attachment.php?attachmentid=3075&stc=1
Here are some pictures of racks I made to hold fan slices.

[rocky99]

32" is probably a safe bet, but you never know. Better to get ahold of more solid information or get your hands on your slices so you can see for yourself before you build only to find they don't fit. Here's the basic plans. This rack lets you use 8 slices in it. There's a 2" wide space for each slice. I used 2x6's for the outside frame with 1x6's for the separators and a piece of 5/8" plywood for the bottom. It should make for a very strong rack for your slices, but I don't think you need as many screws as I have countersinks for. I tend to go a bit overboard on them. Just modified the design however you need. If you need more info, just let me know.

I used your design to make an 8 slice holder. However, I used furring strips as dividers. They are 1.75" apart and only 3" high. I'm new to firing splices, and don't know how much they "jump around", or how easily they can set off their next door neighbor! Do you think 3" is high enough, or should I add another one on top of each one? Thanks.

[esgrillo]

I used so many slices I went more the the same style as pyrodan. These were heavy enough as it was lol. There were 4 like this. They did not move at all during firing and there was no crossfire. I did make sure that none of the fuses were adjacent to each other to minimize that risk.

http://www.pyrotalk.com/bulletin/attachment.php?attachmentid=3168&stc=1
http://www.pyrotalk.com/bulletin/attachment.php?attachmentid=3169&stc=1
http://www.pyrotalk.com/bulletin/attachment.php?attachmentid=3171&stc=1

[CMiller]

Ed, did you elevate them? Dont those loolipops recommend to be elevated?

[esgrillo]

Ed, did you elevate them? Dont those loolipops recommend to be elevated?

No. Those are not the ones that shoot at a low angle. There are no tubes until about 30 degrees on the semi circle. They are going off at 8:29 in my show. They looked like this:

http://www.pyrotalk.com/bulletin/attachment.php?attachmentid=3172&stc=1

[displayfireworks1]

I have one of those lollipops from Spirit of 76 and keep trying to find the proper device to elevate it and shoot it .
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Thanks to everyone for posting these pictures, they help educate others. When I am out and about I hear from people that find the pictures and videos helpful. Shame we lost 2 months of data when the site went down.

[CMiller]

No. Those are not the ones that shoot at a low angle. There are no tubes until about 30 degrees on the semi circle. They are going off at 8:29 in my show. They looked like this:

http://www.pyrotalk.com/bulletin/attachment.php?attachmentid=3172&stc=1

Thank you, Ed

[Robbro097]

Seeing all these pics get me excited for cobras black friday sale i never thought id want to do a pyro musical but after pressing buttons and feeling instant ignition cant help but want to take it to the next level

[Rick_In_Tampa]

Seeing all these pics get me excited for cobras black friday sale i never thought id want to do a pyro musical but after pressing buttons and feeling instant ignition cant help but want to take it to the next level

It's an enormous amount of work and chances are you're going to be ticked off at the end because you're going to see things that didn't go as planned (or at all!), but it's all going to be motivation for the following year! It's truly a sickness, and one I hope I never recover from!! Looks like you've caught it now too. Glad to hear. Enjoy the ride! :cool:

[Robbro097]

It's an enormous amount of work and chances are you're going to be ticked off at the end because you're going to see things that didn't go as planned (or at all!), but it's all going to be motivation for the following year! It's truly a sickness, and one I hope I never recover from!! Looks like you've caught it now too. Glad to hear. Enjoy the ride! :cool:

I deff dont get too upset when thing dont go right especially with fireworks long as it went safe (ther just too awesome lol) but im sure itll lead to me doing more shows just to get better

[Mattp]

i've been thinking about adding a segment to my show.. (i must be nuts because i already dont know how im going to get it all done in time)... but i dont have enough cues left over to do this... i want to have a bunch of sweeps going off one after another... if i daisy chained them with fuse... from the last to first e-port this should work ..RIGHT????...... on another note... what the heck happened to mtnviewpyro??? ...hope your ok dude!!!

[Rick_In_Tampa]

Having trouble visualizing what you're trying to do here.

Do you want to set them end to end across your show line? Or are you setting them in different places a certain distance apart? Are you trying to set them all off using 1 cue on your firing module?

The fans/sweeps I get from SO76 don't come with visco. They're e-ports only. So I'm trying to envision a way to do what I think you're suggesting with only 1 cue and I don't see how it's possible without some really "out of the box" fusing.

[Mattp]

i guess i should've been more clear.. i have the same SO76 sweeps.. with the 3 eports on the bottom... im thinking of having them in one rack if you will(sandwiched together)... if i stick fuse all the way up into an eport and tape it up... im hoping it will light..??? and yes.. so the first one lights with an initiator say in the left port.. then i stick fuse into the same sweeps right port ..and put the other end of the fuse into the next sweeps port.. and so on for a few of them... this is a last minute thought.. and i only have one cue to do this with... if its not feasible i will just scrap the idea and only shoot one sweep... but in theory, i think it will work.???

[PyroManiacs]

We use sheets of metal that are probably about 18"x18" that have been bent into the shape of an "L".

We start with the last(back) row and put a slice on the bracket, then place another bracket in front of that one and put a slice on it but pushed up against the other slice, you repeat this process until you have all desired slices separated by each bracket in front of the previous. The very front bracket is weighed down by two bricks keeping all the brackets firm in place which all together are pretty heavy anyway. The brackets also lessen the chance of crossfiring slices and you should off-center them so each fuse/port is hidden from the slice in front by the metal. No rack fires either.

https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/a128/KillaNinjaChuklz/0/79c64ef5-3e5b-41ff-b1cd-edffbdb217ae-original.jpg?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds (https://beta.photobucket.com/u/KillaNinjaChuklz/p/79c64ef5-3e5b-41ff-b1cd-edffbdb217ae)

[PyroManiacs]

Let me know if the picture Im trying to post is showing up. Its showing that it isnt for me for some reason.

[Deanbc]

You can try it, what do you have to lose. I’ve shot lots of S76/single shots with ePorts using fuse. What I did was double up the run of fuse by folding it and pushed the curve off the fold into the eport first thereby having fuse going in and coming out (just more fire), pushed in as far as I could, taped it securely then ran the fuse to the next item, etc. you will need to allow for some spacing so don’t use the grey fast fuse or they will all go off almost simultaneously, unless you want it that way?
But I think it should work.

[Mattp]

You can try it, what do you have to lose. I’ve shot lots of S76/single shots with ePorts using fuse. What I did was double up the run of fuse by folding it and pushed the curve off the fold into the eport first thereby having fuse going in and coming out (just more fire), pushed in as far as I could, taped it securely then ran the fuse to the next item, etc. you will need to allow for some spacing so don’t use the grey fast fuse or they will all go off almost simultaneously, unless you want it that way?
But I think it should work.

yes i was thinking the same thing about using a 5 or 10sec/ft fuse... i like that idea of folding it better too..and it seems easier/less work than my plan to use the first and last port... thank you!!! i think it will work too... but only one way to find out!!!! lol

[Rick_In_Tampa]

i guess i should've been more clear.. i have the same SO76 sweeps.. with the 3 eports on the bottom... im thinking of having them in one rack if you will(sandwiched together)... if i stick fuse all the way up into an eport and tape it up... im hoping it will light..??? and yes.. so the first one lights with an initiator say in the left port.. then i stick fuse into the same sweeps right port ..and put the other end of the fuse into the next sweeps port.. and so on for a few of them... this is a last minute thought.. and i only have one cue to do this with... if its not feasible i will just scrap the idea and only shoot one sweep... but in theory, i think it will work.???

I mean in theory, it sounds like it *should* work. If that's your only option to get them to fire I'd say go for it. You have nothing to lose. They'll either fire or they won't. So if they do, great! If they don't, you're out nothing.

[Mattp]

I mean in theory, it sounds like it *should* work. If that's your only option to get them to fire I'd say go for it. You have nothing to lose. They'll either fire or they won't. So if they do, great! If they don't, you're out nothing.

YUP...exactly!!! at least i know the first one will fire!!! well see

[Rick_In_Tampa]

YUP...exactly!!! at least i know the first one will fire!!! well see

Please give us a follow up and let us know!

[Mattp]

Please give us a follow up and let us know!

I went to do it today.. and barely saw a fuse up in the port.. so I was not confident it was worth the time because I had and still have so much other stuff to do... so I did not even bother... spent 10 straight hours wiring up everything else though!!!!