Consumer Rack Rebuild. Add Tubes and Save Weight !!

[WithReport]

For you consumer DR11 Rack Builders. My original DR11 racks from 7-10 years ago were built with whatever wood I had around. I added solid "spacers" the FULL LENGTH of each tube (king of defeated the purpose) and added side boards on either side. The end result was a bunch of very heavy 5 tube racks coming in at just over 18lbs each - UNLOADED! Yes, they were a bit over done!!!

Over the years, I've realized, I wanted 6 tube DR11 racks. Most consumer shells come in packs of 6, 12, 24. and many firing system rails are in multiples of 6. At times, I've electrically fired many individual shells, so having multiples of 6 rather than 5 is a benefit. Additionally, I wanted to build them with proper spacers and and with more of the 12" tube sticking out of the rack.

AND... they needed to be LIGHTER.

The other morning I build a few of these new ones and filmed part of the assembly. The end result is one more tube, but 5 pounds lighter!

Some may question the need for the 3 boards on either side. I've seen a handful of pictures of catos where the top or bottom board get blown out (sometimes both), and tubes go falling. In my mind, if you only loose one side board in a cato, the remaining two should keep the tubes pointed in the right direction.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1aYZbdoAMY

[jamisonlm3]

For the rack you weighed in the video, did you use that faux plastic type of wood for it? It looks like all the boards expect the spacers were 2x as well. No wonder that rack was so heavy. I swear I handled 10 shot 3" racks that didn't weight that much more.

[Mattp]

very nice racks... and nice work station... it really doesnt matter and im sure doesnt add much weight... but curious why you put a spacer block for the far left and far right tubes.. up against the 2x3's?? ... actually makes it 1 1/2" longer... so maybe can shave off another LB or so .... My first few racks were the same thing though.. all beefed up.. using wood i had laying around... were huge and heavy..LOL

[AquaticPyro]

Remove the middle wood, you do not need both screws and nails, I use only 9 1 1/4" screw for each 2 side pieces since I counter sink them using a countersink bit most of the screw in in the 2x3 wood. You can also use much smaller spacers or skip them entirely.

[WithReport]

For the rack you weighed in the video, did you use that faux plastic type of wood for it? It looks like all the boards expect the spacers were 2x as well. No wonder that rack was so heavy. I swear I handled 10 shot 3" racks that didn't weight that much more.

No doubt it was heavy. I realized that from the start. However, I used what scrap would I had 10 years ago - been lugging them around ever since.

Every year I tell myself I'm going to rebuild them. Finally started this year.

[WithReport]

Remove the middle wood, you do not need both screws and nails, I use only 9 1 1/4" screw for each 2 side pieces since I counter sink them using a countersink bit most of the screw in in the 2x3 wood. You can also use much smaller spacers or skip them entirely.

I have a 1/4 staple gun, other than the spacers, it just does a quick nice job of holding everything together for the drilling and screw driving steps. That is the main reason for using it.

[WithReport]

very nice racks... and nice work station... it really doesnt matter and im sure doesnt add much weight... but curious why you put a spacer block for the far left and far right tubes.. up against the 2x3's?? ... actually makes it 1 1/2" longer... so maybe can shave off another LB or so .... My first few racks were the same thing though.. all beefed up.. using wood i had laying around... were huge and heavy..LOL

Reasons for the "spacer block for the far left and far right tubes"
1) We've all seen pictures of bulged tubes after a cato - end spacers provide room for that tube to expand without putting load on the 2x3 end frame.
2) The gas and pressure has to go somewhere. Force = Pressure X Area. The less tightly you contain the tube, the less area you have for the pressure to work against and more room for the pressure to escape
3) Long screws or nails through the end frame when setting up racks don't go into the tube. Probably not a big issue with my DR11 racks for stuff that I setup, but I've seen people nail right into (and in some cases through) the wall on larger tubes.
4) Gaps provide areas for running igniter wires or tucking them out of the way.

Yep, one can easily argue it is overkill. But after some thought, this is how I'll be rebuilding the remainder of the racks.

[Mattp]

well thought out... and all good reasons!!

[FWGuy]

Thanks for sharing the video. Your approach is similar to how I built racks...sturdy and with room!!!