Securing Cakes to Boards

[Birdman]

I'm placing my cakes on a board for a small New Years show. This is the first time I'm using a board. I'm wondering what the best method of securing the cakes is. Looking at older posts youtube videos etc, I know to remove any paper from the bottom of the cakes if gluing. I was going to use gorilla glue but confirmed that won't come off the board and makes reuse difficult. I've also seen liquid nails used to secure the cakes but not sure if that will easily come off either. Taping is apparently another option but I am concerned with the effectiveness of tape in this application and especially so in cold weather. I really don't want to drill or put supports on the board. I intend to reuse it to make a fan slice rack for the 4th if at all possible. I'm thinking I could just make the glued side the bottom of the fan slice rack if I can't find a glue that can be removed easily. Anyone ever use rtv silicone or calk?

Any suggestions or opinions?

[flashfuse]

A High temp glue gun is perfect, Holds down small and large cakes with no problem. After the show you will need to kick the cakes off, then you can scrape off the glue with a 5 in 1 and then you can reuse the boards. I have had great results with this method and have never had a problem with a cake breaking loose or tipping over ...

[Birdman]

A High temp glue gun is perfect, Holds down small and large cakes with no problem. After the show you will need to kick the cakes off, then you can scrape off the glue with a 5 in 1 and then you can reuse the boards. I have had great results with this method and have never had a problem with a cake breaking loose or tipping over ...

Sounds perfect! I will likely give this a try. Thanks!

[rfgonzo]

Liquid Nail is what I use and never had a cake break loose. You can also kick the used cakes off then scrape the wood clean however it takes some elbow grease. I just pitch the wood and buy new year after year.

[Scotty Rockets]

I don’t do “cake” boards but I do glue my gerbs/fountains and strobes to a board, I peel the paper off the bottoms and then use a construction adhesive such as liquid nails and glue them down to plywood. This is the most secure and you can remove the adhesive with a paint scraper or just toss the boards and buy new scrap at a home improvement store for next year.

[jamisonlm3]

I used liquid nails once and it worked well. The cakes aren't going anywhere, but it's a pain to scrap off. If I did it more regularly, I'd make the boards single use and toss them out, cakes still attached , after the show. Now that I think about it, instead of scraping the it off, how well would an angle grinder with a wire disc on it work?

[WithReport]

Well I've converted to supports on my boards - not what you are after. I have used various adhesives in the past and the best I came across was DAP Smartbond Landscaping Adhesive in a green can. It was kind of like a foam and would rise up around the edges of the cake. It also did not seem to mind about clay chunks or dust from plugs - it was designed for landscaping. It seems hard to come by these days and fairly expensive when I do see it. As for all the adhesives, pay attention to cure time at temperatures.

Although I do put supports on my boards, this past year I have been taping them to he posts with gorilla tape. That tape is pretty impressive. I have seen people just use gorilla tape on all 4 sides to the board. I would test tape in the cold. The specs say 40 deg or warmer for application - even the "all weather" version.

If you are going to glue, I'd go find some inexpensive OSB and cut them down to manageable sizes. You will get quite a bit of use out of them before the get too much adhesive buildup.

[joeld1212]

Birdman..you're right on track with the caulking idea. Get yourself the cheapest acrylic latex caulk you can find and stick those cakes down. It doesn't take much; just four
dime sized blobs at each corner of each cake. Press the cake down and those little blobs spread to fifty-cent piece size. Remember, you're not building a house; the cakes
only have to stay stuck for one show.
To remove the caulking use an oscillating tool with a scraper blade. Again cheap is the way to go. Once or twice a year Menards puts their Tool Shop brand oscillating tool
on sale for $15.00. This type of tool removes the soft caulking quick. Hope this helps.

[Icooclast]

so, someone on here said using tape on all 4 sides works for them? which is easiest and works best: tape or liquid nails, etc? it seems like the tape would be the easiest to get off and onto the boards. never done it. i had been wondering about this, but i was putting off asking. but since the topic is here.... lol

[belmec3825]

I like cake boards for fountains and gerbs. i pay little to no money for my wood. Alot of businesses around me throw out pallets. they set the junk ones on the curb free for the taking. this goes for billboard companies near me too which provide alot of osb pieces. the pallets i cut off the boars and the scraps and stringers i cut up for the bon fires when we do light off fireworks. I personally love the hot glue method. its quick, sets fast and removal of old fireworks and glue is a snap. Or i can just burn it all and get it for free any time of the year. If i do end up paying for boards, I goto my local Habitat for Humanity Re-Store. they sell door and window trim,(any width), for $.10 per foot.

[PyroJoeNEPA]

Another method--not yet mentioned--is to lay out your cakes on the board. On two opposite sides --- screw in a 1 1/2" drywall screw leaving at least 1/2" protruding from the top of the board. Take the paper off the top of the cake and see how the tubes are laid out. Use a piece of steel wire--picture hanging wire, drop ceiling wire, etc....wrap it around one screw, run it over the top of the cake in the middle between the tubes & twist off and tighten on the other screw. One piece will hold pretty much anything. After the show, snip the wire to remove and discard the cakes. At your convenience, remove the drywall screws and wire. Works great! Quick & easy & doesn't load up your board with adhesive to clean off.

[Birdman]

Another method--not yet mentioned--is to lay out your cakes on the board. On two opposite sides --- screw in a 1 1/2" drywall screw leaving at least 1/2" protruding from the top of the board. Take the paper off the top of the cake and see how the tubes are laid out. Use a piece of steel wire--picture hanging wire, drop ceiling wire, etc....wrap it around one screw, run it over the top of the cake in the middle between the tubes & twist off and tighten on the other screw. One piece will hold pretty much anything. After the show, snip the wire to remove and discard the cakes. At your convenience, remove the drywall screws and wire. Works great! Quick & easy & doesn't load up your board with adhesive to clean off.

I like this idea. I may just go with this one.

[esgrillo]

I have never glued a cake down. That being said if you look at my set up videos I almost always have several cakes of the same type firing at the same especially on the smaller 200g cakes so that configuration provides a larger footprint and stability. I use regular packing tape to tape cakes together into larger "blocks". For the larger 500g cakes even as singles IMO it is a waste of time and money to glue them to the ground unless of course the entire purpose of gluing is to secure for movement to the shoot site. If I had a single small 200g, I may consider glue that with some construction adhesive but I never have any set up that way for my shows.

For my small gerb / fountain / strobe platforms I glue all those with construction adhesive. Those are the elevated platforms you see in my show videos.

I have never had a cake even come close to tipping over and that is with looking at a lot of close up gopro video pointed at my platforms.

[Rick_In_Tampa]

Not sure how many cakes you're talking about or what your shoot site is made of, but... If you're setting up on grass or soft soil, you can also stake and tape your cakes together. Simple, easy to setup and take down, no glue required. You're also not locked in to getting everything to fit on a board.

[Birdman]

I'm using a board for the One board pyro competition for NYE (http://www.pyrotalk.com/bulletin/showthread.php?8364-One-board-pyro-competition-for-NYE&highlight=2021). It's a very small, less than 2 minute, "show" with 8 200g and 2 500g cakes and a MC rack sky puke finale.

That is the main reason I'm using a board. Well, that and since I'm in PA the ground could be snow covered and frozen, as it at the moment. Stake and tape or taping multiple 200g cakes together is usually how I do things. I don't always brace 500g cakes. I will brace them if I modify them to fire differently then they were originally fused.

I'm thinking with the wire idea PyroJoe suggested I could probably easily get some angle on the 200g'ers to get some spread where I'd like it as well without much effort.

I appreciate everyone's input!