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Rigs
Apr 1, 2020 6:55:00 GMT -5
Post by londonfan on Apr 1, 2020 6:55:00 GMT -5
With all the talk, I figured it's time to show off some of our creations. This is my home made wired firing system. It will fire 14 cues with the large connection box and 7 with the smaller one. I just have to remember to kill the switches before I swap out the wires. I originally powered it with 12 AA batteries and then switched over to the 1.5Ah 18 volt battery for my cordless drill. The Cat6 ethernet cables(not shown) are 150 ft. long.  Remember this one? My first remote system. I can't even remember ho long I've had it. At least 15 years. It still worked about 4 years ago.  |
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Rigs
Apr 1, 2020 7:11:13 GMT -5
Post by londonfan on Apr 1, 2020 7:11:13 GMT -5
I didn't build the Predator by the way  . Here are my mortar boards. I also have various plates that I can use for angling cakes on the 14 mortar board. I use 1/4" carriage bolts attached through the bases, and wingnuts from the top, to clamp the top plates down. This pinches the base plate of the mortars to hold them in place. This will be year 8 for the small one. The one with the red paint is my newest from last year. It holds 15 mortars and a cake. I make these up for my wife, and make up laminated signs for their yearly names.    |
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Rigs
Apr 1, 2020 7:26:58 GMT -5
smile likes this
Post by londonfan on Apr 1, 2020 7:26:58 GMT -5
This is my Canada Day 2018 stash pix. It shows two of the mortar boards loaded up and ready to go. I added this one primarily to show how I set up my roman candles to fan them out. I typically use 5 - 10 ball roman candles and 2 African Lions.(we think the "lion roar" sounds like a fart) ((Yes I still fell like I'm 12 years old)) I use paint stir sticks and glue the candles in place. I stand it up in a paint can and fill the can with play sand to anchor the whole thing. I might get smart and try tie wraps this year. I think Home Depot wonders why I need so many paint sticks when I never buy paint there.  |
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Rigs
Apr 1, 2020 18:48:32 GMT -5
Post by Grisom on Apr 1, 2020 18:48:32 GMT -5
Interesting looking racks .
I haven’t shot off an African lion in ages - apparently the wife thinks it is a tad bit rude sounding . Of course that could be because the last time we had them we had 5 rows of 6 of them going off . That and they had beans for supper at the camp we were at .
We tend to use tie wraps to attach the candles and mortars to pegboard which is attached to some plywood with a 2x4 . Means we can angle items as we wish .
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Rigs
Apr 1, 2020 21:31:44 GMT -5
via mobile
Post by bullean on Apr 1, 2020 21:31:44 GMT -5
Looking great, and is definitely giving me ideas on how to improve my design I had worked on. The mortar boards especially are a great design for those with a base, gonna have to add to future projects Here was my box I was working on as a first test and Proof of concept. Yes it is a bit rough on internal the cuts. imgur.com/gallery/AFkXdTbWas looking more at shooting some of the multiples at once during finally and was using doorbell wire for leads with nichrome wire ( few buddies make their own coils for vapes so was gonna test a few different ones this summer for ignition and reliability) Sorry didn't have a pic of finished box. Was also gonna test for running off of two auto batteries in either parallel or series so get a good and reliable ignition. But LondonFan you gave me the idea to swap to 18v drill batteries will work better and are lighter Gonna definitely revamp to an individual shot system, all plans for come this summer time on the farm. |
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Rigs
Apr 2, 2020 7:03:44 GMT -5
Post by londonfan on Apr 2, 2020 7:03:44 GMT -5
Interesting looking racks . I haven’t shot off an African lion in ages - apparently the wife thinks it is a tad bit rude sounding . Of course that could be because the last time we had them we had 5 rows of 6 of them going off . That and they had beans for supper at the camp we were at . We tend to use tie wraps to attach the candles and mortars to pegboard which is attached to some plywood with a 2x4 . Means we can angle items as we wish . My wife, nephew, and I would probably die laughing if I set off that many, and then I'd miss lighting off the rest of my stash. I saw that you had mentioned tie wraps in another post and I wondered why I had been gluing candles down and throwing out perfectly good paint stir sticks for years. My next little project will be a peg board thing, cut to fit into my paint can, with a tee base for sand holding stability. Gotta use my paint can! Home Depot thanks you! |
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smile
Junior Pyro Member
Posts: 89
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Rigs
Apr 3, 2020 1:59:59 GMT -5
via mobile
Post by smile on Apr 3, 2020 1:59:59 GMT -5
I didn't build the Predator by the way . Here are my mortar boards. I also have various plates that I can use for angling cakes on the 14 mortar board. I use 1/4" carriage bolts attached through the bases, and wingnuts from the top, to clamp the top plates down. This pinches the base plate of the mortars to hold them in place. This will be year 8 for the small one. The one with the red paint is my newest from last year. It holds 15 mortars and a cake. I make these up for my wife, and make up laminated signs for their yearly names. View AttachmentView AttachmentView Attachmentthese looks great! What angle do you find works the best for the cakes? I’m trying to get maximum spread with just the edges touching but have no idea what angle I should try first. Last year I tried spreading out 3 cakes across the field but they still overlapped each other (they were about 20ft apart from each other and on a relatively flat surface). |
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Rigs
Apr 3, 2020 6:50:23 GMT -5
Post by londonfan on Apr 3, 2020 6:50:23 GMT -5
I don't actually know what the angle is.
I remember sitting at the computer, playing around with all kinds of angles, and I think I came up with 8 degrees as a # that would work for my situation. I'm in a great space within a subdivision but have to consider where hot things might land.
Whatever the # was, it was a royal pain to cut on the table saw and have a piece of wood that I was happy to work with, so I just used 1x2 strapping that was leftover from something, glue, 9/16" modified truss screws, and started cutting and building. I had some plans on paper, but not really knowing what I was doing, things happened sometimes to make a fit for what I wanted to load up and carry, instead of what the plan said.
So far I've been pleased with my made on the fly angles.
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Rigs
Apr 3, 2020 6:59:34 GMT -5
Post by londonfan on Apr 3, 2020 6:59:34 GMT -5
BTW
Because I like to try different things each year, designing the angles on the computer, to fit a base that I liked the size of. became frustrating. I have to store these things somewhere for a year too.
The height and size of the break affect the angle required for each cake or mortar.
So...
Yep, I just faked it.
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