Hi from the Sunshine State!

[JmFnG]

Newly addicted pyro fan here! We've been doing small scale displays for 4oJ for the past few years and getting increasingly enamored each year. This will be my first year with any sort of plan. I started buying about a month ago and am currently awaiting an order of 50 tubes. Excited to be diving in deeper and making my first racks.

Thanks to everyone who has contributed to the community here with their ideas, techniques, etc...it's very helpful to those of us just getting started!

[ilovecrackle]

welcome to the forums

[PapaBearPyro]

Welcome Aboard

[chriskrc]

Welcome to the forum.

[matandch]

Welcome...also from the Sunshine State.

[Bazerk]

Welcome, also from the sunshine state!

[Rick_In_Tampa]

Newly addicted pyro fan here! We've been doing small scale displays for 4oJ for the past few years and getting increasingly enamored each year. This will be my first year with any sort of plan. I started buying about a month ago and am currently awaiting an order of 50 tubes. Excited to be diving in deeper and making my first racks.

Thanks to everyone who has contributed to the community here with their ideas, techniques, etc...it's very helpful to those of us just getting started!


Hey there JmFnG! Like you I am also a pyro junkie. Have been for many decades. I live in Tampa, Fl. I'm finally in a firework friendly state, and I'm taking full advantage!!

I've been buying fireworks for years, but last year was my first attempt at putting together a "large scale" show. For me, large scale meant 16 cases of various cakes affixed to four 2' x 8' long boards, and 4 milk crates of HDPE tubes to launch 100 mortars. As luck would have it, it rained all evening and I did a lot of hand lighting because the visco fuse just got too wet. The people who showed up still thought it was great, but I was less than impressed.

This year I'm upping my game a bit. I have 26 cases of cakes and mortars sitting in the garage as we speak, along with a new 36 shot mortar rack to compliment the 4 milk crates that hold 25 tubes each. I also picked up a remote firing system so I don't have to try and daisy chain 8 boards of cakes and all those mortars! It also solves the problem of trying to wire 2 (or more) separate cakes to go off at the same time that are separated 30' apart! Hopefully I have better luck with the weather this year, and hopefully everything goes off without a hitch.

While we still have some time to go before the 4th, I'm already planning next years show! My pyro buddy and I are applying for our ATF 54 permit so we can buy and use 1.3G fireworks! We are also both in the process of joining FPAG. They offer training and certification on how to handle and set up shows. So we're really looking forward to learning from these seasoned pro's and getting certified.

This is a very addictive and expensive hobby! Two years ago I spent $250 on a pre-packaged bundle of various cakes and I was the hit of the development! This year I already have $2500 invested and I'm not done yet!! I'm really looking forward to incorporating some 1.3G stuff next year. (I might need a second job to pay for all this!)

Anyway.... Great to hear from another Sunshine State pyro nut! I hope to hear back that you had a very successful show! Be safe!

Rick

[JmFnG]

Thanks for the warm welcome, everybody!

Wow, Rick! I fear your post may be a premonition of things to come in my future. :)

This year, I budgeted $1000 (not including tubes, fuse, lumber, etc...) and have almost half of that left. I considered spending the whole nut at Superior in Orlando to get wholesale pricing, but I'm kinda enjoying assembling a wider variety (albeit, smaller than a wholesale purchase) rather than having too much redundancy. If my budget was bigger, I'd have definitely gone that route and enjoyed the larger haul.

Gonna have to look into FPAG. Not certain I'll ever pursue ATF 54....but I can certainly understand why it's appealing. Never say never! I think this hobby leads to a higher *boom* tolerance....gotta feed that monkey!

My plan is still coming together, but it's basically 3-stages; single station -- double station (50ft spread) -- triple station (80-100ft spread). My inventory is bigger than ever before, but will pale in comparison to many folks here. When I'm done shopping, I'll have roughly:

(180) artillery shells (excal & goliath) (half for testing, half for the show)
(20) 500g cakes
(30) 200g Cakes
(20-30) assorted smaller pieces

I'm not quite ready to buy a remote firing system, so I ordered PLENTY of fuse to allow space between stations. I recognize the limitations of precision timing with fuse, but it'll do for now. I'm a career musician, so the allure of precise timing is certainly not lost on me. Maybe next year...

I think my wife is just as happy I found this place....now I have somebody ELSE to bore with my pyro enthusiasm!

[JmFnG]

Hey, Bazerk -- I really enjoyed reading about (and ogling) your recent magazine build. Excellent work. Avid DIY/tinkerer here, too. Thanks so much for taking the time to document and share your experience with the rest of us.

[Bazerk]

Hey, Bazerk -- I really enjoyed reading about (and ogling) your recent magazine build. Excellent work. Avid DIY/tinkerer here, too. Thanks so much for taking the time to document and share your experience with the rest of us.

You are certainly welcome. I feel that's what these forums are for. If you have any further questions about it, please feel free to ask or send me a PM. I am finding that most of us Pyros are actually DIYer's and tinkerers which is great. Its fun being around people that share the same interests. Welcome again!

[CTPYRO]

Rick keep in mind if you plan in incorporating 1.3 into your show the entire show at that time becomes 1.3. The ATF 54 doesn't allow you to shoot it... only purchase and store product in a legal sense....just some food for thought is all :)