My first tube crate fusing

[CozmicRooster]

I wish I had taken video of the results. Overall it was a success. I loaded a combination of 60g canisters with some festival balls for effect. I did the first row on a 24s fuse to start slow, then tied rows 2 and 3 together with a 10s fuse, and the last 2 rows with quick-fuse. One timing mistake I made was running the 10s fuse back to the other end of the 2nd row, resulting in about a 12s delay from the first volley to the next. It wasn?t terrible but 12s is a long time in this context.

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[PyroGyro]

Are the tubes HDPE(High Density Polyethylene) tubes?

[CozmicRooster]

Yes. 12 inch HDPE D11 tubes from Platte River Fireworks. I’ll be building 6-tube racks later but the milk crate was a quick rack solution.

[Bazerk]

Milk crate racks are the way to go. Put a piece of plywood in the bottom of the rack and this
https://youtu.be/UyU1D60HTZ0?t=1208 video will show you why. Also, you dont need to tape your fuse to the crate. In fact, I would advise against that as it will begin to melt it over time. Great job and keep it up.

[CozmicRooster]

Milk crate racks are the way to go. Put a piece of plywood in the bottom of the rack and this
https://youtu.be/UyU1D60HTZ0?t=1208 video will show you why. Also, you dont need to tape your fuse to the crate. In fact, I would advise against that as it will begin to melt it over time. Great job and keep it up.


I didn’t have time to get the plywood cut for the crate but that is definitely the plan. I had even thought to drive some screws through the bottom of the plywood to secure the tubes. I know that would make it harder to replace tubes but I like safety measures. I did screw the milk crate to the plywood I was using as a base though to keep it from moving around. The only thing I don’t like about the milk crate is the narrow area the shells occupy creating the sky puke effect, but once I get more built I can fire off multiple rounds from different crates with a remote system that would alleviate that problem.

[Rick_In_Tampa]

I also use milk crates for racks and I've never had an issue with them until this year. I always place them on a 2'x8' board for stability, and for the first time ever, I had 2 tubes launch out of one of the crates. One went 10' and the other went 50' away. Fortunately the shells all went straight up.

My buddy who also uses milk crates (40 of them in his show!) said he also put plywood on the bottom of his crates, and he also used liquid nails on the bottom of each tube to help keep them from launching out of the crate.

I'm just wondering how smart it would be run a small screw through a strip of wood (or metal) from the bottom of the crate up through the center of each tube. I wouldn't want to compromise the integrity of the plug for obvious reasons. But you should be able to tap into it about 1/2" I would think, yes? No? Thoughts from the group!? :confused:

[CozmicRooster]

I'm just wondering how smart it would be run a small screw through a strip of wood (or metal) from the bottom of the crate up through the center of each tube. I wouldn't want to compromise the integrity of the plug for obvious reasons. But you should be able to tap into it about 1/2" I would think, yes? No? Thoughts from the group!? :confused:

I would pre-drill a pilot hole with countersink and only tap the plug about 1/2”, using at least 1/2” plywood. Liquid nails is a little too permanent for me.

[Bazerk]

No need. Once you put the plywood in the bottom of the crate no tubes will jump out. They are coming out because of the bottom of the crate acting like a spring board from all of the down force when the mortar fires. The tubes the the mortars come with dont leave the ground when they fire right? Thats because you have them on a solid surface. Dont compromise the plugs. It will eventually split the wood over time with all of that pressure pushing down on them.

[CozmicRooster]

I never had a problem with factory tubes because I screw them to my base platform. That being said, point taken regarding the plugs. Saves me time too :)

[Rick_In_Tampa]

Good point Bazerk. I'll try just the wood next year and maybe zip-tie the tops together with large zip-ties. Might even try some Dave's magic tape!