Not exactly a rack, but maybe this could be called a wheel rack.
I call this rack, a Ferris Wheel.
I wanted to have a fireworks effect of two back to back counter-spinning wheels. One wheel would send the spray in one direction and the other wheel would send it the other direction. . The device would be reusable. It would be used for small to medium wheels of about 6” in diameter or smaller. This device had to be no taller than 12” and could not be more than 4.25” front to back, because I wanted to duct tape it to my sawhorse station. http://www.pyrouniverse.com/show/fprojects/sawhorse.htm.
More pictures, detail directions and variations of this can be found in this document.
http://www.pyrouniverse.com/gallery2/data/500/FWheel.doc
Here are some pictures of the Ferris Wheel with fireworks on it.
LOL...thats funny.....hope it doesnt fly away...LOL:lol:
JoeRatman
July 13th, 2007, 06:30 PM
It won't fly away because it either screwed down or duct taped to a board. :)
Steven
July 13th, 2007, 06:41 PM
It is cool, but I promise I have a better one.
http://www.chinaskyline.com
Tennespeedy
July 13th, 2007, 07:09 PM
It is cool, but I promise I have a better one.
http://www.chinaskyline.com
Well, if legality was not the issue I would have some REAL big stuff! ;)
JoeRatman
July 13th, 2007, 07:18 PM
Steven, the picture link is bad.
I wouldn't be surprised if some kind of "ferris wheel" type fountains or novelties show up in the next season or two.
When I published my horizontal wheel:
http://www.pyrouniverse.com/show/fprojects/hwheel.htm
then both a merry-go-round and carasual fountain showed up for sale the next year. These fountains spun horizontally like the horizontal wheel.
It doesn't bother me if people use these ideas, thats why I share them.
Rikerz
July 13th, 2007, 07:43 PM
Yeah, where is the pic dude, you have my attention!:)
It won't fly away because it either screwed down or duct taped to a board. :)
Of course Joe....LOL....just a bit of humor......That would be nice to make one that is about 8 feet with multiple wheels on it....with maybe some type of crossbar on it like a T with holes drilled through the pvc and have a bunch of rockets flying out of it while the wheels are a turning....whatcha think?
Rikerz
July 13th, 2007, 08:52 PM
Joe, I like you design. May I borrow it?
JoeRatman
July 13th, 2007, 10:06 PM
Joe, I like you design. May I borrow it?
Go right ahead. I post these ideas so people may use them.
That would be nice to make one that is about 8 feet with multiple wheels on it....whatcha think?
If you download the document, I have made some suggestions on how to make it bigger and better, because my original use for this item was constrained by size limitations. One of my suggestions was to make it taller and to add multiple wheels.
Thatsit
July 13th, 2007, 11:52 PM
Well you are ahead of me...LOL....nice design....good job....Im gonna try something like that.....thnks
This shows another idea that might meet the needs of the original quote. I like the variety that wheels add to my shows, but I got tired of using nails that were too small or too big, wouldn't go in straight, wood that would split, nuts that would come undone, etc. For 2006, I built up a bunch of these contraptions that worked out well.
A length of music wire is epoxied into one end of a threaded coupler (mine are 10-24 threads, from Home Depot). Collar nuts from a hobby store carrying model airplane stuff provide easy to adjust stops for the wheel, and flat washers provide another bearing surface. The open end of the threaded coupler is fastened to your sawhorse, conduit, 1x2, or other mount using a 10-24 bolt. There's no reason why the music wire couldn't be long enough for two wheels, with one mounted backwards from the other.
I built around a dozen of these, using three different size music wire since not all wheels have the same hole diameter. I was quite pleased with how quickly the wheels were mounted, although I have since replaced all the small allen set screws in the collar nuts with small philips head 4-40 bolts for ease of use.
johnnyrocket
July 14th, 2007, 10:51 AM
Hmmm, I don't see the music wire. What's the purpose of the music wire? I've been thinking about inlcuding wheels for my next show. I have a few ideas I will post this weekend that I borrowed from the Westech manual of Fireworks. These are wheel and fountain combos (Turkish Cross, Evening Sunset, Peacock Tail, Chinese Fan, Golden Glory, etc).
What about an easy way to put up the wheels? Anyone have any ideas for setup up of a pole or stand out in the field?
JoeRatman
July 14th, 2007, 12:47 PM
What about an easy way to put up the wheels? Anyone have any ideas for setup up of a pole or stand out in the field?
Check out my "Sturdy Stand"
http://www.pyrouniverse.com/show/fprojects/sturdy.htm
This is a pole with many "attachments" for wheels, wheel cross-arms, horizontal cross-arms and angled arms. You put fireworks on the attachments and then when you get in the field you attach them to the connectors on the stand. The stand has a removeable base, for easy transportation.
I too got tired of nailing wheels into the wheel arms. It can be tricky to get it right and eventually you have to replace the wheel arm because it is full of nail holes.
So, last year, I came up with this idea of a "nail-less" wheel arm.
I took a 1/8" piece of steel rod. I soldered a small washer on the end. This was the axle for the wheel and the soldered washer keeps the wheel from going off that end. The other end I grinded a bit of a point, so it would be easier to push it through a hole in the wheel arm.
My father, who is a retired design engineer, made me some clamps. It is a piece of aluminum. There is a hole to slide the axle in. Out of that hole is a slit. 90 degrees to that is a thread whole. You put a screw in the threaded whole and it clamps down on the axle in the unthreaded hole. This clamp keeps the axle from sliding of the the hole in the wheel arm. Pictures are worth a thousand words, so...
Wheel arm with two wheels.
http://www.pyrouniverse.com/gallery2/data/500/A9_2.jpg
Close up so you can see the aluminum clamp.
http://www.pyrouniverse.com/gallery2/data/500/A9_3.jpg
View of clamp and axle. Axle has washer welded on end to keep the wheel on.
http://www.pyrouniverse.com/gallery2/data/500/A9_4.jpg
Attached to sturdy stand
http://www.pyrouniverse.com/gallery2/data/500/AB5_3.JPG
A four wheel version of the wheel arm.
http://www.pyrouniverse.com/gallery2/data/500/Z1A_2.jpg
To date this has worked very well. I can reuse the wheel arms over and over because the axle always goes into the same hole. After the show, I just unclamp the clamp, remove the wheel from the axle, put the axle back in the wheel arm and secure it with the clamp.
The only problem with this is occasionally I have some "gorillas" on my clean up crew. They ignore the directions on the wheel arm to unclamp the wheel. They also ignore my verbal and written directions to unclamp the wheel. The just try to rip it off with their bare hands or a claw hammer (I now longer have a claw hammer in my pyro tool kit). This usually results in the axle being bent out of shape.
Thatsit
July 14th, 2007, 02:02 PM
Nice pics JoeRatman.......I like that one with the t-bar on top and looked like some roman candles?....nice job.
klunkerbus
July 14th, 2007, 05:08 PM
Hmmm, I don't see the music wire.
What about an easy way to put up the wheels? Anyone have any ideas for setup up of a pole or stand out in the field?
Sorry if I was confusing. I refer to music wire as any wire I use that is unusually stiff. My 'music' wire is the horizontal rod in the picture. Similar to Joe, most of mine were 1/8-inch rod, but I made a few with 3/32-inch and 5/32-inch rod.
Joe, I admire your clamps!
This picture shows the cat litter bucket pole stands I have used for years -
http://www.pyrouniverse.com/gallery2/showphoto.php?photo=5811&ppuser=2654
And this shows how my wheels were arranged in my 2005 setup -
http://www.pyrouniverse.com/gallery2/showphoto.php?photo=5812&ppuser=2654
JoeRatman
July 14th, 2007, 06:32 PM
Joe, I admire your clamps!
Yes, my dad was pretty proud of them too. Originally, I was going to just use a thread rod and some lock nuts. Or I was considering some "C" clamps or the sort of things you used. But then I dad found out and he was determined to make something better.
JoeRatman
July 16th, 2007, 03:51 PM
Disclaimer!
The above picture shows a fountain inside the PVC tube. The likelihood of fountain "popping" (especially a tube fountain which has little or no choke) is very low. Even if it did, it probably would not have enough force to bust the PVC. Though, to be extra safe, do not put a fountain inside the PVC.
Steven
July 19th, 2007, 02:23 AM
I saw many DIY fireworks in this forum, which made me admiring you guys. In China, people would seldom do like that, most of them just purchase the whole product from store and light it without any redesign or reset.
I love DIY.:)
yeagerb
July 19th, 2007, 09:27 AM
Disclaimer!
The above picture shows a fountain inside the PVC tube. The likelihood of fountain "popping" (especially a tube fountain which has little or no choke) is very low. Even if it did, it probably would not have enough force to bust the PVC. Though, to be extra safe, do not put a fountain inside the PVC.
Thank you Joe......didn't want to have to go into a rant about having pyro composition inside a PVC.....
BTW - Why did you use PVC? Why not HDPE or cardboard? Same effect with a cheaper (in the case of cardboard) costs and an leap in safety?
JoeRatman
July 19th, 2007, 09:51 AM
I was rummaging around in my garage for something to use as a "post" for the ferris wheel. I needed something 1.25" wide so I could have a 4.25" axle with the required 1.5" outside on either side. Remember, I had space considerations in my design. Since the wheels are outside the pipe were not actually contained inside the PVC, I deemed it was safe enough.
I had considered a metal pipe or a block of wood, but those were heavier and were harder to work with and not the right size I needed. The PVC is also less resistant to burning and scorch marks than wood. My fire control assistants like running in and extinquishing flaming fireworks holders, but I don't care for it as it requires rebuilding the burnt holder and it breaks up the flow of the show. :) Cardboard tube burns much easier than any of the above, it is not as durable and is not water resistant or repellant. I didn't have any HDPE available.
In the above picture, the composition for the tube fountain is all above the top of the PVC tube. The part of the fountain in the PVC is actually just empty cardboard tube of the fountain. Afterwards, it occurred to me that that was not obvious from the picture and I should post the disclaimer about putting fireworks inside of PVC.
yeagerb
July 19th, 2007, 10:08 AM
OK, would recommend HDPE for a project like this then....it addresses your scorching and water resistance issues and is much MUCH safer then PVC.
Also, have you tried wrapping wood in aluminum foil to prevent the fires and scorching? Takes a little longer, but again much MUCH safer then PVC.
That is very interesting, Bob. I haven't seen one of those before.
When did that first come out? It looks a rather old item. Who made it?
bob weaver
July 19th, 2007, 10:37 AM
I bought 2 of them about 10 years ago at a convention. They are Flower Basket brand, #K1287L. The box they came in is different from the above picture. I lit one and it didn't perform all that well. The wheel had trouble turning part of the time. I believe that Shelton Fireworks sells them now.
sparky
July 19th, 2007, 11:47 AM
Has anyone herd or seen Joe since that last photo:D
UnkleSAM
July 19th, 2007, 12:56 PM
I built a ferris wheel type contraption a few years ago for my show. It was a 5-foot wheel with six spokes. Each spoke was lined with lances, and at the end of each was a 30-second wheel. I used small fountians as motors. It was too heavy to start spinning by itself, but once it had a little help getting started it turned by itself. It was a pretty neet piece, but took a long time to set up. I may have to pull it out again sometime. It might be a nice off-season project to work on. Sorry, no pics.
JoeRatman
July 20th, 2007, 09:53 PM
The above picture shows a fountain inside the PVC tube. The likelihood of fountain "popping" (especially a tube fountain which has little or no choke) is very low. Even if it did, it probably would not have enough force to bust the PVC. Though, to be extra safe, do not put a fountain inside the PVC.
I have changed the pictures and the documentation. They no longer suggest putting a fountain inside the tube.
bbd4193
July 21st, 2007, 01:49 AM
I bought 2 of them about 10 years ago at a convention. They are Flower Basket brand, #K1287L. The box they came in is different from the above picture. I lit one and it didn't perform all that well. The wheel had trouble turning part of the time. I believe that Shelton Fireworks sells them now.
Shelton had them last year. We stopped there on our way home from the PGI in Appleton. My wife loves novleties and this one caught her eye. It didn't do very much but the wife thought it was cute.
JoeRatman
August 30th, 2007, 06:46 PM
Here is a new version that does not use PVC tube, but it uses Ultradeck composite material. Its 50% wood and 50% polyfin. Its water resistant and does not need painting.
VERY WELL DONE! Your an example we could all follow! Nice innovation!!!!
THANK YOU! ;)
ar180b
August 31st, 2007, 12:30 PM
Shelton's store in W. Harrison, IN is about 10 minutes from my house. As everyone knows nearly everything they sell is pure junk. But sometimes I pick up some novelties there. Most of the other retailers around me don't carry much in the way of novelties, and my nephews love them. Here's a pic of the ferris wheel that they sell.
2478
I was there maybe around April and they had some at the time. I bought one last year to try out and was underwhelmed. It lasted all of about 15 seconds.
I love your idea on this Joe. I think I might have to try building my own for a small show I'm doing Sunday night. Thanks for the post.
Realwood
March 4th, 2008, 05:21 PM
Joe,
sorry if it's been posted but have you ever had this setup bolted in as a spinner instead of stationary?
"Wheel arm with two wheels.
http://www.pyrouniverse.com/gallery2/data/500/A9_2.jpg"
Kind of like a wheel with wheels on the ends?
If it does not move with it's own spinning force maybe two ground blooms to give it direction?
JoeRatman
March 4th, 2008, 06:16 PM
So far I only use that as a stationary cross arm. I have been thinking about a "wheel with wheels" project. I am thinking about attaching small wheels to my vertical bicycle wheel and then power that wheel with giant ground blooms as I usually do. I think the easiest way to do this would be to solder some axels (small bolts) to the vertical wheel. Then you could hang the small wheels on the