board angles 3's or 4's

[rrumlow]

So I have been building boards in triplets for years One cake up the middle 2 angled on the side \ l / for the most part. So I think ive been doing it wrong all these years I think even no's are the way to go \\// . I don't have a firing system and I like fusing boards for timing( i think it's an art ) so I can't mimic the 1.3 shows by spreading the cakes out 50 -100 feet.. so I am limited to making boards. My point is when you watch good 1.3 shows or nice pyro musicals they are usually balanced by even no's of cakes or mirrors. I'm thinking I should make my boards angles of 2 one way(one very slightly angled one a little more) and 2 the other way(mirror).
Thoughts?

[TurboGTU]

yes.

[Digitalbooomer]

If you have enough room you can tilt the as steeply as you want. You may want to experiment with different angles. For me I would keep it as simple as possible. I doubt the crowd watching would notice any difference unless they were a bunch of pyros like us. Also, IMO, you are using way too much material in making your boards. Why do you build a platform underneath? To me it just adds to the cost and makes the boards heavier to move around. Just use a thicker board.

[Digitalbooomer]

One more thought, if you build the board \V/ you must realize that as the shots go up they will spread further apart and you run the risk in some cakes as having everything on the sides and nothing in the middle. I like your original idea better, just get rid of the bottom board and the braces.

[gunner1]

If you have enough room you can tilt the as steeply as you want. You may want to experiment with different angles. For me I would keep it as simple as possible. I doubt the crowd watching would notice any difference unless they were a bunch of pyros like us. Also, IMO, you are using way too much material in making your boards. Why do you build a platform underneath? To me it just adds to the cost and makes the boards heavier to move around. Just use a thicker board.

It looks to me like they are set up on pallets. They are usually free and provide a wide and stable base.

[Digitalbooomer]

It looks to me like they are set up on pallets. They are usually free and provide a wide and stable base.

Could be but pallets aren't usually made out of MDF. If they are free pallets then I stand corrected.

[rrumlow]

All free material... all built at my old job... ahh perk lost...
thanks for the comments.

[JoeRatman]

Moved to Racks and Launchers forum

[92hatchattack]

Im pretty much a newb, but does it really matter? I mean, of course if you want to spread your product horizontaly more than 4 angles are better than 3, but saying even numbers instead off odd numbers is a moot point IMO.

Most shows ive seen run an odd number of stations. 5,7,or 9 from what I have seen so far. But really, I am a newb and I dont know crap.

[TurboGTU]

you want to keep numbers of stations odd for ease of symmetry or set up.
if you know one station can be defined as the middle or center, and know the furthest you want to go left and right, the rest of the stations can be placed off of that with no sweat, just keep placing in the middle of two stations;
do four, six, etc, and you're having to look to something to define as center to get accuracy in.

also, when you do odds, you can use the same equipment to shoot evens.
say you have seven stations; this would be awesome for smaller breaks, but say you want to use some large breaks. seven large breaks in the space meant for seven small breaks is too much overlap and results in wasted product (for showcasing purposes)
so at every station you have a slat and small cakes but at every other station you have some noabs too.
you have the spacing for large breaks and the front for small cakes. win-win.


also, when speaking out shooting angles from each station:
when doing fans of comets or certain tailed products, odds are great. best in 5+ to fill the sky
when doing fans of mines, shells, and most other cakes, evens help feel like you're filling the sky better from a single position by providing a little overlap. That helps a ton with 200g or 20+ shot 500g. 4 is the magic number here.


all of that are my own personal theories and experiences. others have different opinions.