Yet Another Rack Design

[Blaze]

Originally Posted by AandMPyrotechnics

Long time Lurker, 1st time poster. This site is great! Lots of good people on here.


I was wondering if you could take the same idea and apply it to 1.3G. Build up to say 5" morter racks from this same design. Would there be any problem with fanning a 5" rack? I would not want to do it with anything bigger than the 5" 1.3G stuff.

Cam,
What are your thoughts.
All others.
Please let me know your thoughts using these racks for 1.3G product.
Thank you,
A

All,

Please correct if I'm wrong but isn't the general rule to make the spacer between the tubes in relation to the tube size. I forgot the formula but it's something like if your going to use a 2" HPDE tube then you should have 2" spacers. Technically if youre going to use 5" tubes then your your spacers need to larger. Somewhere in the park of 4" to 5".

However, I have never seen a 5" HDPE rack design done this way. It would take way to much space and when your dealing with 1.3G I'm not even sure that big of a spacer would matter.

Is there any destructive testing examples for 1.3G and good rack design?

Thanks for the info

- Blaze

[carguy07]

http://www.pyrouniverse.com/forum/sh...ad.php?t=20853

Looks like 1" should be fine for 2" mortars.

[russell]

Originally Posted by quash

Here's my 5 (fan style) x 8 shot racks I just finished this weekend. Things turned out OK, I need to measure and cut a little more exactly, but the plans were spot on. None of my Home Depots had fir or anything in 2x3, so I did mine out of poplar 1x6 and ripped to the correct dimentions.

FYI, I just drilled and screwed everything, since I don't have a nail gun.

It was a fun little project, I'm going to get a little "creative" on my next design.

Got to see this one in action. Very nice

[camjoe63]

Hey Guy’s…. I have been getting requests lately from members for me to send them out the actual templates I used to make the end boards. I have created the 5 shot fan & 5 straight end board on one template. Basically you can create any version of 3 or 5 shot on one template. I have not transferred this over to the pdf drawings as of yet. For those members that would like the actual template I can mail that out to you via PayPal for ONLY the cost of shipping and the cardboard used to make the package. PM me with your info and I will send you a shipping quote based on your zip code.

Mods… I don’t know if it’s ok to post this in my thread instead of the Yard Sale but this response was from the requests I got from members of Pyro-U

Joe

[Bababoy]

Better racks then Ive seen at Hooters! Very Nice.

[MondoMage]

I'm planning on building myself a couple of racks based on this design - thank you so much for making this public!

Anyways, regarding the support on the bottom of the individual "banks" for the fanned racks... should anything be put underneath these, or is it considered supported enough as long as at lest the edges are touching the ground? I'm asking specifically about the outermost banks on the fan racks, where the only thing that's actually touching the ground would be the very edge of the individual banks.

[rambo.kid]

I just emailed this link to all my pyro buddies. I hope to see some of these racks in our show next year. Can we finally get rid of the boombox BaBa?

[camjoe63]

Originally Posted by MondoMage

should anything be put underneath these, or is it considered supported enough as long as at lest the edges are touching the ground? I'm asking specifically about the outermost banks on the fan racks, where the only thing that's actually touching the ground would be the very edge of the individual banks.

From my experience so far on every rack that I have tested they have held up shooting Excals and S&M's. When I take them apart after each use I look them over carefully to see if the wood has split or any stress cracks. NO DAMAGE so far..

If you look at the pdf 3 & 5 shot fan sides you can see actually that all of the racks in one way or another touches the ground. The outer most rack has the edge that touches... but given the lenght of the span that is sufficient enough to support it. Overall it's the rack itself and the tie to the end boards that makes up the structural integrity.

Also with over 6,000 hits so far I am sure others have built my design and tested them out.. I hope others will chime in on this question with there experience with them....A non bias opinion.

Joe

[MondoMage]

Originally Posted by camjoe63

Also with over 6,000 hits so far I am sure others have built my design and tested them out.. I hope others will chime in on this question with there experience with them....A non bias opinion.

Joe

I don't want it to sound like I'm doubting your integrity or the design or anything.... well, maybe the design, a little, but moreso because I've never built or used a fan rack before than anything else. And I'm sure that if it was actually an issue somebody would have mentioned it by now, if for no other reason that to prove how smart they are

And, again, thanks for making this particular design public.

[themadness74]

I built my racks this year off camjoes design but made them fixed angle design. I made 8 shot rack, 3 rows with every rack touching the ground and had no problems at all. I shot SNM's and KOD's with no problems at all. I took them apart and inspected them and No cracks or anything anywhere. Seemed to hold up very well.

[Insanity]

Built the racks, all 100 shots worth, attached em to the end boards, got 100 tubes to fill em. And the holes are just barely too small.

The error I made, was using an upside down mortar to verify lengths. Didn't account for the flare that a plug gives and HDPE tube.

Back to the drawing board. :-)

Don't make my error.

Otherwise I can't complain for a first time rack build.

[camjoe63]

To keep the space consistent I created a jig for the upper and lower spacers. The space between each should be 2 1/2" and that will allow the Mortars with plugs to fit nicely with a little wiggle room. This jig is designed for a 10 shot rack but it also can be used for the 6 or 8 shot rack as well.

[Pyro4fun]

Originally Posted by camjoe63

To keep the space consistent I created a jig for the upper and lower spacers. The space between each should be 2 1/2" and that will allow the Mortars with plugs to fit nicely with a little wiggle room. This jig is designed for a 10 shot rack but it also can be used for the 6 or 8 shot rack as well.

That is a slick idea. I am planning to double my mortar tube inventory to 200 tubes over this winter. However, depending on a local 1.4 show I might participate in, I might have to make racks for an additional 300 tubes. Having a template like this would decrease the setup time. So much to do, so little time.

[quash]

I'm having a lot of mortar bounce outs with this rack design and it's not trampoline effect, because it's mostly the mortars on the ends and not the middle.

I just built 8 more this weekend and decided to snug up the spacers to the tube using only a thin strip of cardboard for space, I haven't been able to test this out, but will let you know. I'll have to tear apart the first racks and snug the spacers up if that's the case.

PS, On my new racks, I also made my bottom spacers 1.5 inches and not 2.5, and added spacers on the sides as well, but I still have to give credit to camjoe63 for the original inspiring design.

[sev]

Originally Posted by quash

PS, On my new racks, I also made my bottom spacers 1.5 inches and not 2.5, give credit to camjoe63 for the original inspiring design.

I made the bottom spacers 1.5 also with no issues. The tubes in my rack are snug though, no bounce.

[Insanity]

Originally Posted by camjoe63

To keep the space consistent I created a jig for the upper and lower spacers. The space between each should be 2 1/2" and that will allow the Mortars with plugs to fit nicely with a little wiggle room. This jig is designed for a 10 shot rack but it also can be used for the 6 or 8 shot rack as well.

That was my plan to do after I put these together, I would have had a wrong size jig though if I had done it now. :-D

[dangbang]

nice and easy . thanks for sharing

[David.lee]

Originally Posted by camjoe63

How can a person make one set of racks then decide whether to fan them or run straight shots or even consider how many shots in one rack, 18 24, 30 or even 50.... I figured it out.

The key is in the ends... A template that you trace on 3/4" plywood.


Using eye loops and locking them down with tent stakes or just use them as is if you can stake them into the ground.


You will end up with something like this.


and...


I tested a few of these out last night and I must say they worked the bomb. If anyone would like a .pdf dwaring of these I will be happy to E-mail them to you.

nice idea using the eye bolts and stakes.
i want to do it myself.

[Skweeky]

I made a couple of racks using your excellent design. Had no problem with them at all and they are now disassembled and stored in the loft for next year when I plan to build several more.

They worked well and were easy to build. I even adapted the five rack to a six shown below. Apologies for pic quality as it was taken on a cell phone.

Thanks again for sharing Camjoe!

[dracoe2]

CamJoe,
Looking to build my first mortar racks and wanting to use your designs. Thank you so much for posting them. The PDF file for the racks alone are awesome. If I do a layout for the plywood cuts(and they are OK) would you add them to your OP?
Thanks So much, D

ps- Posting pics as soon as my racks are done and I figure out how to.

[camjoe63]

Originally Posted by dracoe2

CamJoe,
If I do a layout for the plywood cuts(and they are OK) would you add them to your OP?
Thanks So much, D

ps- Posting pics as soon as my racks are done and I figure out how to.

I did create a cut sheet for the CDX and the OSB using ½ sheets instead of a full sheet for ease of transport and cutting but decided not to post it because of the bottom rail height being 2.5” tall. Some feel that the bottom rail should be slightly higher then the plug. I figured I would just post what I had made and let others build them the way they want to. Thanks for the offer though. Some time in the near future I will post a video of an intentional flowerpot and see what type of damage occurs with the rail height as is.

I read pretty much every post on a daily basis and I am flattered and humbled that people refer to this post as a reference when someone posts a rack that they had built and asks for opinions. Thank you all.

I am happy that I could offer something to the Pyro-U community

Joe

[DoctorG]

What can we say? I looked at the design and thought...'why didn't I think of that?'....your design is simple overall...yet ingenious. When I pick up my tubes in STL, I'll put your templates you sent me to good use for another rack

[dracoe2]

Finally, got some racks done!!!:party

CamJoe63,
Can't thank you enough for the design. Was worried about how to make it, but your pdf made it soooo easy. TY TY TY!

I hope my carpentry un-skills did the design justice.

D
Edit: got a url on the pics from the gallery, why are they not posted?
Edit: Trevor, thanks for posting my pics! www.pyroboom.com

[tbullard]

Great looking Racks dracoe2.

[dracoe2]

Joe,
you once asked, "when are the end pieces?'. well here they are.



Thanks for the help!!!!

D2

[CatsMan]

very nice, looks like the easiest i have seen to construct

[Bubster]

Here are some photos of my camjoe inspired racks, along with some of the jigs/templates I came up with to speed the process along.

[Bubster]

Some explanations might have helped. First two photos are of the completed racks. The third is a rail jig, similar to one camjoe posted a photo of. The third is a screweye locator jig. The last is an an endplate layout template. Simply lay it down on the plywood stock for the end panel and start tracing locations for rack attachments.

[banger]

I have seen racks of various designs and materials.....I understand the use of OSB for the bottom rail in case of mortar failure, but wonder why the top rail needs to be plywood? Anyone clear that up for me......thanks!

[pipebomb]

Originally Posted by banger

I have seen racks of various designs and materials.....I understand the use of OSB for the bottom rail in case of mortar failure, but wonder why the top rail needs to be plywood? Anyone clear that up for me......thanks!

in a nutshell...... you want to have the OSB at the bottom where your more likely to to get an actual "blow-out" and you'd want to have part of the rail go with it and leave the rest intact to keep the other guns in place and pointing the right way. In using plywood or CDX for the top rail, you want the top rail as strong as possible to keep the guns all pointed up and out in case of a shell goes sour on you. generally if one goes bad at the top of the tube, the pressure will mostly follow the path of least resistance, meaning out the last few inches of the tube, usually to mine-like effect and F.U.B.A.R'ing the end of the tube. hence the plywood to keep a strong hold on the end of the tube and keep it from moving in a bad direction.