This document describes an
easy-to-make sturdy collapsible fireworks stand. It is the
stronger brother to the Collapsible
Fireworks Stand. In an outdoor test, this stand
withstood winds of 45 mph.
This document also describes
four attachments that can be added to the sturdy stand to hold
fireworks for a variety of effects. The attachments are:
- wooden board at least
12" x 12" and at least 0.75" thick
- (4) 3" 90-degree corner brace with screws
- 2' long PVC plastic pipe (2" ID, 2 3/8" OD)
- (6) bricks
- 8' long 2"x2"
- 1.5"x1.5" (double wide) corner brace with screws
- 1.5"x1.5" (double wide) corner brace with screws
- (3) size 8 screw eyes (eye hooks)
- Latex Enamel Deck and Floor Paint
OPTIONAL MATERIALS
- heavy aluminum foil (from
frozen cake pan)
FOR BIGGER
FOUNTAINS ON BACK BRACE
- 5" x 5" or
6"x6" 1/4" thick piece of wood
- (3) 3/4" #8-32 flat head machine screws
- (3) #8 wing nuts
FOR 2nd
WHEEL CROSS ARM
- 1.5"x1.5"
(double wide) corner brace with screws
Procedure
First, construct
the base of the stand. Measure to find the center of the 12x12
board. Stand the pipe at this location. Carefully place the
brace evenly spaced around the pipe. They should be ninety
degrees to each other and pointing towards the corners of the
board. Note: the braces pointing at the corners of the board,
instead of the sides of the board make the stand stronger,
gives more room for the braces and makes it easier to place
bricks on the base of the stand. With a pencil mark the holes
for the brace on the pipe and the board. Drill about
1/8" tap holes in the board and pipe. Loosely screw
the brackets to the pipe. Line up the brackets on the board
and if needed use a level to make sure everything is level. Go
around several times gradually tightening the screws and
keeping the pipe level.
Sand and paint the board. You can also wrap the board in heavy
aluminum foil to protect the base from sparks. This picture
shows the base of the stand and a 2"x2" pole about
to be inserted.
Next construct the pole of the stand. Sand and paint the 8'
2"x2". Measure 9 inches from the top of the eight
foot pole and place the top of the 1.5"x1.5" corner
brace at that location on the pole. Mark the location of the
holes for the brace on the board, drill holes and screw the
brace onto the pole. This is the front side of the pole that
will face the audience.
Turn the pole over to the
opposite or back side. Measure 5 or 6 inches from the top of
the pole and place the top of the 1.5"x2.5" brace at
that location on the pole. Mark the location of the holes for
the brace on the board, drill holes and screw the brace onto
the pole.
Next
take an eye screw and screw it into the back of the pole near the
two braces. Screw another eye screen just over 5' from the bottom of
the pole and screw the last eye screw about 2.5' from the bottom of
the pole.
The picture below shows the pole with the two braces and the eye
screws. Note, that an optional 3rd brace was placed about 5'
feet from the bottom of the pole. This is for an optional wheel
cross-arm attachment, which will be discussed later in this
document.
You
now should be able to slide the pole into the pipe. Wrap duct tape
around pipe and the pole to make it stay put. Place six or more
bricks on the base of the stand.
The eye screws in the back give you a
place to wrap or tie the shooting wires for electrically fired
fireworks. The back brace of the stand is a small platform on which
you can stand and tape a fountain. This will put it high in the air
and make it easy for the audience to see. Here is a clip
of the sturdy stand with an ignited fountain on top.
If you want to
add bigger fountains to the back brace, drill three holes in a
5"x5" piece of word that match up with the holes in
the back brace. Counter sink the holes and attach the
board to the brace with three #8-32 3/4" machine screws.
Add a #8 wing nut to the bottom of each screw and tighten.
Wrap the board with heavy aluminum foil. This platform should
handle most large fountains.
The front brace of the stand can be used to attach a wheel,
cross-arm or wheel-arm. It could also be used to attach
another fountain. On the left is a picture of the sturdy stand
with a wheel attached to it. Click the image for a
larger version.
Attachment #1: Wheel
The wheel attachment lets you create
your own wheel using your own fireworks. This wheel can exceed the
performance of most commercially available wheels. The wheel
described here shot sparks over 10 feet from the wheel and lasted
over 90 seconds.
The bike wheel
should be no larger than 12" as a bigger wheel gets too
heavy to propel and would probably require a heavier pole and
hardware to hold it. Here is a picture of the bike wheel.
Remove any tire and tube from the wheel, so you just have a
bare rim. Also remove from the axle, any of the nuts and
washers that hold the wheel to the bike. The bike wheel needs
to turn freely with a light touch. If it does not, then
use a pliers and slightly loosen the nuts close to the wheel
to free up the bearings.
With a file,
file down two flat spots on one end of the axle. The two flat
spots should be opposite each other as shown in this diagram.
These flat spots will be used to clamp the axle of the wheel
to 1.5" corner brace of the sturdy stand. You may also
make flat spots on the opposite end of the axle.
Now fireworks can be attached to the wheel. The most important
issue with a wheel is how to get it started and keep it
moving. This wheel uses jumbo ground blooms to make the wheel
move. Use the biggest and longest lasting ones you can
find.
Examine this
diagram carefully. You attach the non fuse end of the bloom on
the rim using duct tape. It will seem like it is an extension
of the spoke. Make sure the fuse is parallel to the rim.
The spray from the ground bloom comes out of a hole near the
fuse. This spray is forceful enough that it will turn
the wheel. It is essentially a very cheap "rocket
engine".
Next put a small cuckoo, oriented like the ground bloom, but
attach it to the side of the rim. Then attach another
ground bloom. Next lay a 9" tube (Shogun HN90, Green
Willow) down into the rim so its spray will help power the
wheel. By this time you are on the opposite side of the
wheel, so add another ground bloom opposite the first. Then
add another cuckoo, ground bloom and 9" tube (Shogun
HN90, Blue Star) opposite their counter parts. The
fourth ground bloom may be optional. Fuse the whole thing
together with visco fuse as show in the diagram. I
usually used a faster fuse that burned at 1.7 sec / inch
instead of the standard 2.5 sec / sec. Below is a
picture of the finished wheel:
Note
that the diagram and picture are fused differently. The wheel
in the picture produces a longer performing wheel, but there may be
a gaps in the spray from the wheel just before the 9" tubes
ignite. If the duration of the cuckoos is too short, you will just
see the spinning spark from the fuse for a bit. The wheel in the
diagram will have a shorter duration wheel, put there probably will
be no gaps in the performance.
Use the 1" C
clamp to attach the wheel to the 1.5" brace on the sturdy
stand. Tighten the C clamp onto the flat spots of the axle.
Since the last tube lasts about 40 seconds and you use about
20-24" of visco to get to it, the wheel will about 80-90
seconds. Once the jumbo bloom starts, you got a nice red,
green and then gold circular stripe for about 10 seconds. Then
the first cuckoo starts up. This gives a whistle and red
spray. Red stars shoot out about ten feet out from the wheel
as seen in the left picture. The 2nd ground bloom adds a
stripe of color and more speed.
After that the
first 9" tube ignites. It gives a nice gold spray
in a spiral and then some green stars as shown in the picture
on the right. This is followed by some crackle. The
bright crackles showed up randomly in rough circular shape
around the wheel. Nice! Then the 2rd ground bloom adds a
stripe and more speed. Then the whole process is repeated, but
the 2nd tube has blue stars instead of green. It also sprays
out very large crackle bursts at the end, a large distance
from the wheel. Here
is a clip the wheel's performance.
You
don't have to use the fountains I used for your wheel, but you can
use just about any fountain. For bigger fountains, you may have to
use more ground blooms. The bigger fountains could be placed in the
spokes of the wheel and pointing outwards, like the cuckoos were.
Then place more ground blooms evenly around on the rim. It also
helps if you try to even out the weight of the wheel. So if you put
a fountain on one side, you should have a similar weight fountain
opposite on the other side of the wheel.
I made a wheel of just ground blooms and it spun real fast and gave
a long performance of a circular stripe. The ground blooms
also had a bit of crackle in them, which added a bit of variety to
the performance.
Attachment #2: Wheel
Cross Arm
You
may not want to make your own wheel as described in the previous
section. Instead you may want to purchase wheels and attach
them to the sturdy stand. The trouble with doing this is you have to
pound nails into your nicely painted stand to hold the wheels. Also,
if a wheel ever sticks, it can scorch or burn your stand. The wheel
cross-arm is "an easy to make", replaceable cross-arm that
will hold two wheels, but it will keep your stand from getting
damaged by the wheels.
MATERIALS
-
15" long 1"x2"
- 1" #8-32 Truss head machine screw
- #8 washer
- #8 wing nut
SUGGESTED
FIREWORKS
-
(2-4) wheels
- (~2') visco fuse (fast or normal)
Procedure
The
15" long 1"x2" is long enough for most wheels. For
much larger wheels, you may need a longer 1x2. Center the 1x2 on the
1.5"x1.5" brace of the sturdy stand. Mark and drill
a hole using the center hole of the brace. Flip the 1x2 end
for end and then mark and drill a hole using the center hole again.
You should now have a 1x2 with two holes drilled near the center.
Do not bother to sand and paint the 1x2.
Next
attach two wheels to the 1x2. Measure about an inch from each end
and pound the wheels into the 0.75" side of the 1x2. Attach
fuse between the wheels. Attach an igniter or another piece of visco
at the midpoint of the fuse.
Put a washer and Truss head machine screw into one of the holes in
the 1x2 and put that into the center hole of the 1.5" brace on
the sturdy stand. Put the wing nut on to the machine screw and
tighten.
If the cross-arm
has too many nail holes or gets scorched, flip it end for end
and use the other side and the other hole. Once this side gets
used, just throw it out and make another a new wheel
cross-arm.
One interesting effect is to
put two wheels on the cross-arm that spin in the opposite
directions. One spins clockwise, while the other spins
counter-clockwise. Depending on which wheel is on which side,
the spray between the wheels will either go up or down. This
is an interesting effect. Sometimes a manufacturer of a
particular wheel will make half the of them clockwise wheels
and the other half counter-clockwise wheels. So if you look
carefully you will be able to find some counter rotating
wheels.
If desired you can add
another 1.5"x1.5" brace to the sturdy stand about 5'
from the bottom of the 2x2 pole. Then you can have two sets of
wheel cross-arms at once. This picture shows a sturdy stand
with two wheel cross-arms. There are also some small fountains
taped to 2x2 pole of the sturdy stand and they are all fused
together. Also note, the fountain at the back and top of the
pole on the 1.5"x2.5" brace. Here
is a clip of the performance of two counter rotating wheel
arms.
Attachment #3:
Horizontal Cross Arm
The horizontal cross-arm is a
4' long beam that is attached to the front brace. Tube fountains can
be taped up side down to the cross-arm to produce a waterfall effect
or they can be taped right side up to produce a "wall of
fire" effect.
The 1"x2" cross arm from the Collapsible
Cross-arm could be used with this sturdy stand. The cross
arm described here is similar to it, but it uses a 2"x2"
instead of a 1"x2". So it is sturdier and can hold more
fireworks.
MATERIALS
-
4' long 2"x2"
- (3) #8-32 x 2.5" Truss head machine screws
- (3)#8 washer
- (3)#8 wing nut
SUGGESTED
FIREWORKS
-
(14 or 28) tube fountains
- (~8') visco fuse (fast or normal)
Procedure
Use the directions for making
the Collapsible
Cross-arm to make this sturdier cross-arm. Instead of
using a 4' long 1x2, you will be using a 4' long 2x2. You will
also be using 2.5" Truss head machine screws instead of
1" ones.
Here is a picture of the sturdy stand with a 2x2 cross-arm.
There are two rows of fountains attached to the cross-arm. The
first row pointed down and is ignited near the center of the
cross-arm. This gives a waterfall effect. The second row is
pointed upward to give a wall of fire effect. It is fused to
the first row at each end of the cross-arm by some slow
burning visco. This gives some delay between the two effects.
The fuses of the first row of fountains point towards the
center, while the fuses of the 2nd row point away from the
center. Here
is a clip of the performance of the waterfall and wall of
fire.
Also notice that a large fountain is attached to the back of
the sturdy stand on the back brace. This will be ignited
at a later time in the show.
Attachment #4:
Angle Arm or "Corn Stock"
The
angle arm consists of six 45 degree arms. It looks like a corn
stalk or a grain of wheat. Two, four or six tube fountains are
attached the arms. To the right is a picture of the sturdy
stand with the corn stalk attached.
MATERIALS
-
10" x 15" 1/2" thick board
- (2) #8-32 x 2.5" Truss head machine screws
- (4)#8 washer
- (2)#8 wing nut
Take the
10"x15" board and draw three lines 15" lines on
it as shown in this diagram (click to enlarge). The
first one is in the middle, 5" from left and right edges.
The second and third lines are 0.75" to the left and
right of the first line or 4.25" from the left and right
edges. Click thumbnail to enlarge.
As shown in this
diagram, draw hash marks on the left and right edges at
0", 2", 4", 6" 8" and 10"
from the top edge. Also draw hash marks on the center line
5", 7", 9", 11", 13" and 15"
from the top edge. Click thumbnail to enlarge.
In the next
diagram, we play the game of connect the dots. Draw a
diagonal line from the first hash mark on the left to the
first hash mark in the center. Draw a diagonal line from
the first hash on the right to the first hash mark in the
center. Repeat the process for the 2nd through 6th hash marks,
drawing two diagonal lines from the right and left hash marks
to its corresponding hash mark in the center. Also draw a
perpendicular line from the 2nd-6th hash marks on the left and
right to the line above it. Draw a horizontal line from the
points where the first diagonal lines cross the two vertical
lines to the right and left of the center line. Click
thumbnail to enlarge.
Use this diagram
to cut out all the white areas of the board leaving only the
gray areas. Use a jig saw or saber saw. Sand and paint the
angle-arm.
Place the
angle-arm on pole of the sturdy stand. The bottom of the angle
arm should be about 5 feet from the bottom of the pole and it
should be on the front of the pole. If you added a 2nd front
corner brace to the pole, the cross arm can sit on that brace.
Drill two holes through the angle-arm and through the pole.
The holes should be between the arms of the angle-arm on its
center stem. Stick a washer on each machine screw, stick
machine screw it into the hole. Then add another washer and
then the wing nut. Tighten it up. This picture shows the
angle-arm attached to the pole.
To add fireworks
to the angle-arm, remove the angle-arm from the pole and
attach 2-6 tube fountains or California Candles to the arms.
Starting at a bottom arm and going up, use some fuse to attach
the fountains on one side. Then stretch the fuse from the top
arm to other top arm. The go down the other side
connecting the other fountains. The fuses of the
fountains should point up or towards the center. Add an
igniter or another piece of visco to the fuse midway between
the two upper arms. On the left is a picture of the angle-arm
and a wheel, with fireworks, on the pole of the sturdy stand.
Here
is a clip of angle-arm's performance.
Combinations
With a bit of planning the sturdy
stand can have several items attached to it during your show. Each
item will not prematurely light another item on the pole. The trick
is to ignite the lowest item on the pole first.
You can always have a fountain on the top in back, especially if it
is ignited after everything else on the pole. It's sparks will not
prematurely ignite anything else below it on the pole. Because it is
in back and mostly behind the pole, it is extremely rare for a
fountain to be prematurely ignited by something else below it.
On the highest front bracket, you can then attach either a
cross-arm, wheel-arm or wheel.
If you use a cross-arm as a waterfall, with fountains pointing
downward, then you usually can not put anything else on the pole.
The waterfall will either ignite anything below it or anything below
the waterfall will ignite the waterfall.
If you use a wheel on the highest front bracket, then you can
usually have a corn stalk below it by the 2nd bracket as long as the
corn stalk is ignited before the wheel.
If you use a wheel-arm on the highest front bracket, then you can
usually have another wheel-arm on the 2nd bracket or possibly a corn
stalk as long as it is ignited before anything above it.
I will also sometimes attach fountains horizontally to the pole
itself between the top and bottom brackets. These can point towards
or parallel to the audience.
Attachment #1: Wheel
