Preparing Racks, Part I

Act II is the first rack to be tackled. Conducting the staging exercise proved the sketch was bang-on in this case. After tracing out the placement of each firework and the fuse locations on the pallet, I've turned my attention to figuring out how to mount the candles and barrages.

The first order of business is to remove the top pallet stringers where these tubes will be located. Candles and barrages are taller than all the other fireworks on the pallet, so the reduction in mounting height works better for both transport and safety, we do not want them interfering with other fireworks.

The top stringers are cut and removed. They are too thick to use on the bottom to create a base, so some scrap wood kicking around the garage will have to do the job.

The pallet is turned over. Scraps are cut to size and nailed in place.

Now there is a base to work with. I will have to fit 40 candles and two barrages into this space without interfering with other items, while making sure the visco run is economical.

The 35- roman candle rack is the first one created. It will be configured in a 5 x 7 fanned pattern. More scraps are cut and fit into the space. There's really nothing scientific about it - measure, cut, measure, cut.

Last year I created some nice looking racks but this year I'm going only for economy, function, and of course safety.

 
Seven candles are placed side-by-side to estimate the width they will consume when sitting in the racks. Their width is marked, and measurement taken from marking to end.

Blocks are cut to the measurement, and beveled to allow for angled candles.

At this point I'm a little stuck, need to figure out how to bridge the 4" gap in the absence of screws or bolts. Seeing as my budget was entirely consumed by fireworks, I hunt the garage for something dowel-like to use... Found an old warming rack from my last barbeque collecting dust. I figure this is an item accustomed to high heat, I'll give it a go.

All fireworks are packed up and moved out of the workshop, as it's time to fire up 'sparky'. BBQ rack is cut into eight ~5 1/2" lengths.

The diameter of a BBQ tine is measured. 0.18 is about 3/16". 

The tines are staged in a rough location and traced onto the wood. They are angled slightly, to make sure when the rack is loaded every single candle is aimed in a different direction. This will provide an excellent, sky filling effect.

Using a 3/16" drill bit, holes are drilled below the marks, following the angle of the marks.

Each tine is hammered in. Though not perfectly lined up (again, there's no science to this), each one is persuaded into the opposing drilled hole with a few hammer blows.

Rack is ready to be loaded to ensure it meets my needs.

The 350-shot roman candle rack will look like this when loaded. For now I have to carry on with the other two racks, so they're packed back up and stored.