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How do I brace this?
This area is devoted to educating novices in the art of pyrotechnics on how to safely brace different items that are available to them to make sure that they don't tip over. A few years ago I learned an important lesson about how you should brace everything. A piece tipped over and hit my grandmother in the head with one of the shells and then blew up on some guys car that was at the bottom of my driveway. Luckily she was ok. It could of been worse. If you have ideas on how to safely brace items please email me.
Reloadable Mortars - Reloadable mortars should be braced by using cinder blocks or the mortar pipes should be mounted onto a 2x8 or any other type of board. A bucket of sand can also be used if you bury the base of the mortar. You can also check out our section on how to make mortar racks so that you can safely launch more than 1 shell at a time. Instructions to build mortar racks.
Roman Candles - Roman candles should never be held in your hand. Some candles have spikes on the end to stick into the ground. A bucket of sand is the easiest way to brace roman candles. There are also many other techniques that are can be used to put on a better show with the addition of roman candles. In professional shows they use roman candle racks, or other try of candle racks.
Repeaters - If you are going to be lighting your items in a field you should brace the items between stakes that you hammer into the ground on each side and then wrap with duck tape to secure to the stakes. You can find cheap wooden stakes or door shims at places like Lowes, Home Depot, or Walmart. These should be set off on a hard flat surface if at all possible. This is will give the item a nice base to absorb the recoil when it shoots a shell. You can use cinder blocks, bricks stone or other heavy blocks to brace the item.
Rockets - Some newer rockets are being built with their own launcher as part of a the packaging. What works really well with rockets is 1/4" copper pipe. Never use a bucket of sand to light these sometimes they won't lift off from where they were sitting. Another thing that you should not launch rockets out is is a glass bottle, just is case if there is a misfire you don't want it to potentially break the bottle and send glass every where. If you want to make the rocket louder when it takes off, use a 4ft. length of 2" PVC.
Aerial Tubes - Aerial tubes you can brace the same way as reloadable mortar tubes.
Parachutes - Brace these the same was as repeaters.
Fountains - Even though these are not powerful I still recommend bracing these like repeaters. A lot of the newer larger fountains are more powerful and should be braced to prevent them from falling over during the display.
