Misc. Hints and Tips

[Andy_P]

From another thread...

Originally posted by RocketScientist+Fri 16 Nov 2007, 10:21 PM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (RocketScientist @ Fri 16 Nov 2007, 10:21 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteBegin-meggsy@Thu 15 Nov 2007, 07:09 AM
Great thread by the way good to see people's different techniques......

Couldn't agree more. This is exactly the sort of thing the (pro) forum should be about.[/b][/quote]

OK, I thought we could start a little handy tips topic.

I'll start with:

1. For cleaning tubes....
Don't struggle pulling tubes out of racks and banging them on the ground (possible edge damage, especially with grp tubes).
Just get a bit of scrap timber slightly longer than your tubes and bang a nail or screw through at one end so the sharp point sticks out.
Drop it in, push to the side of the tube and pull up. Works like a dream at pulling out the paper cups from spent shells (which we all know need to be removed before re-loading, don't we... ).

2. For that occasional stuck shell, especially where the leader has just pulled out or fallen off....
Would you believe an old archery arrow?
The notch at the blunt end where the bowstring goes pops straight over the short bit of waxed string on the shell. One 360° twist to lock it and it will pull straight out.

One day, I'll make one tool that combines both! (preferably telescopic )

[Tim]

Ah the good old stick with a nail, I thought Stuart invented that


My top tip when firing electrically is to have some multicore cable to hand. I use 4 pair telephone cable, widely available. To extend a number of channels from the field box to the pyro. It saves on bell wire & is easy to re-use.

The easiest method is to have your field box near the pyro but this is not always possible.

You may have some cakes/candles left & right or a mine sequence spread across the field. This can be seen in action Powderfinger GFN 2007 with Spyrotechnics pic No19

[RocketScientist]

Great thread - well done Andy. My two cents worth -

My best kit buys -

Knee pads (with hard panels - better on hard sites)

Toolbelt with useful pouch for bits of wire, knife, pens, gaffa, nips etc

Thermals (these deserve a thread all to themselves - mine are M&S and they work fine - for me)

Gloves. I could write a book on gloves. Having tried almost everything on the market. I finally settled on three pairs -

- rigging gloves for heavy duty
- spodding gloves (see below **) for light duty
- woollen gloves for firing

** for those not in the know, spodding gloves are used in angling. I'm not a fisherman myself, but discovered these by accident. They are similar to the fingerless cyclist gloves or carpenters gloves that others use, but I find they offer more warmth and protection while still giving enough 'feel' to do quite intricate work. Here they are -

http://www.englandangling.co.uk/displayproduct.asp?prodCode=CGR_R

Also, since my eyes aren't what they were, particularly in the dark, I do a couple things when handfiring. First I stick bright reflective labels where the lighting pioint is, and second I strap a maglite to the arm holding the torch/portfire for extra illumination (somehow even after all these years I still haven't got the knack of pointing my headtorch where I'm looking !)

Finally, a tip I'm sure others have learnt the hard way - when marking fireworks with cue numbers, use foil tape rather than gaffa - much less likely to fall off in the wet !

[Andy_P]

Originally posted by Tim@Sun 18 Nov 2007, 09:09 AM
Ah the good old stick with a nail, I thought Stuart invented that

Hah!! He never even paid me for the prototype!


Knee pads - I have a pair in the bag, would have really suffered this yeart on a hard carpark fiing site. But how do you stop them turning into ankle pads? Mine ended up just ridiculous!

[RocketScientist]

Originally posted by Andy_P@Sun 18 Nov 2007, 01:21 PM
But how do you stop them turning into ankle pads? Mine ended up just ridiculous!

Maybe I've just got sturdy calves ! I should have after all that crouching.

I think the key may be to get a pair with two bindings - above and below the knee. I've tried the ones with a single binding and they fall down very easily.

B&Q do a good range -

http://www.diy.com/diy/jsp/bq/nav/nav.jsp?isSearch=true&fh_search=knee+pads&selected =products&x=31&y=9

Mine are the blue and white ones at the top.

The other advantage is they keep your knees warm - until they stop the circulation, after which you don't care.

[crazedmonkey]

Originally posted by Andy_P@Sat 17 Nov 2007, 05:29 PM
1. For cleaning tubes....
Just get a bit of scrap timber slightly longer than your tubes and bang a nail or screw through at one end so the sharp point sticks out.

I just use an upturned road pin, even better if the bit has snapped off at the end

[Rust]

If we get enough of these tips, perhaps we can tabulate them or make a "living" sticky list. More work for Pete...

[Pyro Pete]

If we get enough of these tips, perhaps we can tabulate them or make a "living" sticky list. More work for Pete.

Good idea - I'll pin it to the top of the forum, and will edit/tidy it up at some point.

[Andy_P]

Blimey... "Important" sounds a bit OTT though!!

Have to say, on another forum that I moderate, we find that if you put anything important in the "stickies" at the top, no-one ever seems to see it again!

[blackbat]

Originally posted by Andy_P@Tue 20 Nov 2007, 10:16 AM
we find that if you put anything important in the "stickies" at the top, no-one ever seems to see it again!

I have to say that my eye tends to skip over them and I don't notice them, or whether they've been updated. That's probably just me, though