Enthusiasts Area (under construction)
Please note:- All items described here are not for sale to or to be used by a member of the public. Professional Fireworksclick on the images to zoom  Fabulous Shells
Shells are entirely in the professional arena, they produce spectacular high level bursts when fired from mortar tubes, one tube is required for each shell which can be re utilised many times, for images of tubes, racks and other shell related stuff click here http://www.firework-review.org.uk/features/ellesmere/index.htm http://www.wf.net/~lcrump1/images.htm
 A selection of 4, 6 and 8 inch mortar tubes
Here are some photographs of professional shells  4 inch (100mm) Titanium Salute (maroon) shell
This type of shell produces a very loud report (bang) and is often fired first at a display to alert the audience to the start, other uses are for additional noise in displays, remember the New Years Eve fireworks at the London Eye, they used this type of firework to generate parts of the "music" within the display  3 inch (75mm) round display shell
Note the pen for scale, this size shell is the mainstay of many professional displays often fired in 50 or 100 batches from multiple fanned racks set at 2 - 3 intervals across the width of the firing area  4 inch (100mm) cylindrical double burst display shell
This is an excellent way to increase the firing rate of shells, the cylindrical shell (Chines versions looking like two round shells joined and knick named peanut shells) produces two (some with 3 and 4) bursts from a single unit fired from a single tube
 5 inch (125mm) round display shell
Travelling to twice the hight of a 3 inch shell and producing a considerably larger burst these shells are reserved to the later stages of the display for sky filling effects usually as part of a mixed volley or finale sequence  6 inch (150mm) round display shell
Travelling to 50% higher than a 5 inch shell and once again used as part of larger or finale sequences multiple fired with 3 inch, 4 inch, 5 inch and even larger shells.  8 inch (200mm) pagoda display shell
A massive 8 inch pagoda shell, note the four 50mm shells attached to the top which fire as the shell rises providing a "pagoda" effect (refers to the shape of pagoda roofs in China). Once again this type of shell travels to a great height and is often reserved to the end or finale of a fireworks display.  12 inch (300mm) round display shell
Note this shell (about as big as it gets before hand made specials) is fitted with two small cylinders at the top, these are filled with compressed gunpowder which burns during the flight, this type of shell is known as a tigers tail, personally I prefer to fire shells "blind" or without tails as the sense of sudden sky filling effect out of the blue is hard to emulate if the audience can see the flight trajectory. Giant display fireworks  BF30 fan cake BF30A26 fan cake open
This is one of the largest category 4 professional pre loaded fireworks, with dimensions of 730mm X 530mm X 500mm, weighing 25kilos and containing 25 X 90mm tubes preloaded and set in a fan configuration, fused to fire 5 tubes simultaneously and with a burn duration of just 26 seconds (note the pen on top for scale), any effects larger than this are created with multiple mortar firing which are built and loaded on site.
Display Firing Systems Portfires
For manually fired displays portfires are a must, these are a long slender fountain firework producing a flame about 1 inch (25mm) long and burn for 6 - 7 minutes, each operator will carry as many as required be the duration of the display and use them to ignite fireworks in sequences as required.  Plastic igniter cord
Manufactured from liquid TNT this is a slow burning waterproof fuse used by professionals to provide a time delay between pre set sequences  Black match instant fuse
Most professional fireworks are supplied pre fused with instant burning black match fuses, delay times are chosen by the pyrotechnician using plastic igniter cord or electronic detonator firing systems, other uses include waterfalls, multi fired roman candles and lancework (fireworks glued to boards or frames showing scenes IE tanks, ships or even good night in words which may comprise hundreds of fireworks requiring instant ignition).  Electric detonators
Used by professional display organisers firing with electronic sequencing systems which can provide computerised control, the detonator is the tiny red match head size device on the end of the connecting wires, this is inserted into the black match fuses on the display fireworks, once a voltage is applied they detonate with a tiny explosion activating the firework  Electronic firing box (output)This is a typical electronic firing box output, these boxes (many of them) are set amongst the fireworks and connected to the detonators and the main firing control panel  Electronic firing system (control)
A typical controller for electronic firing systems, note the safe key, an operator only inserts this when the pyrotechnicians advise that the firing area is secure.  | Featured Products |  | |
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