Watching the Inauguration Day events I was blown away by the fireworks.  The ABC news video has some cool stats about it, but essentially the sky over DC was on fire for 5 minutes.  I’m a fireworks junkie and am known for my annual display attended by family and friends, so the fact that the folks at Wetzel Pyrotechnics are using 3D printing with fireworks has me thrilled.

I remember a number of years ago I got a box of Excalibur shells and it was the first time I saw a plastic mortar tube. That got me thinking, I wonder if anyone is using 3D printing with fireworks? The answer is yes, perhaps not widespread, but people are experimenting.

The people at Wetzel Pyrotechnics keep a great blog where they describe their experimentation on things from roman candle holders to actual shell bodies. They do a good job of talking about concerns from melting to concerns about fallout (pieces remaining from an exploded aerial shell).

Below is the entire Inauguration fireworks display. I’m assuming no 3D printing was used in its making, however maybe someday, through the efforts of people like Wetzel Pyro, it will become standard. It will be fun to follow their progress, especially as we approach July 4th!