Below is the construction of a 1.4g (Consumer) single tube firework. The same type of firework that you can purchase for the 4th of July and New Years. Tubes like this can also be placed on boards and fused together to make racks for your finalé. 
 

The photo below shows the tube, cap (round paper disk), plastic base, label, and the fused firework shell itself. The firework shell can be a shell that will produce any effect that you want, from a Salute to a Peony. The shells shown below are a fused, but not filled with stars, #100 canister shell, a complete 2 1/8" plastic Chrysanthemums ball shell, and on the far right a #5 canister shell fused and ready to have the lift charge attached. Notice that the center shell is complete with an attached lift cup with a lift charge and a delay fuse. The delay of the fuse will be 3 to 6 seconds. The shell is of no real different construction than that of a professional, drop in the mortar type of shell, except it is without quickmatch and it is smaller for legal consumer use. (The construction of these small aerial firework shells is, or will be soon, located in another section of our website. We will show you how theses simple shells and mines are made.)

This is how we build these tube items here. The process starts by cutting or drilling a hole in the paper tube for the fuse to pass through from the shell. The hole should be at the same size as the fuse used for the shell.

PHOTO drilling/cutting hole in tube

The fuse for the firework shell is inserted, from the inside, through the hole in the paper tube. Obviously, the lift charge for the shell goes down toward where the plastic base will be fitted to the tube. Be careful with the fuse, if it is "kinked" or seriously bent it may cause the fuse to fail at that point and the shell will not ignite.

NOTE: If you are making a rack of numerous tubes you would need to make two holes in the paper tube with a fuse leading out from the lift charge and into the next tube and shell. The lift charge will start the other fuse and set off the next tube timed by how long a fuse you have used and how fast the fuse burns. In this case one continuous fuse will lead to all of the shells, and slits are made in the tube instead of a hole for the fuse. We have not made any racks in a while so no photos to show you, but I bet that you can understand the idea.

PHOTO fuse inserted in hole in tube w/ shell in the tube

A few dabs of hot glue are placed inside the groove where the tube will be placed and also where the shells attached lift charge will sit. The tube and shell are then quickly installed while the glue is hot. Both the tube, lift charge and shell will then be held to the base for a more secure hold for handling and shipping. White glue will work, but takes longer to set up hard, and it will not stick properly to the plastic when using plastic bases, as we are here.

PHOTO -- PHOTO hot glue on base -- tube and shell glued on the base

The paper cap (disk) is inserted into the top of the tube. It should be glued with white glue, but it is not necessary as the cap should be tight fitting. A dowel rod or pipe is used to seat the cap firmly and squarely on top of the shell to hold it in place, and to keep debris out of the operational parts of the firework.

PHOTO --- PHOTO inserting paper disk cap and pushing in with a large dowel rod

The label is glued in place on the tube. Sometimes we will place an extra dab of hot melt glue on the outside around the fuse and base for a more secure hold. Also, we usually will take a small dab of pyrogen (A mixture of Black Powder and Nitrocellulose.) and put it on the end of the fuse for two reasons. One, it seals the fuse from spilling powder, and two, it makes the fuse a lot easier to ignite for the customer.  A piece of tape is then placed on the fuse to mark the fuse location, also known as a fuse protector. With this fuse protector no powder, from even the fuse, is exposed on the firework for safety in shipping, handling, and storage.

PHOTO completed firework showing a white/silver OPI fuse protector over an OPI black label