match box car carriers
Printed From: Community Theater Green Room
Category: Producing Theater
Forum Name: Set Design and Construction
Forum Discription: Post your questions or suggestions about designing or building a set here.
URL: http://www.communitytheater.org/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=1922
Printed Date: 5/17/24 at 11:15am
Software Version: Web Wiz Forums 8.05 - http://www.webwizforums.com
Topic: match box car carriers
Posted By: Joan54
Subject: match box car carriers
Date Posted: 7/12/06 at 9:46am
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Several months ago I was asking for help in designing a backdrop support system and someone was telling me about a system of PVC pipe with a matchbox car inside it as the traveller.....I can't find the post....did I imagine it? Anyone else remember it? ------------- "behind a thin wall of logic panic is waiting to stampede" |
Replies:
Posted By: Gaafa
Date Posted: 7/13/06 at 9:39am
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Aarh! Yes I remember it ?..Well? I tried to search & can?t find it? It was good idea using the toy cars, just a thought, I feel with the modern Matchbox cars & the way the axels bend with the least amount of downward pressure, this could be a problem. I can?t remember it was a PVC pipe with a slot cut, which could be drama, depending on length & flexing or an extruded channel? But it still sounds like a great idea, unless there is a prang & vehicle pile up in the pipe. ------------- Joe Western Gondawandaland turn right @ Perth. Hear the light & see the sound. Toi Toi Toi Chookas {{"chook [chicken] it is"} May you always play to a full house} |
Posted By: Joan54
Date Posted: 7/13/06 at 2:24pm
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Actually I have found what I am looking for at Rose Brand theater supply here in New York.. they are carriers....two wheels with a small axle between and a swivel hook hanging below. The carriers roll through a track that can be hung by chain or screwed to the ceiling. I buying two tracks...20' long and 40 carriers...the tracks are about 75.00 each and the carriers 2.00 each. We can afford this. So, although I love making little jury-rigged devices out of PVC and cars and duct tape and glue I think I am going to opt for "real" curtain tracks.....now all I have to do is find some willing volunteer to drive into Manhattan and pick this stuff up ( we're only about 80 miles away but it's a tough 80 miles). Thanks so much for remembering the toy cars...I thought I had imagined it.... ------------- "behind a thin wall of logic panic is waiting to stampede" |
Posted By: Gaafa
Date Posted: 7/13/06 at 9:33pm
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With the Tab system it is a good idea to get the main train adjustable pull carriage which the sash cord attaches on to. Also check out the custom made pulley to suit the track, along with the support fixings. This Hall stage system diagram may help you ;- http://www.hallstage.com/t70_track_ass_sash.pdf Also when you hang the track attach ties or cord as a daisy chain between the tab drop holders, this will reduce the strain on the fabric header of the curtain or cloth, when pulling on or off stage. You could just use one cord incremental knotted to either give the fabric hanging folds or at a full stretch. ------------- Joe Western Gondawandaland turn right @ Perth. Hear the light & see the sound. Toi Toi Toi Chookas {{"chook [chicken] it is"} May you always play to a full house} |
Posted By: Joan54
Date Posted: 7/14/06 at 8:09am
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Thanks.....I was wondering about the best way to string it up. For this show we are going to walk the curtains open and closed. We really don't have the money for any more hardware right now but the salesman at Rose Brand assures me that the track and carrier system that I am buying can be upgraded with pulleys...even automated. I am really stepping in new directions here.....can a seamtress become a rigger? Only time will tell.... ------------- "behind a thin wall of logic panic is waiting to stampede" |
Posted By: Topper
Date Posted: 7/14/06 at 10:47am
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Can a seamstress become a rigger? Of course! Just remember to use heavier thread. ------------- "None of us really grow up. All we ever do is learn how to behave in public." -- Keith Johnstone |
Posted By: Shatcher
Date Posted: 7/14/06 at 11:04am
The carriers should work well, but I must say I love the toy car idea. That is some of the best "gaffe tape and popcile stick" consturtion I have read about!
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Posted By: Joan54
Date Posted: 7/14/06 at 1:15pm
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Yeah...I like the toy car idea too..although, as I repeat, it is not mine. I read it here and the person who described it said they used it for years with no problems. I was going to ask them how they drilled through the cars. Did they add bolts or just wire? Of course I was having trouble finding cars that were cheaper than the proper carriers ( which are about 2.00 ea.) If some one had an old box of them it would be a worthy project. ------------- "behind a thin wall of logic panic is waiting to stampede" |
Posted By: Gaafa
Date Posted: 7/15/06 at 12:43am
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Joan some of the best Gaff Riggers that I have worked with were of the
fairer gender & nearly always stitched the blokes up every time! Historically in theatre, although the costumiers & stichies were all blokes, they were also the first lighting technicians & riggers as well! As Topper suggested to just use heavier thread, that?s precisely what it?s about. I?m sure you know all the basic knots used in stitching, so all you have to do is extrapolate to a larger medium & you will be quids in! I found when I use to conduct the Stagecraft guild workshops, the women were more adept in the usage of the basic knots used in theatre. While the blokes would always tend to over engineer rigging & end up with a bunch of knitting. The females always did more with less & invariably neater, however the fact it didn?t always work, is nighter or there, but it was always prettier! Paging drapes was one of my first paid jobs in theatre at ripe old age of 9. Although I was the Grande Rag Page Boy I remember being made redundant, because I didn?t posses the 3 T?s, & being relegated to the position of Call Boy for the "Follies Begere? production. Being only nine it upset me greatly & I haven?t been the same since. I think it was all that running up & down stairs to the chorus girls dressing rooms, with the distractions & palpitations that came over me, trying to remember the Calls & chorus cues? Anyhow back on topic - Rig a sash cord to hang down on the up stage side of the 2nd or 3rd leading tab carriage, this will assist you when paging the curtain or cloth. Also the leading edge of the traveller will mask you & the sash, especially when paging them open. [Black sash cord is usually better] Also you put less stress on the fabric & the traveller will flow easier being pulled from the tab track train carriages. I have seen some use wooden poles & broom handles, instead of cord, but the poles have the tendency to keep swing into view after you use them - also your likely to get crowned & end up wearing it in the dark or during brown outs.  ------------- Joe Western Gondawandaland turn right @ Perth. Hear the light & see the sound. Toi Toi Toi Chookas {{"chook [chicken] it is"} May you always play to a full house} |
Posted By: sabre92
Date Posted: 8/19/06 at 4:19am
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Hello all. I just saw you talking about the pvc and matchbox car bit again. I was the one who suggested it originally. I haven't checked in with the Greenroom in a bit since it got hacked. Anyway, to answer your questions. In case anyone else is interested. :)
You were right on the money. I used 2" pvc pipe and cut a slot about 1/2" wide down the length of it with a cap on each end. Just remember to cut that same slot in any couplers connecting the pipes as well. I put screw eyes about every 4 or 5 feet with just enough inside to hold the nut and a nut on the outside to lock the eye in place. On the cars, to drill the hole I just set them on a piece of wood that fit inbetween the wheels and drilled straight down through from the top then put a screw eye in it with a pair of nuts jammed against each other on the top. I find the axles don't bend that much and we have yet to lose a wheel. They handle the weight quite well and roll nicely. You just have to make sure the slot is wide enough and relatively smooth, especially at the joints where the pipes connect together. If you have the time I'd actually suggest filing down the ridge inside the coupler that connects the pipes so the ends butt right up against each other. A file would work or maybe a dremel tool with the right bit. $2.00 does seem rather expensive for a matchbox car. I think I paid something like 92 cents at WalMart for the ones we have. On the pipe flexing, we did have a bit of a problem with that when hanging it, but once hung it's really quite stable with it hung from a screw eye every 5 feet or so. I did end up reenforceing the joints where the pipes connect with pieces of angle iron because the screws I used to hold it together kept popping out when we hung them or took them down. We've been using these for about 4 years now and haven't had any problems with them, after I smoothed out the slots and widened the tight spots. I'm glad you found some tracks that'll work for you. I didn't think they'd be that inexpensive, relatively speaking. I might have to pass that name on. The owners of our theater are looking at making some upgrades to the curtain/drop system. |
Posted By: Joan54
Date Posted: 8/19/06 at 7:47am
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Thanks for checking back in.....and describing your unique system. How did you cut a slot in the PVC? When I was trying to design this system myself I was thinking of getting aluminium channel and cutting a slot in it but the technique of cutting a straight slot in a 20 foot long piece of floppy aluminium was daunting me. PVC would be worse because it would want to roll. The slot would have to be wider than a saw kerf to allow for the hook eye - so you had to cut it twice? ------------- "behind a thin wall of logic panic is waiting to stampede" |
Posted By: sabre92
Date Posted: 8/20/06 at 3:00am
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Yeah, I had to cut it twice to make the slot. Basically I taped 2 Sharpie markers together (it's the perfect spacing), set the pipe against the wall and put a 2 by 4 up against the pipe and made the 2 lines all the way down the pipe following the wood from one end to the other. Then cut along the lines with a jigsaw running at a slow to medium speed with a metal cutting blade. Just make sure the blade is short so it doesn't hit the other side of the pipe. That's the best way I've found to do it. I tried using a circular saw, a air powered rotary cut-off tool, and a router before and the jigsaw was the best and easiest. I haven't tried cutting it on a table saw, but that could work with the right blade I think.
I actually looked into using metal tracks and found several places online that could do what they call "C" channel, which is basically a square tube with a slot already cut in one side. It was something not normally stocked and a lot of the times custom order on the dimensions needed for the system to work so it wasn't really cost or time effective. |
Posted By: Tom_Rylex
Date Posted: 8/20/06 at 10:22am
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Joan, I would suggest a circular or table saw for cutting the straightest lines. If you're using pvc that long, you would want to make a jig to keep your pvc from turning. -Tom ------------- The woods are lovely, dark and deep. But I have promises to keep, And miles to go before I sleep, And miles to go before I sleep. -R. Frost |
Posted By: Joan54
Date Posted: 8/21/06 at 7:36am
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I also found a local welding and metal fabricating shop that could sell me "C" channel but it was actually more expensive than the curtain track and it wasn't as smooth. The Theater supply company where I finally bought the track pointed out that the shipping of the track is the most expensive part. It has to be shipped common carrier and even a short distance ( about 90 miles in my case) was going to be 200.00 for shipping...cost more than the track...and I was sure it would arrive damaged. It is quite light and fragile. I finally drove into the city and picked it up. I will remember your method for cutting the pvc..I'm sure there will be a reason to do so in the future. I was going to try a table saw with a jig to hold the PVC from rolling and hope for the best. ------------- "behind a thin wall of logic panic is waiting to stampede" |