rotating platform/turntable
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Topic: rotating platform/turntable
Posted By: Guests
Subject: rotating platform/turntable
Date Posted: 2/01/03 at 8:23pm
I am currently directing a production of "Weird Romance" and need to build a large rotating platform approximately 10' x 10' that will be manually turned from the rear. Can anyone provide general guidelines for doing this. I am concerned that what I build will be difficult to turn due to size and weight.
Thanks
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Replies:
Posted By: Guests
Date Posted: 2/02/03 at 11:33pm
It's interesting you would ask such a thing. The theatre I maintain the website for is doing the same thing (on a much larger scale). For a look at what they're doing go to http://www.mctiowa.org/Shows/Current/Production%20Photos.htm
As for specific questions, send me an email (webmaster@mctiowa.org) and I will forward it to someone who may be able to help. Good luck! Bill Roberts, MCT Webmaster
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Posted By: Guests
Date Posted: 2/03/03 at 1:04pm
I've build some very simple 8' diameter turn tables. I started with two 4' x 8' sheets of 3/4" plywood which I cut into a circle. I then framed out the bottom with 2x4s to give it stregth and to have somewhere to bolt the two sections together.
To allow it to rotate I used fixed casters (wheels that swivel) bolted to the plywood. The trick to mounting the wheels is to draw a straight line from the center of the circle to the point where the wheel is going to be bolted and mount the wheel perpenticular to this line. You can finish the outside of the platform by wrapping in masonite which is easy enough to bend.
The fixed wheel will tend to keep the platform in one place when you rotate it, but you can add a pivot to the center if needed. The way I did the pivot was to get a pipe flange and a short piece of threaded iron pipe. Screw the pipe into the flange and screw the flange to the stage. Next drill a hole through the center of the turntable that is a little larger then the pipe. My turntable had the 2x4 framing in the center so I just drilled into that and used a pipe that just went into the frame and didn't go all the way through the turntable. Finally lubricate the pipe with some grease and put the turntable down on top of it.
Hope these ideas help.
Dan
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Posted By: Guests
Date Posted: 2/03/03 at 1:20pm
Both of these replies are great and tell the basics of how to get it done. The one thing I have may or may not pertain to your theater. Our theater is a thrust stage with no wing and no fly so we do a LOT of turntables. Our theater stage is an old wood job, covered with a pad of upside down carpet and many years of paint. Whereas this allows for quiet scene changes and a great place to screw into for set stability, it does tend to make the stage a little "uneven" in places. If you have anything like our stage, you may find it hard to make your platform turn "level". Our fix, learned by trial and error over many painful years, is to put a second face of plywood on the bottom of the platform and place the wheels on the floor, upside down, with the flat undersurface riding on the wheels. You can adjust for unevenness by just shimming the individual wheels. It also makes for a smoother ride overall.
Have fun.
MartyW
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Posted By: Guests
Date Posted: 2/09/03 at 10:05am
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Thanks so much for your advice.
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Posted By: Guests
Date Posted: 2/09/03 at 10:05am
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Thanks for the help. I appreciate it.
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