gibbothegreat Posted January 25, 2015 Share Posted January 25, 2015 Hi all, looking at replacing our cyc which is beginning to show its age. It's pretty much permanently rigged on a fixed bar at the rear of the stage. What is/are the best choice(s) of material in terms of appearance (smooth & flat) and durability? And would your choice benefit from stretching? (Apologies if done already, could only find one on touring cycs) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bryson Posted January 25, 2015 Share Posted January 25, 2015 Plastic Cyc in a stretcher frame. They look great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonathanhill Posted January 25, 2015 Share Posted January 25, 2015 White filled cotton is the traditional material, although plastic do look good. Any one of the drape manufacturers, J & C Joel, Whaley's, etc will be able to make it. Be sitting down when you open the quote though, as it will not be cheap. All cyc's, whatever the material, will benefit from stretching, both at the bottom with conduit, and from the sides with home made cyc stretchers or Hold-Ons to a scaffold frame. With a couple of pulleys, the side stretchers can run, allowing the whole lot to fly in and out easily. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gibbothegreat Posted January 25, 2015 Author Share Posted January 25, 2015 Thanks both. Hadn't even considered plastic, how durable are they?We do get a fair number of dance schools/amateurs etc, some of whom are not wholly to be counted on in remembering to avoid the cyc. Filled cotton is indeed what we have, and that has lasted 6 years. Don't know whether that's good or bad...? Our main supplier when asked to quote did so offering a canvas cyc, which again is one that had never occurred to me. Does anyone have experience of that? Instinct says it might be the most durable, but not sure how easy it would be to get it smooth and flat... Cheers, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonathanhill Posted January 26, 2015 Share Posted January 26, 2015 Plastics are durable, depending on the material. The problem that I have found with them is once folded, it takes a lot more effort to stretch it than a white filled cotton cyc. I would expect at least 10 years from a cyc, if well looked after. The storage is key. If it can go on a bar and never be taken down, living in the grid when not used, it will last a lot longer. I have never used a canvas cyc, not even sure of the differences between that and a white filled cotton cyc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
librarian28 Posted January 27, 2015 Share Posted January 27, 2015 I have never used a canvas cyc, not even sure of the differences between that and a white filled cotton cyc.Canvas is woven on a loom (weft & warp) so can only be a certain maximum width (maybe 8 feet?). Therefore a large cyc or backcloth would need sewn seams every so often.Cycs used to be described as cotton filled gauze and, as with a full sized transformation gauze, they can be made without unsightly seams because (don't press me on the process) they are knitted and having made two sections as large as the knitting machine can manage, the 2 sections can then be knitted together and so on as many times as needed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gibbothegreat Posted January 27, 2015 Author Share Posted January 27, 2015 Canvas is woven on a loom (weft & warp) so can only be a certain maximum width (maybe 8 feet?). Therefore a large cyc or backcloth would need sewn seams every so often.A quick Google shows that at least one major supplier provides 'cotton cyclorama canvas' in 10m x 60m rolls, so there may some confusion about the grade of canvas being used? Contrary to my expectations, it's actually lighter than filled cloth, although more expensive... Thanks all for the input, My supplier (Black Light in Edinburgh) tell me that canvas is what's typically asked for these days, I was just hoping to find someone who had hands on experience of how they perform... Plastic isn't an option for us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
librarian28 Posted January 28, 2015 Share Posted January 28, 2015 I couldn't let it lie, so I rang Joels and they confounded me by confirming that there is such a thing as a weaving loom that is 10 metres wide - so they can produce very wide woven fabric. So, I was wrong. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gibbothegreat Posted January 28, 2015 Author Share Posted January 28, 2015 :D You knew how it was made, which is a whole lot more than I did! On no particular basis other than it looking better in Joel's catalogue photos, I've gone for the canvas: will report back in a few months in case anyone is interested. Thanks again all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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