Maxi Hold on

[Dazzler]

Hello everyone,

 

We've just bought a new cyc, and I want it to look lovely when it goes on stage. We're planning on running a tension wire between the floor and the grid, so we can use Hall Stage Maxi hold on clips on the sides of the cyc to pull it flat. What I want to know is what would you guys suggest for fixing the "hold ons" to the wire? We want to be able to fly the cyc in and out, so whatever we use has to be able to run along the wire. Do you think/know that a Karabiner will slide up and down the wire whilst keeping the cyc stretched? or would a pulley be better with a bungee cord between the "hold on" and the pulley?

 

I await your replies..........

 

Dazzler

[Tomo]

I don't think you'll be able to do this, as the cyc has to be pulled down as well as out.

 

Whatever you have running on the wires will jam roughly halfway down the wire when being flown back in, as that is the point where the wire bends onstage the furthest.

 

The only way to get around this is to have lines to pull the runners down while flying in - it may be easier to fly the wires out with the cyc, then re-fix and tension them when the cyc is in.

[AndrewR]

nice idea, how about attaching the tentioning devices (I'm thinking pulleys too) to the conduit in the bottom of the cyc as well as the fly bar? (a line running from one to the other, with the pulleys attached along its length.) as Tomo suggests.

 

As the the cyc moves the tensioners will move too, and providing you attach them right it will be with a minimum of bunching. Should be easyier than trying to build a box/frame around the cyc. You may need to put your wire uprights under a lot of tension! and there will need to be a fair bit of tweeking to balance the stretch of the cyc and the pulley spacing line.

 

But I love the idea of the cyc flying in perfectly flat!

[Grahame]

Does the cyc have to remain stretched whilst its flying? In other words, are the audience going to see the cyc as it flies? The normal protocol in these cases is to detach the tension lines before flying the cyc in a scene change. If you use bungees between the clips and the Karabiners they'll keep enough tension and allow for easy adjustment. If the gap is too large for bungees, or if they're just not giving you enough stretch, then a bit of sash with a rolling hitch works equally well for tension adjustment.

Just remember to detach the clips before asking flys to take it out! I've seen more than one ripped cyc resulting from the SM forgetting to check before calling the cyc out... :)

[Dazzler]

Thank you all for your replies.

 

We have a cunning plan, and I shall let you know how it goes. We are hoping that if we get the cyc tied to the bar properly, and get a nice straight piece of heavy duty conduit in the bottom, that we may not need to use stretchers........

 

......well, at least not for the first venue on the tour!!!!

[Neil Frazer]

Hey daz.

 

Might be a bit big for you but we used to use a box section frame that clamped to the fly bar each side of the cloth. This was 0.5M wide and 1 was clamped each side of the cloth with scaff clamps. the cloth was then bungied to this frame. The bottom was the usual conduit.

 

If I remember rightly the top had 2 scaff clamps to stop it bending on-stage and was hinged to allow it to flap downstage to get the bar in.

 

we also used steel wire to guide the frames in and out.

 

Might be too big for your tour but I'm sure Piers could knock something up ;)

[chris]

What I have done with a front black gauze before.. is to have rings sewn into the sides of the cloth and run tension wires from grid to stage floor trhough the rings, gauze stays streched and flys in and out beautiful. like.

[Dazzler]

Hi Neil,

 

Your frame sounds like a good idea, but a bit more heavy duty than I was thinking. Our crew have enough work to do turning the 3 shows around, and I doubt they would thank me for adding that to their list.

 

Chris - next time I have a gauze I will certainly think about your idea for stretching it, but I'm not convinced it would work for our screen.

 

What I really want to know is - do the Maxi Hold ons actaully work as well as they claim too?

[Tomo]

What I really want to know is - do the Maxi Hold ons actaully work as well as they claim too?

That, I can't tell you.

They do look nice though.

 

What I've usually done is some wooden clamps - two bits of wood with two bolts through one side, and a third bolt for the bungee.

Fabric between the wood, clamp up tight, pull to tension.

[Tom]

What I really want to know is - do the Maxi Hold ons actaully work as well as they claim too?

 

Yes - very good at doing what they say they do.

[groundplan]

Hold on are fantastic! If you're looking for a cheap and effective way for touring you can use cable ties through the hold on onto the tension wire. Pull just enough of the cable tie through to get a slight stretch and they glide nicely up and down your tensioning lines. We've used this technique for the last couple of shows, as its quick and easy, and did the same with a BP screen for panto.

[paulears]

I'm not so sure this is a good idea? Stage in blackout, twirlie does a leg out warm up and runs into the piece of cheese wire you have from floor to grid under tension - a bit of cable like this is a disaster waiting to happen. After all, people walk into braces, weights, ends of flats even when they are hard taped, Flu taped, even lit! A thin wire in the middle of open space? I can't think of any way this can be made safe. My main reason for saying this is that I did just this today on the fly floor where a temporary bit of 5mm is supporting something. This side of the flys is rarely used, but I was taking a shortcut and it damn hurt! (nice weal on my arm)

[andy_s]

What I've usually done is some wooden clamps - two bits of wood with two bolts through one side, and a third bolt for the bungee.

Fabric between the wood, clamp up tight, pull to tension.

 

 

a refinement to this is - across each of your bits of wood, nail or staple a short piece of jute sashcord, on one piece set it about an inch from the end, on the other, about an inch plus the thickness of the sash away from the end (so they overlap. Assemble your clamp as described, with the sash inside. this will grip the cyc cloth much better than the bare wood.

 

I wouldn't personally use these for a cyc that needs to fly though, too big and cumbersome. the hold-ons would do the job fine.

 

Dazz - I'd probably attempt your version without side stretchers anyway - you probably will get wrinkling near the edge, but if your cyc is wide enough, you might be able to bring some masking far enough on stage to hide this.....

 

Paul - the answer to your point is to ensure it's not in open space - create a barrier so theat people can't run into it accidently, a bit of hard masking flat judiciously placed might do it, or else (and yes, perhaps it's less foolproof) to trust that when the performers are guided around the stage before the tech. granted it sometimes goes in one ear and out another, but....if you've given them due warning what more can you do? Of course this approach would be less acceptable if the performers are inexperienced amateurs or students who might be less aware of the dangers of the stage environment, but a risk assesment could and should take into account the skill levels and experience of the people involved in the activity being assessed.

hope your arm gets better soon - I've got a scar or two from similar shortcuts.....