dwh Posted December 30, 2006 Share Posted December 30, 2006 Accidentally remove the power when focusing? I mean, I can see straining the cable a bit, but a 15a plug is not an easy thing to accidentally slip out of a socket, from my experience! But then again, in America... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GridGirl Posted December 30, 2006 Share Posted December 30, 2006 I like the American style clamps- in my experience there are some people who can strip the thread off of a plastic tri-nut from a hook clamp.Plastic? Who said anything about plastic?The only plastic on a theatrical hookclamp is inside the nylock nut - and you don't undo that when rigging.The machine screw to hold the hook steady should be a turned steel wingbolt. Ah yes, but here Down Under we don't have the turned steel wingbolts - we have bolts with a three-cornered plastic handle, like thishttp://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e26/kiwitechgirl/clamp.jpginstead. Easier to do up tight without a tool and much easier on your hands. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tomo Posted December 30, 2006 Share Posted December 30, 2006 Accidentally remove the power when focusing? I mean, I can see straining the cable a bit, but a 15a plug is not an easy thing to accidentally slip out of a socket, from my experience! But then again, in America...They use Stagepin, which is not very secure at all... I dislike Stagepin even more then Edison U-Ground - it's entirely possible to plug the live pin into a free socket without any other pins - thus creating an exposed live neutral pin.It's only 110VAC, so it's fun! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomLyall Posted December 30, 2006 Share Posted December 30, 2006 Ah yes, but here Down Under we don't have the turned steel wingbolts - we have bolts with a three-cornered plastic handle, like thishttp://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e26/kiwitechgirl/clamp.jpginstead. Easier to do up tight without a tool and much easier on your hands. Eugh! Plastic :) You shouldn't really ever be using a tool to tighten a wingbolt on a hookclamp, you'll only end up doing damage to the bar that it's rigged on or the clamp. Hookclamps arn't that difficult to start to bend open, then they really start to loose their strength. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick S Posted January 1, 2007 Share Posted January 1, 2007 The one potential advantage I've worked out it that pipe in the States isn't uniform in width by any stretch, and I guess C-clamps give you a wider range to work with before you need to swap the clamp over... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robloxley Posted January 6, 2007 Share Posted January 6, 2007 The one potential advantage I've worked out it that pipe in the States isn't uniform in width by any stretch, and I guess C-clamps give you a wider range to work with before you need to swap the clamp over...AFAIK that's the main historical reason for using them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shez Posted November 13, 2007 Share Posted November 13, 2007 Sorry for digging up an ancient topic... I was crewing on the out for a fairly large scale touring show the other day and found that all the lighting (movers too) were rigged with C clamps. I was told that White Light have moved all of their touring stock over to them... I can see how bar uniformity might be an issue when touring but that's the only up side I could think of. Downsides:Need an AJ/other tool to tighten / loosen (all square headed bolts)Increased risk of bar damage due to over zealous tighteningOnce it's loose, a breath of wind could knock the lantern off the bar (dealing with movers was particularly precarious)Aforementioned weakness at the 90 degree angleDon't think I'll be a convert any time soon ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnhuson Posted November 14, 2007 Share Posted November 14, 2007 We've transfered all but our most lightweight fixtures over to Doughty Trigger Clamps. It's a decision we've never regretted, and a decision made purely based on the feeling that it's a better product than a standard hook clamp in a number of areas. The only disadvantage we've come across is that the large wing nut locking clamp can occasionally be restrictive when rigging on truss, this product however combats that problem and we use these exclusively on our moving light stock. This also looks like an interesting replacement to the hook clamp, though I have no first hand experience of them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikienorth Posted November 14, 2007 Share Posted November 14, 2007 Sorry for digging up an ancient topic... I was crewing on the out for a fairly large scale touring show the other day and found that all the lighting (movers too) were rigged with C clamps. I was told that White Light have moved all of their touring stock over to them... I think you get what you ask for. Other companies also provide Altman clamps, and booms, which in some ways I like (booms, not the clamp on a light), but then on other jobs they disappear.... One WL event I did in September had hook clamps on kit we got in, one I local crewed for last week had Altmans on their loose lamps. One thing people say about them is that you can lock them off really well, which if you read here means you can lead into stress fractures. I don't doubt this, but in all the tours I've seen with these I've not seen a damaged one. Hook clamps however, how many have each of us seen bent??? Still prefer them though. Forget top-rigging, forget side-hanging. Get a doughty arm out. Simple, and safer, IMHO. Half couplers aren't that hard to use, you can secure them two handed, then tighten them up. Anyway, after all this, and reading the topic, Are we having our bits of shaped metal banned, or is it marketing or hearsay?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
son of lx dad Posted November 14, 2007 Share Posted November 14, 2007 WL have not moved their 'entire touring stock' to the American C Clamp in any way. The tour production electrician will have requested them. I am yet to see them on anything as standard, except for Studio Colors, within White Light's stock. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shez Posted November 15, 2007 Share Posted November 15, 2007 The tour production electrician will have requested them. Somebody perhaps requested them. The touring production LX wasn't a fan of them... Good to know that they're not standardised and I shouldn't have to deal with them too often. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greenalien Posted November 16, 2007 Share Posted November 16, 2007 Bought a few of these Showtec half coupler from CPC last week, was surprised that the clamp bolts with wingnuts are much smaller than the bolts used to suspend the lantern. They're nominally rated at 100kg but seem much flimsier than my Doughty items. OK, so you get what you pay for but in this case I'm wondering if someone specified 'M8' and they were manufactured as 'M6'... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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