James Posted January 12, 2004 Share Posted January 12, 2004 After a brief discussion at the weekend where I was continualy apologising for the state of my barn doors, are there any other lanterns out there that have worse barn doors than the CCT minuettes? or Patt 833's?Any other candidates?? James Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Posted January 12, 2004 Share Posted January 12, 2004 I'd like to nominate the original Strand ones for the 223. Great design, rotatable, locks in the runners, something to slip a safety bond through. Great until the rivets holding the actual doors on start failing due to thermal cycling and then bits of sheet metal start falling from the sky. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gareth Posted January 12, 2004 Share Posted January 12, 2004 The Minuette doors are truly horrid - if the flange (what a great word!) at the back is even slightly out of shape it's the devil's own job to get them into the runners, and even if you succeed with that there's every possibility that they won't spin and you'll have to take them out, turn them, and re-insert them at the required angle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bryson Posted January 12, 2004 Share Posted January 12, 2004 I'm voting for Starlette F barndoors - the floppiest nastiest ones I've had the displease to handle. The best are, rather obviously, Juliats. They're lovely. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest lightnix Posted January 12, 2004 Share Posted January 12, 2004 I'd like to nominate the original Strand ones for the 223... rivets... failing due to thermal cycling... metal... falling from the sky.Oh come now, nothing lasts forever. What's to stop you from drilling them out and replacing them ? That's what I used to do. The Minuette Fresnel barndoor is, without doubt, the single worst-designed lantern accessory in the world of stage lighting (with the possible exception of Strand's cardboard gel holders. What makes it worse is that it has (AFAIK) never been improved or redesigned (along with most of the rest of the CCT range), since it's debut in the late 70s. This leads me to suspect that it was deliberately made as a "frequent fail" component, in order to boost the revenue stream. Gareth's point about the flange is very true. I have also seen a number of older Min b/ds, which have become oval in shape, due to being wrenched out / thumped into the poorly fitting runners. They are so flimsy that I even once bent one by sneezing while holding it. There is nowhere you can practically attach a safety. These things are dangerous in their current form and should be at least Risk Assessed out of use, if not banned altogether IMHO. Bearing in mind my own responsibilities under HASAWA, i.e. not do use kit I believe to be dangerous, I may well start refusing to use damaged Minuette barndoors in future. Anyone behind me on this final point ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Posted January 12, 2004 Share Posted January 12, 2004 I'd like to nominate the original Strand ones for the 223... rivets... failing due to thermal cycling... metal... falling from the sky.Oh come now, nothing lasts forever. What's to stop you from drilling them out and replacing them ? That's what I used to do. Exactly what I've had to do, mind you, the old rivets were very hard and broke an awful lot of small drill bits. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thirdtap Posted January 12, 2004 Share Posted January 12, 2004 I may well start refusing to use damaged Minuette barndoors in future. Anyone behind me on this final point ? This was a subject I nearly posted earlier this year. We have around 50 Minuette Fresnels as part of the hire stock and I am looking to attach captive safeties with lanterns and barndoors. I can't find anywhere reasonable to attach on a perfectly decent barndoor. Dear Jim is this a hazard? I think so but what do you do? On the simular subject worse gel frames?Pars? Bent sheet of metal that is sometimes too thick to go into the gel holders.What was it with Strand pars where they smaller than pars or bigger? I remember rigging a load of pars and having to bend almost all of the gel frames to fit the lanterns. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stu Posted January 12, 2004 Share Posted January 12, 2004 Yes I truly agree, Minuette Fresnels have awful barndoors. Don't like the lanterns much either, much prefer Strand Quartet Mk2s for 650w Fresnels Stu Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mars Posted January 12, 2004 Share Posted January 12, 2004 The climax of refractory is applying those cct-bd's in ye' olde lancelyn microspots... if it fits, it does not move and if it is usable, you'll need an enduring jammer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rowan Posted January 12, 2004 Share Posted January 12, 2004 I'd like to make a joint nomination.The worst barndoors I have ever come across are from some spotlight fresnels, ans the worst fresnels I have ever come across are the very same spotlight ones. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Light Console Posted January 12, 2004 Share Posted January 12, 2004 Although I vote for the Minuette barndoors, they offer a good side to me. I love the fact that you can bend the doors to make other spill shapes, creating interesting effects, and when you are done, chuck 'em on the floor and stamp on each leaf (or is that door) to get a straight edge again. Wish the guides were made stronger, but that is what gets on everybodys wick! Still at least they don't rotate around like my 123 ones do, when someone knocks into a stand!I hasten to add this is my own set, I do not go around bashing up other peoples! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andy_s Posted January 12, 2004 Share Posted January 12, 2004 I always thought that CCT had designed minuette barndoors as one-time use disposable items. Unfortunately, I never had the budget to use them in this way.... However, I did quite like the minuettes as sub 1k fresnels and pcs, as they are small and compact, and have a very wide spot:flood ratio which makes them good for close work, or venues with very low ceilings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robloxley Posted January 15, 2004 Share Posted January 15, 2004 If you discount the single-use birdie ones which you always end up trying to save and re-use, the worst are definitely the MinF ones - lots of time has been spent round here knocking them back into shape. As for a safety, rivet a long enough small safety wire to one of the doors and attach to the yoke. Also the Patt243 ones are bad where the rods each door bolts into and which rotate break at the bolt hole necessitating much tedious repair; that's if they've not fallen out of the bottom gel runner... Will second Juliat's as great, though I quite like Cantata and Prelude ones. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulears Posted January 17, 2004 Share Posted January 17, 2004 While Minuettes are pretty dreadful - I simply hate Quartet ones. the little screw if not quite in the right position stops them revolving, and they stiffen up to almost rock hard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gareth Posted January 17, 2004 Share Posted January 17, 2004 While Minuettes are pretty dreadful - I simply hate Quartet ones. the little screw if not quite in the right position stops them revolving, and they stiffen up to almost rock hard.There are two main problems with Cantata/Prelude/Quartet barndoors. The first one is the way the clinch nut, into which the securing screw goes, has a habit of working loose after a while, and just spinning when you try to undo the screw - so it's not uncommon to need both a screwdriver and a pair of pliers just to remove barndoors from a lantern. The second problem isn't so much with the banrdoors themselves, as with nurks who put them in upside-down with the securing screw on the top - thereby making it impossible to insert or remove a colour frame without removing the barndoors first. :blink: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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