Guys & Dolls sign

[KindredHyperion]

I'm sure this one must have been covered before but I haven't found anything so here goes.

 

Has anyone ever made something like this for real?

 

http://hpbimg.mcgannbrothers.org.uk/guysanddollsicon2.jpg

 

Any tips on how to do it/what lamps to use? Obviously that number of 60W household lamps would be blinding on full power but I'm not sure if wiring them in series or something would make them too dim and so change the colour what with them being filaments etc.

 

Pics would be amazing if anyone has any as well.

 

Thanks!

 

 

A

[gareth]

How to do it? Bog-standard GLS lampholders mounted into the wooden letter frameworks, and lots of tedious wiring! What lamps? 25w golfballs would be my choice - or perhaps 40w if you wanted it to have a bit of 'oomph'. Don't worry about it being too bright - that's what dimmers are for.

 

Edit to add : obviously, with a large quantity of GLS lamps, especially if you use higher-wattage ones, you need to make sure you do your load calculations - for example, the sign as in your picture has something like 110 lamps in it - 110 x 25w = 2750w, which is more than a 'standard' 10A dimmer can handle. Becomes even more of an issue if you increase the lamp wattage. Kinda obvious, but if you're asking about how to make a sign like that then, with all due respect, I'm guessing electrical experience isn't exactly comprehensive, so it's worth pointing out.

[LXbydesign]

Just as Gareth said - or I used GU10's for similar Grease sign which also worked as a blinder!!

 

If you go down Gareths route, you could wire them up with 4 or even 6 circuits , terminate it all in a nice neat socca socket and then you got a nice light box which you can chase!!

[Just Some Bloke]

As above. 25w golfballs would be my choice. 25w doesn't sound very much but when you've got 100 of them it'll be pretty darn bright!

 

The easy way to wire them would be to do each word as a circuit. The snazzy, but hugely time consuming, way to do it would be to wire every third lamp as a circuit. That would give you a very nice chase indeed, but the time spent overlapping all that cable could be prohibitive.

 

The first thing to do is to design the look of it on a PC (or back of a fag packet, depending on if you're under 30 or over 40), then make the board to the right size, then mark out the holes and start drilling. Finally start the wiring. Having PAT tested it all you can put the lamps in and try it. Good luck.

[the kid]

IIR When I did it a few years ago we used festoon, saves on wiring etc,

 

But the number you need depends on your letter size, style, etc.

 

Loosing 1 or 2 lamps per letter in that wouldn't have that much of a adverse effect.

 

If you are looking seriously an easier way to do it would be a board with the lights on evenly spread and stencil the holes then frost them up with something pretty thick. I don't have a picture here but I did it for a show really well with fairy lights. If you follow the above method it is a VERY good idea to tin foil the inside to act as a reflector.

 

 

Also don't forget if you are making it, how much are the lamps + holders + cables for a 110 lamp effect.

[Bruff]

We made something similar a few (well, lots of) years ago for a play called "Counting The Ways" in the Olivier.

We used insulation-displacing Beeantee lampholders:

 

http://www.cefonline.co.uk/catalogue/section/11653

 

These make wiring easy and neat, and enable closer spacing than battenholders.

 

The ones shown are ES, but we used BC. These were inserted through holes in a plywood flat, and screwed into the flat from the rear.

 

Golfball lamps are best. 25Watts is likely to be more than enough - you're looking directly at the source.

 

Some tips, some of which echo what has already been mentioned:

 

Draw it to scale carefully before starting, and allow some space between bubbles. (You may find a ready-made font somewhere...)

Leave enough slack cable between holders to allow for lampholder replacement

Use the correct cable for the lampholders (stranded no earth), and observe it's rating-this is likely to be somewhat less than the circuit/s you're feeding it from.

Try and get another department to drill the holes for you!

[The Gaffa]

An alternative to save on time and money ....try a video projection of the sign.

 

We did that for G&D at Richmond 4 years ago.

[Andrew C]

Or if there is some flexibility in the design, you could try the outdoor style xmas lights. Can't think what the lamps are, but about 40mm long, in a sort of oval shape. Any holders you don't nee can be hidden behind the letter cut-out.

 

From experience, it works.

[gherriott]

Having made two very similar signs in as many months, the first thing I want to say is, make sure you have a LOT of time planned out to wire it up. I was not involved in the construction of the sign letters, just the lampholder and lamp sourcing and wiring. In the picture below there are just over 100, 40W frosted golf balls. It is wired in two circuits, one word on each circuit. A few things to consider: a)How many circuits do you want, b)Are you going to wire each string of lamps in series or parallel (this is a rather important decision), and c)what affect are you wanting, as the difference between frosted and clear golf ball lamps is quite noticable and gives a very different effect.

 

The lamp holders used here are standard pendant holders that you would normally see hanging from the ceiling in your house. These were then surface mounted onto the wood using two very small screws. A pilot hole was then drilled to feed the cable through the back. On the other sign I did we used a slightly different model of the pendand holder, and actually sunk them into the wood leaving the front of the holder flush with the surface of the wood. This gave a different effect and was much easier to wire, however this is all upto the designer's discretion.

 

One tip...test THOROUGHLY BEFORE hanging it in the grid, as it is a nightmare if something goes wrong!

 

Another thing is, make sure you do all your calculations first, ie how many lamps you want to have per letter, how far apart they will be (too close and they can blow due to overheating I presume, just something I noticed in a trial and error run), how much power they will all pull and so on. You will soon find it can get quite pricey as you reach 100 lamps and lampholders!

 

Well I hope this helps slightly, don't hesitate to ask some more specific questions if you need, and if you would like some more pictures of the process used to make the sign below, just PM me your email.

 

Greg

 

It appears I cannot add an image....so just PM with your email address and I shall send them over to you.

[smalljoshua]

To insert an image you need to host it on photobucket or similar before posting it here.

 

Once you have done this you need to insert the Image into a post like this.

 

[img=http://www.imgurl.com/pic.jpg]

 

Josh

[gherriott]

Thanks SmallJoshua.

 

Here are the photos: -

 

http://www.glhlighting.com/P121108_12.13%5B01%5D.JPG

http://www.glhlighting.com/P121108_14.55.JPG

[GridGirl]

I'd be inclined to use festoons - time consuming and a PITA to make up, but relatively easy to deal with. It would also be the easiest way, IMHO, to get multiple circuits so that you can chase them - mark out the sign, measure the distances between bulbs and make up festoon strings with the correct gaps between lampholders - plus a bit for error!! We did The Producers last year and had six "marquee" signs on the set, which were done just as I have described with festoons (the actual sign wording was done with gobos, but the outline of the signs was festoon). We used 15w pygmy bulbs, which were plenty bright enough - but our space isn't huge so 25w golfballs may be better suited to you. The one thing I would say, as the person who got landed with the job of making a lot of the festoon strings up, is that a multimeter is your friend - checking the continuity on each lampholder as I put it on the cable saved me a LOT of time later on! The end result worked really well....

 

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e26/kiwitechgirl/Producers/F1030022.jpg

[dmxtothemax]

Obviously that number of 60W household lamps would be blinding on full power

You would not have to use 60w,40w or even 25w lamps

Lamps as low 7w & 5w are available for these types of signs, they are also used on carnival rides.

But yes it looks impresive, and I have thought about doing it, untill I realised how much wiring would be involved.

 

A concurrent post has been automatically merged from this point on.

 

http://www.glhlighting.com/P121108_12.13%5B01%5D.JPG

 

The wiring looks a little light, are you sure they are not christmas tree type lights?

[gherriott]

Nope, they are 40W golfball lamps with pendant lampholders. The cable was stripped from two-core 13A mains cable.

[Oovis]

It would have been better not to have stripped the cores out of the flex, from an electrical safety point-of-view as you've only one layer of insulation and no mechanical protection for the cores.