Thomas1987 Posted July 2, 2012 Share Posted July 2, 2012 Hi all, A phrase came up a while ago I've not heard of- talking about rolling risers etc, and someone mentioned "skids", as in, are you using some? Any clarification? Just not a term I've come across before! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sleah Posted July 3, 2012 Share Posted July 3, 2012 We used to refer to skids as wooden battens attached to the bottom of a flight case to bring the case just off floor level, for example so the metal corners don't scratch the floor, can also help prevent wobble and also help when stacking cases, especially if they don't have nice interlocking corners. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete McCrea Posted July 3, 2012 Share Posted July 3, 2012 I've heard the term used for small rolling decks - nothing more than a 2'x4' on a set of locking castors, which were used for Guitar cabs. Quite useful as they didn't take up masses of space, but enabled rapid turn arounds. The ones on that particular job had 16A in, 2 x 13A and 16A out, making it dead simple to get power to the cab once on stage. Can't say I'd have called them that if it was my choice (I'd probably call them a skate..) as Sleah is probably closer to my understanding of the term skid, but when that's how the rest of the crew are referring to them, its best to fall into line... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kerry davies Posted July 3, 2012 Share Posted July 3, 2012 Heard it once used by old theatre hand and surmise that it refers to the actual brakes on rolling decks. A skid can be a shoe type brake so might have been perverted to any form of brake on rolling risers etc. To "Put the skids on" something is to stop it in it's tracks, break it or brake it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Junior8 Posted July 3, 2012 Share Posted July 3, 2012 I'm pretty certain the term started in the days of portable steam engines and the like where they were sometimes mounted on 'skids' which were long wooden battens shaped along the lines of skis but a goodeal [sic] thicker, occasionally soled with - or made entirely of - iron or steel too. This allowed some movement by brute force but also gave a firmer footing than wheels. The largest I have seen on 'skids' is a several horsepower Tangye Gas Engine weighting some two or three tons. In heavy haulage back then it was quite common to move large loads round awkward corners on stone setts by 'skidding' them on metal plates under winch power. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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