Moving Roof

[lxkev]

In dec I’m lighting fiddler on the roof, I am also the tec manager.

 

I’m also building part of the set:-s The 8 ft by 8ft roof will be made out of a wooden frame/plastic roof type tiles and cloth. Which pivots about 1 foot from the top. I was going to simply use rope to lift it, but the stage crew are useless. So I want to automate it. Any suggestion on how I can do this for less then £30-£50 and it must be quite.

 

Cheers

[Bryson]

I'd suggest: Put your £50 towards better stagecrew. I don't think that kind of money will get you any kind of automation.

 

Plus, better stagecrew are more useful for all sorts of things.

[lxkev]

Cant get better crew :unsure: These ppl have done it for years and for free ;) so cant get better crew.

 

How much do you think I would be looking at 2 achieve it?

[ChrisD]

You're not going to get a quiet and inexpensive solution without man power. What about using pullies? You have to move a lot more rope, but it requires less force. There must be some people able to lift. Using pullies will also smooth the movement because one "tug" on the rope (say 1 metre at the pulling end) will translate to 20 cm or so of movement at the other, thus the whole affair will look somewhat smoother.

 

Unfortunately I know nothing about the legalities of hoisting stuff in this fasion, my knowledge of pulleys comes from physics lessons and sailing, so don't take my word for gospel.

[Jivemaster]

Can you fit gas jacks into your design? The things that help with car tailgates, all the design data is in the RS BOOK and there are thousands of jacks in the nearest car breakers.

 

Alternatively, study all the available pivot positions and look at making the structure staticaly and dynamically balanced in the up and down positions and easy and smooth in the transition from one to the other