Booms taller than 21'?

[rochem]

For an upcoming show, the LD is interested in having a few booms that are 25-30' tall. We discussed the issue that pipe only comes in lengths up to 21', but before I flat out turn him down, I wanted to see if there was actually any way to get longer pipe. Can you special order pipe in longer lengths, or is there a method you've used in the past for joining two lengths of pipe to create one longer vertical position? This is still very early in the process, and using vertical sticks of truss or a boom/ladder/taildown combination are all on the table, but before we go down that road, I just wanted to see if there was any way to actually make this a traditional boom.

Any thoughts?

 

[techieman33]

Thread both ends of the pipe and use a coupler to join 2 sticks of pipe.

 

[CBR372]

unless you are tying off the top of the pipe to the grid or something, this sounds extremely sketchy...

 

[Footer]

You can sleeve pipe together all day long, use the same way battens are constructed. However, working with it will be nearly impossible, even if you go with sch. 80 pipe. Without busting out tables and such, there is too much flex in a piece of sch. 40 or 80 pipe for it to at all be useful over about 20' unless you have bracing. Even tied off your going to get some bending and its just not going to be that stable. Now, you could easily build a 30' truss tower.

 

[shiben]

I mean I suppose you could, but you could just fly the dang thing and be done with it, and not have to fight gravity to keep the thing straight.

 

[len]

Regardless whether this is mobile or stationary (i.e., going into multiple venues or staying at one venue), truss seems to make more sense. There are, however, ways to join pipe. Mega-Quick Pipe Splice from Rose Brand for example, or Mega-Quick Pipe Splice (same product, different color). I use a similar product made by Grand Stage in Chicago. I like it better, but it requires a hole be drilled in the side of each pipe. They don't have it on their website, but they are about $20 each.

 

[BDS0111]

Hi Michael,

How many instruments do you need to hang at that trim? I'd use a light ladder, much easier to work with. If you need to hang instruments from bottom to top and everywhere in between I'd go the dance tower or truss route... Hope this helps.

BRANDON

 

[Synchronize]

Threading load-bearing pipes together is a terrible idea. The coupler becomes a super weak point in the structure.

Welding here is your best friend, especially if you are going to keep these booms for later use. Aircraft cable from top of the boom up to the grid for sway control. Make sure there's tension on the cable before the booms are mounted to the floor or that cable does you no good. Also, with booms that tall, you'll probably want to think about force distribution, i.e. lots of weight on one side of the boom--it doesn't matter how it's mounted at that point, you're going to have problems. You can use cable to transfer force from the top of the boom to the opposite side and down to the bottom of the boom, close to where it's mounted to the deck.

 

[icewolf08]

For an upcoming show, the LD is interested in having a few booms that are 25-30' tall. We discussed the issue that pipe only comes in lengths up to 21', but before I flat out turn him down, I wanted to see if there was actually any way to get longer pipe. Can you special order pipe in longer lengths, or is there a method you've used in the past for joining two lengths of pipe to create one longer vertical position? This is still very early in the process, and using vertical sticks of truss or a boom/ladder/taildown combination are all on the table, but before we go down that road, I just wanted to see if there was any way to actually make this a traditional boom.

For a free-standing boom, it doesn't make much sense. Consider that typically you are trimming electrics between 25-30' (in most houses) so shy do you need a boom that tall. It is probably easier and safer to tail down 5' from the electric and then come up from the floor with a regular boom. If you need your booms to be farther off than the end of the batten, then I would hang ladders.

 

[gafftapegreenia]

Thread both ends of the pipe and use a coupler to join 2 sticks of pipe.

This is a big no no. Don't do it.

 

[rochem]

Thanks for all the feedback. Don't worry, I'm definitely not considering coupling two pipes together, and while those products that len linked to do look interesting, I'm not even sure how I feel about those. Have you used these on longer vertical positions before? While it technically won't be supporting weight, I'm worried about shear stress from the top pipe not being perfectly plumb to the bottom, and I'm concerned that the top pipe might not be rigid enough. This is for a pair of proscenium booms that are visible to the audience, which is why a single boom would be preferable to a boom/ladder combination or vertical truss. Ah well. Back to the drawing board.

Thanks!

 

[len]

Thanks for all the feedback. Don't worry, I'm definitely not considering coupling two pipes together, and while those products that len linked to do look interesting, I'm not even sure how I feel about those. Have you used these on longer vertical positions before?
Thanks!

Yes, the ones I use are better, but still similar. Mostly 8 + 4 or 10 + 4 on a boom. We've also joined 2 10' together, and made a batten that supported a 75# curtain. So yes, we've used them. 21' vertical, tho, is a lot higher and regardless if it's one piece of pipe or 10 pieces, I wouldn't do it, even if it were anchored to the wall in several places.

 

[z2oo]

I'm just curious how this was solved - anything to share, @rochem?