Swing For Into The Woods

So I've seen a swing discussion on here before so I am going to start with the disclaimer that this is NOT a flown swing that will come in and out and need to swing while at some sort of height off the stage.

Yes, I do want to rig a swing, but just in name only. It's for an actor to sit on, not legitimately swing from.

For authenticity though, I do want this "swing" rigged.

Our battens are dead hung, so I don't have a way to get to the bar joists.

All hardware and rigging I would make sure is rated for 1000lbs knowing we wouldnt be putting more than 200lbs on the swing. Our battens are load rated at 1000lbs with a point of a 100lbs. What I wanted to do for this is create an H with unistrut. All rated hardware to attach the strut together. The H would be rigged from 4 points on the legs of the H to the battens. The points would 1 and 1/2 wrap the battens directly next to the attachment points of the batten trim chain to the bar joists and then shackle back to itself. That would run down and attach to the two legs of the H at four points. Then I'd use 1/4" galv aircraft cable and attach that cable to the middle section of the H. This cable would run down to the deck and actually attach to the swing seat.

I hope that makes sense? I know what type of hardware to use (itll be ordred from Crosby or Chicago) and the types of attachments i need to make to do it safely but as I've never custom designed any thing rigged before, I wanted to make sure my design makes sense.

Edit: To add, I'm attaching the 1/4 wire rope to the strut as follows: rated strut eye bolt to shackle, shackle to wire rope looped in a thimble, 3 nicopress swages.
 
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I think the lack of replies to this thread means the general consensus on CB is that if you rig something, you should know that your plan will work. If you have questions about it, rather than asking the internet, you should ask a pro. Given that you've said you've never rigged before, this isn't a system you want to design yourself. Let someone else take the liability...
 
I think the lack of replies to this thread means the general consensus on CB is that if you rig something, you should know that your plan will work. If you have questions about it, rather than asking the internet, you should ask a pro. Given that you've said you've never rigged before, this isn't a system you want to design yourself. Let someone else take the liability...
As I said above, I know how to rig it and make it safe. But I've only rigged other peoples designs. We all had to come up with our first design at some point. A reputable pro has already approved the rigging. I was more interested in knowing if any one had done some thing similar before. Or if any had done anything differently that they found worked for them. If I wasn't confident that I could rig something safely I wouldn't do it. But as I said also, I've also only rigged other people designs, not created my own.

Edit: To add, it would also be irresponsible of me to come up with my first custom design and not get a second opinion to make sure that my creative process makes sense in the name of safety. I would hope that, as simple as this design is, my desire to seek a second opinion before actually hanging anything would indicate that I don't do anything without safety being the first thought.
 
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I would hope that, as simple as this design is, my desire to seek a second opinion before actually hanging anything would indicate that I don't do anything without safety being the first thought.

Unfortunately you face three problems here:
1) How do you know if a person giving you a second opinion here is a rigger for Cirque or a 12 year old?
2) Every pro rigger I know would consider it irresponsible to give an opinion without seeing your theater and plans in person and knowing from first hand experience what your skills are.
3) Then there are a lot of people like me here who know enough to say, "I'm not expert enough to express an opinion you can count on".

So, I'm sorry. We can give you good information on what not to do and ideas on how to fake flying without flying. But the chances of a real rigger giving out advice even on something as simple as what you describe is very unlikely.
 
If there is actually any swinging done, don't forget that you will be increasing the forces which are not present in your static load.
 
I think what I'm doing is being over thought by the group...

I'm not flying any one and no one is swinging. It's a dead hung swing, Actually two swings.
3 feet off the ground. That two people will sit on and converse. I was looking for feedback on the authenticity of the swing. More or less from the working shackles down.

The rigging is the rigging. It's not changing. It's been designed and approved by a rigger from one of the top Staging companies on the east coast. I'm looking for things that I can control in the aesthetic. IE does chain look better than wire rope. On the butt board, does a bridle look better than an in-line eye bolt and shackle. There some parts that can be fluid and change for a better look but the rigging, attachments, and strut structure are already designed and set in stone to make it as safe as possible.


I genuinely do appreciate the feedback though and its nice to see there are many who do have safety first always.
 
I'm looking for things that I can control in the aesthetic. IE does chain look better than wire rope. On the butt board, does a bridle look better than an in-line eye bolt and shackle

From a purely aesthetic point of view, I have no problem putting in an opinion. I would say that wire rope would look better (especially if you can somehow coat it to look like rope). It is possible to get rope with a wire rope core. I would also say that the bridle would be better for the butt board as it would also give it a bit more stability as they are sitting on it.
 
The rigging is the rigging. It's not changing. It's been designed and approved by a rigger from one of the top Staging companies on the east coast. I'm looking for things that I can control in the aesthetic. IE does chain look better than wire rope. On the butt board, does a bridle look better than an in-line eye bolt and shackle. There some parts that can be fluid and change for a better look but the rigging, attachments, and strut structure are already designed and set in stone to make it as safe as possible.


I genuinely do appreciate the feedback though and its nice to see there are many who do have safety first always.

Glad to see that you were able to get your question to an answerable form :)

Aesthetically speaking, if you're in the woods I would lean towards whatever looks most like Rope, but I wouldn't be turned off by chain either. Anything that doesn't look like metal wires would work for me.

Keep in mind that even if it wasn't designed to actually swing for the show, your actors will likely swing on it......:wall:
 
Keep in mind that even if it wasn't designed to actually swing for the show, your actors will likely swing on it......:wall:

And when they do you are going to have battens slamming against each other doing damage to your lighting gear and possibly causing things to fall. So Get WAY out in front of that problem as early as possible with the cast and be sure you triple check the status of safety cables, tightness of fixtures, and rigging of the battens themselves.

Just imagine what could happen with one full power swing 8 feet in the air by a large student... That's a LOT of force!
 

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