That Chicago sign looks like it was a straight PITA to
build then put lights on. High five to the person that had to
wire that all up.
In the early 90's, the carps and
props pixies in Hamilton's
Theatre Aquarius were creating similar signs by cutting them from plywood, or their material of choice, then the designers would plan their
layout and
mark their lamp centres with a
Sharpy. Now that they've chosen, and indelibly indicated, their preferred locations, I'd come along with a pilot drill followed by a core
bit and carefully bore a precisely chosen hole size through their material.
Think back to the sockets designed, rated and approved for simply twisting and locking onto something in the area of 10
gauge stranded TW90 then being festooned around used car lots of the era. The sockets were
not inexpensive but they were definitely adequately rated and approved for exterior use (Including birds and squirrels stopping by to visit and / or get warm in the winter). I managed to source these sockets in both medium screw and (eventually) candelabra bases. They were
n't cheap but they were durable,
quick to
wire, readily re-useable and they were BLACK (like all good things in
theatre ought to be) In the vast majority of cases, the 10
gauge wire was overkill ratings wise but it was the
gauge the sockets were designed to work with so far as making their own reliable connections by simply 'self piercing' the
insulation upon twisting them closed. Granted, it often took a little finessing of the mounting holes with a wood
rasp to carefully
chamfer the edges while still maintaining centreing accuracy but the savings in mounting and wiring time were HUGE and they were already black with VERY little of them remaining exposed on the sign's front side. I found there was zero requirement for gluing or similar to secure the sockets in place; the combination of their physical fit in the holes combined with the weight and rigidity of the black 10
gauge STRANDED wiring on the back, held things in place and accommodated any finessing & tweaking to keep globes and filaments aligned to everyone's satisfaction. Occasionally signage was affixed to a set piece but most often they were supported from overhead fly pipes whether they needed to fly within the production or hang static
in situ. Most productions rehearsed in rehearsal rooms sans signage with the signs being added when the set moved into the
theatre. Typically they'd be in use for three to four weeks with the sockets often remaining in place until they were required elsewhere when they could be quickly removed and set aside by practically anyone with functional hands.
I'm
NOT suggesting this is fully code compliant or how the manufacturers intended the sockets to be used.
I can tell you it worked for
Theatre Aquarius while I was with them and
(as far as I'm concerned) that's how you
wire those sorts of signs. [No stripping, soldering, crimping or wire-nutting] "Easy peezy" in our vernacular of the day.
Toodleoo!
Ron Hebbard.