Hello all -
Thanks for the advice. What I'm now thinking of doing is adding a
line of large, heavy-duty grommets (1/2" diameter openings 18" on center?) along the bottom couple inches of pipe sleeve, and running lines from the grommets up to the same pipe the cycle is hanging from. I'd pull the lines up so the bottom of the fabric forms a trough,
lay a full-length 1/2" pipe in the trough, and adjust the lines so the now weighted bottom just reaches the
deck. There is a
masking drop just behind the cycle, so no one will get caught up in the new lines. And no sewing.
@Stuart R Sounds like a plan
BUT don't let the
cyc' touch the
deck as it will rub itself to death and wear holes in it as well as get terribly dirty. Keep the
cyc approximately 1/4" above the
deck where it will hang taught and vertical. If you're concerned about cross-over lighting leaking out under the
cyc,
lay almost any cloth on the floor behind the
cyc to seal the visible gap. You could use anything from old blacks to old clothes to old rugs, just about anything to prevent light leaks.
DEFINITELY keep the
cyc' above the
deck, it'll stay tighter / taughter that way and its effective length may vary slightly with the weather as it absorbs moisture and dries out from day to day. 1/2" threaded schedule 40
iron pipe will be your friend and is sold by plumbing wholesalers in random lengths between approximately 20 and 21 feet but be sure to clean the oil off it and add one or two coats of paint to minimize rusting. Alternately, Home Depot and electrical wholesalers will
stock galvanized threaded rigid
conduit which is normally sold with one coupling included per 10' length. 1/2" should do the job for you or 3/4" if you've got the budget and feel you want the extra weight. You might
purchase one extra coupling to protect the threads on the remaining end. Be sure to keep your pipes straight, don't buy any bent pipes. 3/4" will be somewhat more resistant to getting bent. You may want to tie attention-getting red cloth flags to the two ends where they exit from the
cyc in a vain attempt to keep people from
tripping over them then moving and damaging your
cyc'. Resist the urge to cut the pipe to exactly the correct length as you'll want to stretch the
cyc' tight across the lower
edge and you'll need some amount of surplus pipe to secure the
cyc'. Resist the urge to tape the
cyc' at the ends of the
bottom pipe for two reasons:
a; Tape will NEVER stand the strain, and
b; its adhesive will stick to your spiffy new
cyc' and attract dust and debris like a magnet. At the ends, tightly wrapped and secured tie lines work well and can periodically be loosened, re-stretched and re-used. Tie
line MAY be braided round
cord or
flat cotton
twill-tape.
Cord Vs. twill is a whole other argument.
Toodleoo!
Ron Hebbard.