DIY snow cradle

We did this a few years back. Used muslin, I couldn't tell you if it was medium or heavy. I think medium. Bought the hemp strip and grommet kit and went to town. Sewing the hemp in didn't take too long, but the grommets was tedious. After that, it's a bit of trial and error to figure out the hole sizes.
 
Does anyone have plans on how to make s DIY snow cradle? What materials do you use? How do you attach it? I have to make one in 2 days. It'll span the width of the stage, about 40'.

Thanks all!
@Jon Majors A few queries and comments:
- 1; Stage with a fly tower, grid, and counter-weighted pipes?
- 2; Depending upon what you've available: Could be an old asbestos or Zetex border; any old ripped / torn / damaged border.
- 3; Tie it on to one of two adjacent fly pipes (Battens).
- 4; Tie the bottom onto the next adjacent free pipe.
- 5; Lock both pipes at waist level AFF.
- 6; Cut vertical slits on the DS side.
- 7; Fill with high dollar / non static artificial snow OR
- 8; Economize and fill with white soap flakes.
- 9; If your budget is tight and labor gratis, sweep up the flakes between performances and reload for the next performance.
- 10; Watch CAREFULLY when you're sweeping & reloading, nobody wants to inadvertently be struck my a nail, screw, bolt, washer, bottle cap; you've got the picture.
- 11; DEFINITELY Use fabric for your snow bag / cradle, NOT plastic, static cling will be your enemy.
Seasons Best &
Toodleoo!
Ron Hebbard
 
@Jon Majors A few queries and comments:
- 1; Stage with a fly tower, grid, and counter-weighted pipes?
- 2; Depending upon what you've available: Could be an old asbestos or Zetex border; any old ripped / torn / damaged border.
- 3; Tie it on to one of two adjacent fly pipes (Battens).
- 4; Tie the bottom onto the next adjacent free pipe.
- 5; Lock both pipes at waist level AFF.
- 6; Cut vertical slits on the DS side.
- 7; Fill with high dollar / non static artificial snow OR
- 8; Economize and fill with white soap flakes.
- 9; If your budget is tight and labor gratis, sweep up the flakes between performances and reload for the next performance.
- 10; Watch CAREFULLY when you're sweeping & reloading, nobody wants to inadvertently be struck my a nail, screw, bolt, washer, bottle cap; you've got the picture.
- 11; DEFINITELY Use fabric for your snow bag / cradle, NOT plastic, static cling will be your enemy.
Seasons Best &
Toodleoo!
Ron Hebbard

6. US or DS works fine, just depends on what's in the way. Especially if it's an electric. The last thing you want it to dump piles of plastic snow onto hot lights. That stuff is no fun to scrape off. And at least with the plastic stuff I'm not sure slits would work at all. That stuff really likes to stick to itself in the cradle. And the holes will need to be bigger than you think. 3"-4" in diameter works well. And you may end up wanting to go even bigger. It's easy to just have the fly operator slow down if you want less snow. But if the holes are to small then the operator could kill themselves running it as hard and fast as they can and it still won't be enough.
 
I was surprised how big the holes ended up needing to be. We were very tentative in cutting them since there's not a simple "undo" button there. But we did three rows of holes spaced maybe a foot left to right and then each row was staggered about 4". Hole diameter is about 1-2"

We also don't reuse the snow. Way too much stage detritus gets swept up in it. But the fallen stuff on the scenery really does a nice job of "sticking" where it would in real life.
 
I was surprised how big the holes ended up needing to be. We were very tentative in cutting them since there's not a simple "undo" button there. But we did three rows of holes spaced maybe a foot left to right and then each row was staggered about 4". Hole diameter is about 1-2"

We also don't reuse the snow. Way too much stage detritus gets swept up in it. But the fallen stuff on the scenery really does a nice job of "sticking" where it would in real life.
@Jon Majors As @StradivariusBone points out: You can always cut more holes &/or ENLARGE them, removing / reducing's not as easily accomplished.
Toodleoo!
Ron Hebbard
 
- 8; Economize and fill with white soap flakes.
I hate to disagree but if this is for Nutcracker or any other dance show I would highly suggest this is a bad idea. As with the snow machines that use fluids that are related to soap, dancers and slippery surfaces don't play well together.
 
We did Nutcracker for a group a couple years in a row with snow machines. Only could do the end of each act because of the mess. The fake flakes aren't bad, but still can be a slip hazard.
 
Did a Nutcracker for a few years that used probably a 2" to 3" PVC pipe where half was cut off all but a few inches at the ends and the opening was then covered with the orange safety fencing. A rope loop cradled the pipe and a pulley, and the pulley was then tied to the batten. Some more rope was attached to the ends (both ends notably) and was operated in (attempted) unison by two operators, one on each side of the stage. A pain to reload though because you had to run the snow over the orange fencing which acted like a cheese grater. All in all, not the worst system.
 
I always liked snow machines instead of cradles. I built several over the years. Basically an 18” - 24” diameter tube built of 1/2” mesh hardware cloth, which is actually a square mesh wire screen. Built in 10” lengths IIRC that could be fastened together to make a long run. I seem to recall the last one was about 30’ assembled. The original one was turned by simply wrapping a rope around the end and forming an endless loop kind of like a CW purchase line. Later we added a small motor to allow it to turn smoothly for long scenes in Christmas Carol. It was built with ply wood discs to make the shape and had one section along the length that hinged open to fill with snow. The advantage over a cradle is that the snow could be controlled smoother especially for long scenes.
 

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