Expert help needed on identifying this light

[Andy Watson]

Hi everyone. Posting here because I have completely drawn a blank and in urgent need to advice.

I have come across the light and I have never seen anything like it before (see pic). It came out of a London theatre and it is an Altman. More than that I do not know. I have even contacted the Altman company in NY and they don't have anyone who can identify it.
The scissor part of the light is 7 feet long when extended and 13 inches high. So the lamp part is about 2 feet long. I was wondering whether it was a custom build.
I collect old theatre lights and I have never seen one like this before. And I have been reading about asbestos in this era of light and now I am really concerned about buying it.
Can anyone help me out?

 

[jaightaylor]

Looks like a pantograph, like what's used in TV studios and such.

 

[Andy Watson]

Looks like a pantograph, like what's used in TV studios and such.

Ah! Yes, that makes sense. I was thinking in the horizontal not the vertical!

 

[BobHealey]

Looks like some sort of scissor lift accessory bolted to the yoke of a standard Altman N inch fresnel, where N is greater than or equal to 8. The lighting isn't great, but if it has plastic knobs on the yoke and its an altman, its probably post asbestos. The other side of the fixture would be definitive answer.

 

[rsmentele]

Pantograph attached to a Fresnel! Still available today!

https://www.manfrotto.us/top-system-43

 

[SteveB]

Probably an Altman 8" fresnel, with barndoor and pantograph.

The barndoor doesn't look like an Altman, doesn't have the typical 3" extension section, so maybe a Strand

The pantograph bolted onto the fixture yoke is common for TV studios.

 

[Van]

Yep, a pantograph attached to a 8" Altman Fresnel... Is that 8"? looks like an 8 or 10.
Any asbestos is going to be in the cord and internal wiring. Sometimes folks would repair things like the ceramic base with "Asbestos Cement" but that is typically pretty stable. the cords however and highly crumbly and should be dealt with as an Asbestos hazard. I don't see a cord stuck out the back and wound through the Pantograph though so there's probably not TOO much to deal with other than the internal wiring and any dust that may have accumulating.