Gel alternative for fresnels?

[gafftapegreenia]

An old trick was to get a sewing supply tracing wheel and make a pattern of small pin holes in the gel. Might change the color ever so slightly, but it never bothered me. Gel did last longer as some heat/light passed through the holes.
Precisew Pattern Tracer in Patternmaking Supplies: Sewing Supplies & Alteration Supplies by Sew True.com

Ah I totally forgot about a pounce wheel! A good all metal pounce wheel seems to be hard to get in stores these days.

For those with the budget, there is the Apollo Gelmiser

A wish I could find a good online vender for traditional glass filters, I wonder how their pricing compares to dichroic. I would think they'd cost less, but then again, maybe not.

 

[shiben]

The quote we got a few months ago, was about ~$72 each.

For a single instrument or a sheet? Either way, thats more than 10 times the amount of a sheet of normal gel, and if its per instrument, then one has to wonder is getting a dichroic that will last a long time worth gel for a year for those same instruments? Possibly (in fact, in a shop that requires minimum calls or has expensive labor, it might indeed), but if you are a school where labor is free, thats a pretty large upfront cost. Obviously the OP has that CBA to do, but it is a large expense with some large potential savings too.

 

[derekleffew]

An old trick was to get a sewing supply tracing wheel and make a pattern of small pin holes in the gel. ...

The jury's still out on the pounce wheel. See the thread http://www.controlbooth.com/forums/lighting-electrics/11753-stop-blowing-holes-my-gels.html .

Another alternative not yet mentioned is products from Welcome to Special FX® Lighting .

 

[HullPro]

The quote we got a few months ago, was about ~$72 each.

We called Full Compass and the quote for glass was also in the $70 range. We are really only talking about 8 to 10 fixtures, so this is probably the way we will go.

 

[chausman]

For a single instrument or a sheet? Either way, thats more than 10 times the amount of a sheet of normal gel, and if its per instrument, then one has to wonder is getting a dichroic that will last a long time worth gel for a year for those same instruments? Possibly (in fact, in a shop that requires minimum calls or has expensive labor, it might indeed), but if you are a school where labor is free, thats a pretty large upfront cost. Obviously the OP has that CBA to do, but it is a large expense with some large potential savings too.

We were looking at getting some roundels. This was the local shops response.

That will cost you... They are 73.00 each for dichroic glass. You can get regular glass roundels that are 5 5/8" for 18.25.

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[mstaylor]

An old trick was to get a sewing supply tracing wheel and make a pattern of small pin holes in the gel. Might change the color ever so slightly, but it never bothered me. Gel did last longer as some heat/light passed through the holes.
Precisew Pattern Tracer in Patternmaking Supplies: Sewing Supplies & Alteration Supplies by Sew True.com

We used to punch all our gels. Now whenever I suggest it people look at me like I lost my mind. All I know is I would run shows for months at a time without gel burnout. The dark saturated ones would go first but they still lasted quite a while, and I was using 65qs.