That makes you even MORE AWESOME Alex! or wait... maybe he was thanking you for not posting?
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Giant arches
- Thread startercvanp
- Start date
I would lean toward Luan personally. The large sheets of foam are kind of obnoxious to deal with and you may have problems with those edges getting bumped and breaking off. The Luan doesn't weigh much more and costs about the same. If you have a normal counterweight system, the Luan won't be a problem for you to lift. Another interesting option would be Coroplast in 4'x8' sheets. It would be lighter than Luan, and more durable than foam. Price depends on how much you buy and shipping rates but it's somewhere in the $20 per sheet range.
In this day and age the use of Lauan is ethically questionable.
http://www.rainforestrelief.org/Campaigns/Safe_Sets_.html
Spoiling all my fun Phil... fine. I've actually recently switched to a pressed composite material made from recycled plastic bottles and freshly clubbed baby fur seal joined by a CFC and wale blubber based glue.
The sad thing is that the alternatives are not the best yet. Most of the items on that list are either heavy or won't hold a screw safely. So the best option is to find a source of wood that isn't tropical. I actually typically use a "luan" that comes from Canada which is easy for me to get due to my location. It's slightly thicker than true "luan" and I like it's feel better than luan in most situations. I also use a lot of hard board when I can. It's a little messy to cut, but it's cheaper than luan and works just fine in the right situation.
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There are two sides to this ugly little coin. One is that, yes, the harvesting of Luan Mahogany is a horrible impact on the environment. It aids in the destruction of Orangutan Habitat, and contributes to the watershed destruction of indigenous peoples of Malaysia. The second is that the Theatre industry has an extremely limited consumption of this resource.
Now I hate to be the one to say, "Yes it's bad, but I'm not the worst offender." but it's true. I try my very best to recycle, reuse, and reduce my use of Luan as much as possible. The production of the 1/8 and 1/4 " Luan plywood that we typically use in theatrical construction is a by-product industry. What we are using used to be thrown away as trash and just burned while lumber mills were trying to get to the center of Luan Mahogany trees, or whole areas of rain forrest full of Luan mahogany would be cut and burned so they could reach an area populated by older, hardier, more expensive species. This discussion is, however, a good one.
My current MC/SF did his Masters work < he's really a director/actor/technician/movement coach/fight choreographer...... we call him a Dictition ( actor/Director/ technician) > on ways of improving the theatres use of materials, championing the shrinking of sets so as to reduce resources used in the production of our art. He's actually getting ready to go back for his Doctorate pursuing a course of Environmentally responsible Production of Theatre, and I can wait to read his thesis. There are many ways we can help fight the destruction and pollution of our environment but you'd be in for a long discussion trying to make me feel guilty for using less than a unit of 1/4" luan per year.
In what universe could Homasote™ be a substitute for Lauan? Ever try to paint that stuff? I used to use lots of Upson Board™ in college: great tooth for painting, and easily bendable, but hard to source and expensive now. I really like Baltic Birch plywood, but my distributor only carries 6 and 12mm, in 5'-0" x 5'-0" sheets.
God I hate that stuff !!!! We had tons of it in college, used it for everything! Talk about a nasty product to produce. It's a bleached paper product that increases the Dioxin output of a paper plant Exponentially. Just imagine what all those years of breathing Upsom Board Dust did for us.
cvanp
Active Member
The luan we're using now we've used for three shows previously. We try to be extremely concious about reusing materials as much as possible, even if it means going an extra mile on our part to make sure that the older and sometimes more fragile wood will still hold up. We have to buy some new luan for this set (we decided we wanted the stability of the luan rather than the lightness of the foam) but it will definitely be reused for many years into the future.
So I feel bad, but at the same time we do our part to recycle everything we do use.
So I feel bad, but at the same time we do our part to recycle everything we do use.
Theatrical educational institutions have always recycled, for economic purposes not environmental ones. It's more difficult for the commercial theatre, due to the cost of labor. Many places don't even bother to keep used color media, as it costs more to file it than to buy new. Maybe we need to return to gelatine, as a renewable resource. What would PETA say about that?
Keep up the good work cvanp. Keep using your Luan until it falls apart, or gets so small it's not worth saving anymore. Wring every dollar out of all your materials. People with limited budgets learn to be frugal.
Keep up the good work cvanp. Keep using your Luan until it falls apart, or gets so small it's not worth saving anymore. Wring every dollar out of all your materials. People with limited budgets learn to be frugal.
Yes, the hours/days/weeks/years I spent in front of a Cut-Awl™. Who knew the dust was harmful, "it's only paper, right?"
And forming Celastic™ with acetone on one's bare hands! No wonder I am the way I am.
Lighting Fixtures with asbestos leads were probably one of the safest things I used. Anyone else ever notice that Kliegl's fiberglass sheaths made one's arms itch more than Strand-Century's? Today, with ETC's, I hardly ever itch.
When I said " You'll have a hard time making me feel guilty...."
I didn't mean You personally. I meant that more as a General You. I hope You understand as well, Alex, that I wholeheartedly support your point in posting that link. Raising our awareness of our impact on the environment is a huge issue with me. It's why I prefer using VSSSD over Fiberglass, Why I compost as much sawdust as I can and take home as much scrap as I can in the winter to burn, efficiently, to heat the house.
Man I gotta get more sleep, and stop taking all those pain pills just so I can get outta bed in the morning.
Yes I meant Phil, I was just thinking about you Alex.
Logos
Well-Known Member
In my personal back yard workshop I have the racks for, new timber, cut timber, medium lengths, short lengths and bits. This applies to sheet timber as well. I don't have an open fire so I don't burn it myself but I give it to friends that do and when it gets to that point it has usually been used on about three or four sets.
I actually assumed we all do that because as an industry (apart from the very top) we are broke and need to be frugal.
I, by the way hate MDF as a substitute for Luan ply. It's heavy not very flexible and poisonous. Doesn't hold screws or nails either in its thinner weights.
I actually assumed we all do that because as an industry (apart from the very top) we are broke and need to be frugal.
I, by the way hate MDF as a substitute for Luan ply. It's heavy not very flexible and poisonous. Doesn't hold screws or nails either in its thinner weights.
Yeah it's a great point, most of us have to reuse everything. It's all about modular construction and how you can use things over and over. I doubt many (if any of us here in C.B.) are in the theaters with the cash flow to break out the Sawzall and dump the set.
Hey Derek, Do they do a lot of dumping in Vegas?
Hey Derek, Do they do a lot of dumping in Vegas?
<Hijack of Hijack> Hey Van you never commented on the use of metal cutting blades in the jigsaw for cutting wood. Like I said my old college T.D. always had a stack of metal cutting blades and was hard pressed to find an actual wood cutting blade. Curious what your thoughts are?
You're kidding right? I've mentioned before the show that ripped out 10 racks of ETC Sensor dimmers to put in Strand. Every corporate/awards show I do fills 3 or 4 30?-40? yard dumpsters. We implode entire buildings when they reach 25 years of age.
Where do all the sets of failed/closed Broadway shows end up? New Jersey landfill? My college survived for years on the drapery package from On a Clear Day... Silly to have 31' tall legs in a house with a 19'-11" proscenium? Not really. Add a 10' tall border and you have a 21' portal.
Back to the question; the waste that goes on in Vegas is sickening. But we have domestic trash pickup twice a week and voluntary recycling every 14 days.
Actually I responded with a really long thought out post. Detailing the fact that the use of metal cutting blades as "detail" cutting tools is a great idea. However I apparently forgot to hit the send button before closing out my browser the other day. Yeah it's been that kind week. When I remember what all else I said I'll post it again.
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