Lighting Shop

[Shawncfer]

So I've been searching forums on this because I could've sworn I've seen one about this but I can't find anything! So post a link if you know of one.

But do any of y'all have a shop dedicated to lighting? Where you do repairs, or wiring, or whatever else you need to do electrically? Do any of y'all have photos? Or can you give me an idea of what you have in it? Or what you would think should be in one?

I'm putting together a Lighting shop area for a theater I'm working at this summer.

Any ideas?

 

[rochem]

I don't have one in my home, but we have an Electrics Shop at my school, and my workplace for the summer is basically just one giant lighting shop .

There's not a lot of big, heavy tools you need. I'd definitely be sure to have all of your basic tools on hand, and there's a number of lengthy threads on here with extensive tool lists that can help you out. Depending on what's in your inventory, be sure to have spare parts for things that tend to break. If you have a large inventory of Source Fours, keep a bunch of spare sockets around, a few lamp caps, some 1/4" lamp cap screws as well as some focus knobs (they tend to get lost very easily), and probably some spare shutters, and beyond that, whatever parts you can justify purchasing and storing. Have spare parts for all the fixtures in your inventory, whatever they may be. If you have moving lights, the manufacturer will sometimes recommend what parts are good to keep on hand, but having the right part can mean the difference between a one hour inconvenience and a two-week catastrophe. Obviously you'll want to keep a healthy supply of spare lamps as well. If at all possible, have a multimeter dedicated to the shop that doesn't leave to go on site. Testers are important - the GAMCheck or variations, some flavor of DMX tester, and my shop at school has a makeshift Socapex tester - a Socapex to edison breakout with 6 simple circuit testers attached to each edison. Works great and is much cheaper than buying a dedicated Socapex tester.

Keep multiple colors/gauges of wire and lamp cord around for wiring practicals as well as lots of wire nuts, and always have a box of spare male AND female connectors (Stage Pin, or whatever you primarily use in your venue). You may also want to have other wire connectors depending on how much wiring you do. Personally I always have a supply of Scotchlok 902's from 3M - they're easy and quick and keep things clean. I'm gonna stop now because I just keep thinking of things, but you'll quickly build up a list of things to add to your shop as you work in it and see what's missing.

HTH

 

[BillESC]

I have a shop that is now 34 years old. In the shop is a soldering station, complete woodworking area, welding area, etc. We can make just about anything some one can dream up.

 

[shiben]

My lighting shop at the school is under the booth and has low ceilings, so thats kind of annoying, but otherwise we have a pretty nice one. I have a solder station, A spare parts wall (with little boxes for most kinds of spare parts, from lamp sockets to pins for a 2P&G, spare bits of 2P&G connectors, screws of several types, switches, plugs, gang boxes, etc. A rack for mic, DMX, extension cords, Scroller cable, and other various cables, a file cabinet with FilmFX and TwinSpins in it, along with Birdies and Inkies. A gel inventory box, 2 gel filing cabinets, enough drawers for 1 drawer per 5 Roscolux colors, A cut inventory file cabinet, a lamp file cabinet with spare lamps, we keep enough lamps on hand to re-lamp 50% of our inventory at any time. A couple spools of 12/3 SO, a couple spools of red, black, white and green wire in 12, 14, 18 gauge, a toolbox with lots of tools, a work bench with a dimmer on it with 2P&G and Edison outlets and a pipe over it for hanging units if you need to, Some shelves for practicals that we have, a computer, a couple of rolling chairs and a stools, and a couch. Com port and video link next to the couch (so you can sit there instead of in the theater if you want during a run), some speakers hooked up the computer for music when Im working alone, Some desk lamps, a magnifier with lamp on it, Blue area lights in case you want some ambiance.

The lockup basically functions as the ME's office, a repair shop, and storage. It gets really crowded sometimes, but it works for what it needs to do. One thing to keep in mind is you really dont need huge tons of space to repair lights, a decently sized workbench or desk would be fine, most of the problem is storing all the things you need, as long as you can fit the largest light in your inventory on it while its spread out in pieces a bit. If your mainly working on S4s and PARs, you probably need a nice desk, and lots of storage. If your working on Big MLs, a couple work tables, maybe on wheels with locks? might be nice. Im sure you could come up with a reason to have just about anything in a lighting shop, if you want to build custom lights and stuff include a well equipped machine shop in there too, so you could take up a decently sized barn or warehouse. If your just working on S4s, a space the size of a dorm room ought to be sufficient.

 

[lcthebeast]

Would you post a picture of your shop?