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[ColumbineDad]

Just posting a new post so I can access the threads. I volunteer at our local high school building sets and managing the stage. Doing Beauty and the Beast for the first time this spring. Just trying to figure out when building new sets if it's worth investing in a new Seneca collated screw gun for building 1x2 hollywood type sets instead of the traditional used in the past finish nails. Will hold better but afraid I might split too many firring strips. Any suggestions??

 

[LekoBoy]

Collated screw gun? No, but have you considered a narrow-crown stapler, shooting 2" staples? How do you currently attach the luan to the 1x2?

 

[ColumbineDad]

Actually still use muslin. The flats are used multiple times per year for fall play, winter one acts, spring musical, and spring play. Repainted over and over. As well, this is the prefered flat for both directors and the painters. I'm just the peon who does the grunt work . . . along with one of the director's husbands. That's why I'm leaning towards the screws since the fasteners are the main source of structural support. I'm afraid that nails or staples will not hold as well. A collated screw gun is kind of a cross between a drill driver and a sheetrock screw gun. It takes screws that come in a plastic ribbon so that you don't have to keep holding and driving screws one at a time. Pretty sweet set-up. Can check them out online at the Senco website or in the air tools section of Home Depot. I already have a good compressor and set of nail guns but again, their version of brads do not have a very big head. Unlike the old buy the brads and drive them with a hammer form of construction. Maybe I'm a bit lazy but also think it's wise to redeem the time and do things in a more efficient manner. We do the rest of our 2x4 construction with 3" sheetrock screws. Lasts forever.

Thanks. I never took any theater classes. Just got into this as a volunteer about 5 years ago when my daughters were in the program. They're both off to college and I still help. I have the construction skills but this is not the same as building a house. I'm learning as I go. This is the first year of my involvement that we are doing major new set construction instead of mainly reusing previous flats.

 

[lieperjp]

First of all, welcome to the booth! The search function is your friend.
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I would reccommend you take this post on over to the Scenery Forum as there are some people that can provide some great input, but don't check in the new member forum.

 

[gafftaper]

Welcome to the Booth! "Columbinedad"... as in Columbine High School? I guess there isn't much more that can be said about the tragedy. (I was a high school drama teacher at the time before moving on to my current college position.) It's great to see them move on and reclaim their school.

As Lieper said, this part of the website is primarily for saying hello and introducing yourself. If you post your question in the scenery forum you'll get a variety of good answers from our resident experts.

I only build "broadway style flats" not "hollywood flats" because of the additional storage problems with Hollywood flats. I use 1x4 frames, cover with a sheet of luan, then cover with muslin. Assemble with 3/4" x 8 screws. They are a little heavier than some flats, however I can use the frame potentially for decades. When the muslin gets too old to use, rip it off, staple a new sheet on and start over.

You sound like a great candidate for the stock scenery construction handbook. You've got the skills and it's got all the drawings to show you how to build a logical collection of pieces you can use over and over. It's one of the first theater books I ever purchased.

 

[Van]

Welcome Aboard ! Gret to see more parents getting invovled with their kids schools!
If it's Hollywood flats you're building it's 1 1/2" or 1 3/4" narrow or wide crown staples you'll be wanting. I love wide crown for the framing and narrow for attaching the Luan. ' course on the cover you only need 3/4" staples. I feel using screws wastes a lot of time and materials, if you don't pilot then you rip the ends out constantly, and if you do pilot you waste a lot of time. Interesting idea, though, covering hollywoods with Mus. Usual that is not done beacuse when sized the Muslin tends to pull the stiles toward the middle of the flat, since they are on edge they don't have the lateral integrity that a Broadway does.
Please ask a lot of questions and answer all you can.

 

[ColumbineDad]

Still trying to figure out the site and how it works.

Thanks to all who responded. And thanks to gafftaper for the concern for CHS and recovery. Have really done a great job moving past but this next year will be 10 yrs. Who knows what yahoo media will come charging back to again pick off the scabs. Our drama and vocal faculty have been huge helps in the moving on.

Thanks for the suggestion to move the question over to the scenery threads. Probably tonight when I get home. Spent many hours at the local Home Depot this week talking, dreaming, and drooling. Will not buy new tools until I get back from visiting daughter in Seattle over T-giving. Leaning towards either the crown stapler idea or buying a 15 ga angled brad nailer. Actually heading by the school this am to again check out current stock of flats. Most of them were built 10+ years ago and are still being used. Guess if you build them right they'll last forever. Of course, maybe the multiple layers of paint also help keep them together.

 

[ColumbineDad]

Just ordered the scenery construction book off Amazon. Appreciate the suggestion.

 

[gafftaper]

Actually with nearly 10 years past its probably a lot harder on the faculty and parents than it is on the students. For most it's probably just a distant memory if they remember it at all. It's amazing how time flies.

Coming to Seattle huh? I hope you have a good visit. I'll leave the light on for you.

Yeah as for the tool purchase I know the screw product you are talking about but I've never known anyone who owns one. My vote is for the stapler.

Enjoy the scenery hand book. The basic premise is building a logical collection of stock scenery that you can reuse over and over. Like I said since you have the construction skills already it should be just the thing you need to help you build your theater skills.

 

[ColumbineDad]

Thanks. Will decide when I return. Daughter's at SPU. They do their big Christmas concert on Sunday at Benaroya. Also doing dinner tomorrow night at Ray's Boathouse. Lived for 11 years in South Kitsap before moving to Littleton. Get back whenever we can . . . meaning when we have an excuse and the $$.

Thanks for all your help. Greatly appreciated!

 

[gafftaper]

Wow Christmas Concert at Benaroya that should be a lot of fun.

Did you know:
The seats in Benaroya are designed to soak up the same amount of sound as a person either full or empty. So it sounds exactly the same no matter how many people are there.

The stage is acoustically tuned to magnify sound much like the body of a guitar.

There is a bus (soon to be light rail) tunnel that runs under the street out front. They were worried about it causing noise and vibration. So they built the inner hall on a platform on top of springs to isolates the entire room from any vibrations in the outside world. The walls and ceiling inside the hall do not contact the exterior lobby walls or real ceiling. The light/sound locks actually are more like a bridge between the inner and outer shells of the building. It's a box inside a box suspended on springs! In theory you wouldn't feel a minor to moderate earthquake inside the hall.