plans for continental folding platform?

[Stuart R]

Hello all -

I'm looking for plans for building continental-style folding platforms, where the platform frame is hinged in such a way that it folds "into itself," saving storage space. I've attached a drawing of what this looks like from the top, but don't have one showing what the sides/bracing etc. look like (or the lid, which I presume has built in cleats of some sort). I remember using these in college, and recall that they were made of 1x stock. Does anyone have access to plans for this kind of thing? I need a few of these to serve as an occasional extension to our main stage, which is 38" high, so I'd also be adding a fair amount of extra temporary bracing to help tie the units to each other once they're in place. [Note: I could certainly build the extension using lidded 2x platforms with 2x legs, but I like the idea of having these elegant, slightly lighter units that I could just fold up and store between uses.]

Thanks.

 

[JAC]

Any older scenery textbook will have plans for them. Burris-Meyer and Cole, Gillette, probably Parker and Smith. Find an old fart like me and ask to borrow one.

 

[bobgaggle]

I built some of these in college just like the pic you attached. Found out too late that the hinges on the outside of the framing really get in the way when you go to butt 2 platforms end to end. (especially when the indexing blocks on the platform deck leave very little play). Keep that in mind when you go to build these.

As a side note, and I'm sure you've considered this, but parallel platforms have fallen out of favor for a few reasons. They're fixed height, so you're stuck with what you've got with little flexibility. Also you don't save much space in storage. If you build the frame out of 1x, you've got 4 layers of it when its collapsed, plus the 3/4" deck with 3/4" blocks on it. Overall thickness of 4 1/2" when its folded up for storage. Call it 5" when you add in the gaps from the hinges.

But yes, they are an elegant way to build a platform and given that you're using them for one specific purpose, they sound like the way to go

 

[BillConnerFASTC]

It was a long time ago but I believe for a small college touring show I designed and built, they folded flat - parallelogram - and of course were 12' long for a 4X8. I'm think mine were 2 x 8 - like three end to end - so that would make a difference.

Maybe mortise hinges so they don't project.

Weight is a big savings in addition to some compactness. We toured in a small u-haul box truck and hit one or two schools a day in north country NYS for a week or more - and lightness was appreciated - especially the second floor gyms and cafeterias we played in.