Sweeney Todd Chair
- Thread starterTeber
- Start date
I know that the mods don't always like talking about trap doors, but I must say, I built a great trap door for a show I did, and I'm so proud of it! 
However, I didn't take photos 
But the principle was easy: triangles are the strongest building shape, so if I make a triangle trap, everything will work.
That's a rough sketch of what it looked like.
There was a flat area on top, the actual door. The door was connected to a triangle support, the weight of the door would made the traps natural position to be partially open.
So we made a support that held the door closed. The support was hinged and the hinge had a quick release hooked up to it. When the trap op was given the cue, he would pull the quick release and the support would hinge back, letting the triangle fall until the door was totally vertical and the leg of the triangle hit the floor (or celling) rotating 90degrees.
We bought a children's tunnel slide and cut out an area big enough for the trap when it was open, so the person could just fall down into a slide a be slowed down so they could pop out wherever.
Here's some photos to help describe what I'm saying.
A-quick release hinge.
B-piano hinge.
We chose to use a grand piano hinge because they fit flush with the floor nicely. Choose what works for you.
This is the trap open. The trap is red to help you see it, and the supports are black.
The final product.
However, I didn't take photos But the principle was easy: triangles are the strongest building shape, so if I make a triangle trap, everything will work.
That's a rough sketch of what it looked like.
There was a flat area on top, the actual door. The door was connected to a triangle support, the weight of the door would made the traps natural position to be partially open.
So we made a support that held the door closed. The support was hinged and the hinge had a quick release hooked up to it. When the trap op was given the cue, he would pull the quick release and the support would hinge back, letting the triangle fall until the door was totally vertical and the leg of the triangle hit the floor (or celling) rotating 90degrees.
We bought a children's tunnel slide and cut out an area big enough for the trap when it was open, so the person could just fall down into a slide a be slowed down so they could pop out wherever.
Here's some photos to help describe what I'm saying.
A-quick release hinge.
B-piano hinge.
We chose to use a grand piano hinge because they fit flush with the floor nicely. Choose what works for you.
This is the trap open. The trap is red to help you see it, and the supports are black.
The final product.
I just closed a production of Sweeney. For the chair, the seat and back were sprung so that when the lever was pulled, the bottom dropped and back tipped in a controlled fashion. We didn't have a slide, but in fact a counter weighted dumbwaiter biong operated by two crew members. When the actors were in the chair, their feet were rested on the platform, as soon as the lever got pulled, the seat dropped out and the actor dropped slowly while essentially standing upright. Everything worked really well and was very controlled which was the key to safety.
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