Tree around a truss

Rainmaker

Member
Hey all

Working on a production where I need to wrap some theatrical trees around truss towers outside. I am going with plywood disks, 1by stringers between, wrapped in window screen and then muslin mache over the top. Where I'm struggling is "wrapping" it around the truss.

My working theory was to cut the disks in half and then cut a 12" x 6" rectangle out of each one to go around the truss. Then create some sort of post in a sleeve mechanism to mate the two halves together after the structure is erected and the tree is textured, painted, etc.

Does this seem feasible and if so, any ideas on what to make the sleeve mechanism out of? Or a better idea to join the two halves of the trees? Oh trees? Plural you say? Yes, we need to build 4 of these.

Thanks for any help!
 
Is the "tree around the truss" (tree trunk, i assume) for the purpose of hiding the truss, or is is to be structural? I.e., does somebody climb it? (such as On Borrowed Time) How long is the run of this show? What you need to do (and have budget for) for a 6-week run is usually greater than for a one-night stand. More details, please.
 
There are many, many connectors available that could join the halves together securely. I suppose the traditional theatrical connector would be a loose-pin hinge.

Here are some other options that might work well (links from Lee Valley, but they'd be available elsewhere also):
Striplox 180D In-Line Surface Connectors -- maybe it could be put in what looks like a stub where a branch was cut off?
Various bedlock connectors -- originally intended to mount bed rails to headboards and footboards
Knock-down Panel Connectors
Taper Connectors
etc.

If it is practical during the erection of the set, maybe you could create the tree as a series of segments, something like giant washers each with a square hole, and drop them down over the truss one by one. I suspect in most cases that would not be practical for various reasons.
 
coffin locks are your friend. you've got a solid idea. I don't know how big these trees are but I would usually do some 1/4" hardware cloth rather than window screen and shoot spray foam onto it rather than fabric. Tends to go faster and look more real, but i don't know the style of tree you're going for.

If you go with coffin locks you don't really need an indexing post or sleeve type thing. but if you want to go that route, 16 gauge 1" steel square tube makes a great receiver for 3/4" square tube. Its not so tight a fit that you can't get it together in the real world, but not loose enough that its useless as an indexing pin. (maybe 1/16" out of alignment at most)
 
Thanks everyone who has jumped in so far.

@JonCarter it's mainly for hiding the truss. I'm sure the director wouldn't object to it being structural but that's not something we've discussed or that's necessarily on the table. The run of the show is one weekend but the set will likely be outdoors in SoCal in January for 3-4 weeks prior to opening night. In terms of budget, it's healthy so unless we're talking something relatively silly, it shouldn't be an issue.

@DrewE We can't put the sections over the truss after the fact because the whole grid will be riding up on glide blocks in the corners so that solution has to be one where the tree is split in the hot dog not hamburger orientation unfortunately.

@bobgaggle thanks for those tips. I saw a video shortly after posting where I saw a process I hadn't seen before involving gluing pieces of carpet foam onto the truck skeleton and then spraying it with a ceiling/wall texturer but going with straight foam would be a lot quicker. I also wasn't really thinking about coffin locks but that would make a rather surreptitious connection. I just wonder if having them installed and loaded in by student labor might make their alignment tolerances a bit dubious...it's worth trying!
 
Thanks everyone who has jumped in so far.

@JonCarter it's mainly for hiding the truss. I'm sure the director wouldn't object to it being structural but that's not something we've discussed or that's necessarily on the table. The run of the show is one weekend but the set will likely be outdoors in SoCal in January for 3-4 weeks prior to opening night. In terms of budget, it's healthy so unless we're talking something relatively silly, it shouldn't be an issue.

@DrewE We can't put the sections over the truss after the fact because the whole grid will be riding up on glide blocks in the corners so that solution has to be one where the tree is split in the hot dog not hamburger orientation unfortunately.

@bobgaggle thanks for those tips. I saw a video shortly after posting where I saw a process I hadn't seen before involving gluing pieces of carpet foam onto the truck skeleton and then spraying it with a ceiling/wall texturer but going with straight foam would be a lot quicker. I also wasn't really thinking about coffin locks but that would make a rather surreptitious connection. I just wonder if having them installed and loaded in by student labor might make their alignment tolerances a bit dubious...it's worth trying!
Have you considered making a drilling template for female coffin locks and another for the male halves. Fabricate your templates with stops on them so you can hold them against a mating edge with one hand while you lightly mark the precise drilling locations with a suitably sized drill bit in a hand-held drill with your other hand.
Toodleoo!
Ron Hebbard
 
Will the trees need to be finished prior to construction or will the scenic work happen after they are installed around the truss?
 
Will the trees need to be finished prior to construction or will the scenic work happen after they are installed around the truss?
They will need to be finished prior. We have 2 weeks outside which would be cutting it close to do all the work with my labor force. If they're finished beforehand, we can start on them first week of October so much more time to do it right.
 
They will need to be finished prior. We have 2 weeks outside which would be cutting it close to do all the work with my labor force. If they're finished beforehand, we can start on them first week of October so much more time to do it right.
That does make it a little more complicated. I'd think about cheeseboroughing some pipe perpendicular to the truss so you can slide each half on and then join them with coffin locks to help hide the seam. I'll warn you there are so many flavors of 12" truss out there if you can't get the exact type to mock it up trying to figure out where you can get a cheeseborough can be tricky.
CB Truss Tree.PNG
 
Do the trees need to go all the way round the truss or just a little over 180deg? If only to hide the truss from view then only what can be seen from the audience perspective will need to be covered therefore making a full disk (rounded on the outside and then a semi circle on the inside that can rotate around the truss) that can be positioned around where ever you need it to hide the truss. No point doing more work than required.
 
If you only need ca. 270 degrees of coverage, couldn't you make a tree minus a truss-shaped notch on the hidden side, sort of a C shaped thing, and then slide it around the truss and secure it with a clamp or whatever? Without needing to have a split tree to assemble?
Wow, and there's the response that makes me feel like a dum dum 😂😂 nothing like not seeing the easy solution when trying to reinvent the wheel! Thanks so much!
 
Plant Kudzu around the tower... /nudge, wink

Kudzu grows so fast you can almost see it happen.
 

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