In no order specific for price or type and only a sampling of sources:
Most theater supply shops (lighting and scene shops included there as often also in addition to being production company, also theater supplier) would
stock or be able to get rigging, some even specilize in it in part like Grand
Stage or Fisher Theatrical, Mainstage Theatrical, Tiffen Scenic, Texas Scenic, Chicago Scenic,
Stage Technologes, Secoa/
Stage Technologies
etc. as part of their
role of doing rigging installs or maintinence. (Heck, even I supply rigging for resale at times.) Heck, even Rose Brand,
Production Advantage,
BMI, BML, ELS,
Production Advantage, Premere
etc. as on-line theater suppliers amongst many supply rigging.
After that, McMaster Carr, Grainger, Fastenal,
MSC, Total Tool, amongst others in industrial supply offer all but the black powdercoated
wire rope.
Than rigging suppliers local for the construction industry offer smaller than say crain type rigging or can get what you need such as in Illinois amongst many state's suppliers, Rockford Rigging, or John Sakash on my short but not extensive list.
Rigging production companies such as Atlanta Rigging, Entertainment Structures, LVH, Reed Rigging,
Stage Rigging, can also resale products.
After that, and in no way of what's cheapest or most efficient for you or perhaps cheapest, theatrical rigging suppliers such as Fehr Brothers, Peak Trading, Sapsis Rigging, Ver Sales, & I-Weiss,
etc. are suppliers.
In all cases, at times if you place an order
thru one, you get your product
drop shipped by way of another. Don't matter, it's more about their discount factor for a product over your's direct with the supplier. McMaster say might have a better discount factor with John Sakash than you might in going direct. Sapsis with Peak
etc. Buying gear ain't as much about it's source than at times your end price and shopping around or
leg work will at times pay off. On the other
hand one also has to compensate for say 50# worth of gear shipped for you in shipping costs verses gas milage and hourly rate in picking it up locally over a few cents saved. This plus how much time you spend on the phone or on-line in pricing out the cheapest price verses what else could you be doing instead.
Here is the thing with rigging. First, it's getting more pricy and rare domestic tracable parts. Hopefully that terriff on domestic steel is overwith, but given there isn't much left domestically for domestic manufacturing, at least the domestic prices have or might have come down some in often being better quality. This given I don't think there is any
wire rope domestically available any longer. Save the sales memos and all info you can, this and buy domestic where ever given the choice - especially with galvanized parts - especially especially with turnbuckles but also anything threaded such as even eyebolts.
Once sent back an entire shipment of turnbuckles from a very well respected source because I didn't think their thread class safe for the intended load even if rated for it. They were not of that opinion but they did take them back and looked into my observation further. Galvanizing especially if other than domestic means extra thick say paint like coating on the materials which could vary much lot to lot in
thickness. Given this coating, often the materials and actual threading or
thickness of that coating on screw threads require the actual steel of the threads to be downsized so as to compensate. In the case of the above galvanized turnbuckles, this was to the extent that only the galvinized coated tips of the screw threads engauged the female part of the thread in carrying all the load. I would in general caution against anything galvanized for
stage rigging and would never again buy a galvanized load rated
turnbuckle unless I inspected it.
A few weeks ago I got some galvanized shoulder eyebolts for a project. They appairently were not downsized and instead, other than the
nut provided would not thread a off shelf nylock
nut onto it. Given the added coating after the 3/8-16 screw thread, this coating was applied in being too thick to fit a nylock. Spent a half hour on-site re-threading and removing the coating from the first
bolt in making it work with a standard class nylock
nut, found a bench vise on-site to re-thread the second one, but not good in not
fitting normal nuts.
Given my hourly wage, I will have saved money in buying the non-galvanized bolts, this even if galvanized was cheaper. Something like a
shackle that only screws into itself, sure galvanized and not as concerned about thread class given co-axial instead of
axial loading. Still tracable elements in even if "made in china" for brand instead of "Chicago Rigging" or others for brand, you have records of where you bought that part for out of liability.
A caution. Galvanized
wire rope, even black oxide coated galvanized
wire rope... sure standard. For rigging parts attached to it that shares the same vertical or horizantal axis with the
wire rope such as a turn buckle or eye
bolt in threads of it holding the load, I might avoid galvanized steel rigging. For a
shackle or
pear ring,
shure perhaps in different axis to load of the screw or welded joint.
Further note. Chicago group verses say
Crosby group verses "China" verses others just for shackles alone. No standardization in
shackle. Say a one of one brand will fit within a chain link, another won't. This especially about the screw eye female part of the
shackle. Some won't fit
thru a
wire rope thimbled eye as easier as others
etc. Test and don't be stuck to one brand if it don't fit but you want a certain size of say
shackle or other rigging piece.
Recently at work was about
wire rope rigging steel. Someone else's steel got into our inventory. Their 1/2"
wire rope in double ended
thimble crimped steel (1/2"
wire rope with ends terminated in looped thimbles) was simply terminated inside a
crimp. Ours as a standard even I didn't know about is braided in terminating into the
dead end strands into
line side of the
wire rope, and only than crimped with a special
crimp. Big difference for
safety at least with us in both woven and crimped steel. This plus a detectable non-tracable
element piece of rigging in our inventory which could be a problem - even if each piece is inspected before going out and inspected on the jobsite again.
As with Turnbuckles, Shackles, even steel has it's way of seperate standards in the industry in size or
safety. Tracable elements = just as you don't want to go repelling on someone else's rope or "found" repelling carabiners, you only want what you know you bought and can
trace from install to use by way of paperwork also. Do this and a future lawsuit will have less problems in your
role in a problem. This also in part why
Controlbooth can not go into depth about details rigging also. Liability.
Cover your rear in paper trail even if to the extent of switching suppliers, you in some way
mark one supplier verses another or stick with the first even if more expensive in
continuity of supply.
Not just rigging, ensuring what you use is quality and beyond that, ensuring you have the paperwork for liabilty.
Late last night, it hit me that I've got to get my order placed and shipped immediately or I'm in troulbe. So I went back to my old 
