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rtgreen Inner circle Portland, Oregon 1322 Posts |
This is really just a curiosity question:
Most of the old references I read concerning building levetations use steel for the framework. What is the current thinking on this? Is there a lighter weight or stronger material that is being used? Thanks, Richard |
Chris Stolz Inner circle Mississauga, Ontario 1958 Posts |
I built a stage levitation much like the one in Andrew Mayne's "Touching Sky" about four years ago. I used wood. We used it for a theatre production. As Dracula, I was to fly up through a set of double doors and land on the railing of a balcony. It worked great. The system was counter waited such that the person operating the illusion had a VERY easy task.
I know that this is a little different than what you may be looking for but it's another option than many don't consider. Seated with the legs crossed it can look quite nice. Chris.
Chris Stolz
BLACK ART BOOK: Hiding In The Shadows. |
Bill Palmer Eternal Order Only Jonathan Townsend has more than 24312 Posts |
Steel is a good material, especially if you use square steel tubing. It should have a fairly thick wall with respect to the size of the square. The thing to do is to find an engineer who knows how to calculate stresses. It will save you a lot of grief.
When I built my Harbin Walkaway suspension, I used square tubing in several places that it wasn't indicated in the original. I also used a thicker wall tubing because I wanted it to be able to support a lot of weight. There are some very strong materials out there, such as titanium alloys, but their strength can be misleading. Sometimes they are strong but very flexible. This can have some unwanted side effects. Your floating lady becomes a bouncing lady instead. There are some strong aluminum alloys, but the disadvantage of aluminum is that some alloys will not bend. They will break without warning. In the illusion trade, this is called a "Real Bummer."
"The Swatter"
Founder of CODBAMMC My Chickasaw name is "Throws Money at Cups." www.cupsandballsmuseum.com |
GuySavoie Loyal user Tampa, FL 242 Posts |
Yep, Bill is right. Strong can mean bendy, or brittle.
If you have a design in mind, find an engineer familiar with moment and deflection calculations. Additional considerations are bends, welds, or bolting. Depending on the resulting stresses on joints, some are better than others. Square and rectangular tube are strong. Round tube tends to be more bouncy. Ellipse tubing is wonderfully strong and rigid with slightly less weight as compared to comparable rectangle dimensions. Triangle tubing is the strongest by dimension, but those last two would be really tough to find in most areas of "the real world" (I actually write 3D software for tube cutting on industrial lasers for a living, so I get to play with this stuff every day - titanium, steel, stainless, aluminum, etc.) Some designs work very well with steel bar stock bent to shape as well. If a length of 0.5"x2" steel can support the weight and distance properly, it can be bent to shape (for goosenecks, etc.) and is hard to beat for it's modest dimensions. --- Guy |
rtgreen Inner circle Portland, Oregon 1322 Posts |
For a first project, I'm thinking of building a basic SuperX style suspension with a gooseneck. I doubt it will ever see the light of a stage outside my workshop, so it's really just a practice project. My main concern is the joints. I don't know anything about welding and would like to avoid it if possible, but I'm not confident bolts would be as sturdy. What are your thoughts on this? I could outsource the welding, but it kind of defeats my purpose of learning a new skill.
Thanks, Richard |
GuySavoie Loyal user Tampa, FL 242 Posts |
Depending on your weight requirements, consider regular black pipe from Home Depot, etc.
With threaded black pipe, standard elbows and tees, it's easy to make a super-X with gooseneck. It's the base design and material from many classic illusion books. The final results are heavy, and often overkill for the task, but it's quite an approachable project. If you've got a little spare cash hanging around, though, consider investing in a small ($200 or so) gassless wire feed welder. They are really easy to use, but do take some time to become proficient. They're good up to about 3/16" wall material, so assuming you're not intending to build a bridge, it's got plenty of guts for the basic jobs. Your first few dozen welds will probably be junk (couldn't be worse than mine, though,) but once learned, it comes in really handy outside of magic as well! --- Guy |
rtgreen Inner circle Portland, Oregon 1322 Posts |
Thanks for the advice Guy. The weight requirements of the unit are pretty minimal. Since it's just a learning experience for me, I am building it for my 4 year old son to float on when I do little shows at family get-togethers. I am going to check into the wire feed welder. Metal work is all new territory for me, so I really appreciate the help.
Thanks, Richard |
Rik Taylor New user Delaware 58 Posts |
I don't think he'll be 4 forever. Just a thought.
...less is not more, less is less you have to carry, more or less...
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rtgreen Inner circle Portland, Oregon 1322 Posts |
Oh, that's what everyone kept telling me last year about 3. What are the chances that could happen 2 years in a row?!
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GuySavoie Loyal user Tampa, FL 242 Posts |
The wire feed welders use flux blended wire on a spool, and they are much more handy for the beginner as compared to welding equipment that require flooding the arcing area with inert gas. Of course, there are limits on the end results with wire feed welders, but it's more about fine tuning and how attractive the end results are.
My brother-in-law has been welding professionally for 30 years. His work with my wire feed welder is better than my work with his mig setup. I can fix his computer though, so I win --- Guy |
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