Rigging Made Easy: Crimping Tools and Swages by Glenn Davis

The way I see it the stage world just looks better when you have more options toward supporting or flying scenery. At Willow Creek Church, suspending scenery is very common. At times, we may create over 100- 32’x 1/16” cable drops to suspend a certain weekend look that weighs a few thousand pounds. Even though it’s a lot of detailed work with the risk involved, I’m comfortable at the frequency of the process.  Creating cable ends with aircraft cable doesn’t have to be scary stuff. It can be quick and reliable when properly using the correct techniques, crimping tool and hardware. Let’s unpack some information and quickly eliminate some of your fears.

 

Tools

There are many great crimping tools on the market including the hand swage tools, cordless and hydraulic. One of my favorite crimping tools for under $300 is the bench model crimper. Http://www.stageriggingonline.com/hsbemoswto.html. I’ve used this model for several years, and it consistently produces a great crimp every time. It is reasonably priced, convenient and reliable making it the best choice toward a crimping tool in my opinion. For cutting aircraft cable, you will need cutters that are designed for cutting this type of cable. Www.stageriggingonline.com/tools---fittings-cutting-tools.html. There are many to choose from small to large. I use the smaller cable cutters for most of the 1/16” and 1/8” cables and the larger cable cutters for any size bigger. It’s best not to use a grinder to cut the cable because of the heat that is generated by grinding the cable will distort the metal properties in the cable that could cause failure. Now with all that said, I think we all have met the guy who isn’t prepared to waste his hard earned dollars on the right tools, getting by with using a bench vice, pliers, hammer or teeth. J Let me say this with your best interest in mind, those methods may cost nearly nothing but guarantees failure when the cable is pushed to the limits. Always use the correct crimping and cutting tools for your cable and swages.

 

Swages

There are three styles of swages, also called sleeves or ferrules, in common use; round swages are used for cable end stops; oval and double barrel swages are used to make a cable end loop. Www.stageriggingonline.com/slandst.html. The double barrel is my favorite and most used swage. It keeps the cables in their proper places while crimping. All three swages are available in a variety of cable sizes and materials such as aluminum, copper, zinc plated and stainless steel. There has been many a discussion on which swage holds better under a shock load, copper swages or aluminum swages. From my experience and research the copper swages are shown to hold up better under a shock load, but both are equal under load weight. Depending on the applications aluminum and copper are used the most for indoor applications and zinc coated and stainless steel are used for outdoor use. Bear in mind, using two dissimilar metals or the wrong kind of swage material for outdoor use can set up a corrosive reaction resulting in failure in a short period of time. Remember corrosion can also happen by wrapping tape around the swage and cable. Tape is a no no..

 

Remember, always be aware of your responsibility toward creating a safe environment and improving upon those rigging skills. In the next article, we will discuss thimbles and crimping techniques.

Rigging Made Easy: Cable Gliders and Aircraft Cable by Glenn Davis

I’ve been hearing a lot lately from individuals who are working hard at scenic creativity that are disappointed there is very little information toward tips on rigging and rigging hardware. Almost every scenic project requires the suspension of some sort of scenic element that echoes back scary and dangerous.  Which leads me to the question that all of us ask sometime in our scenic life, why does suspension of scenery have to be so hard?  It’s consistently clear that gravity always seems to demonstrate why it is the most powerful force in the universe.  And if that were not enough to deal with, our  funny little brain is designed to repeat whatever we’ve already done and prefer it that way, even if you’re doing things the hard way. Scenic life can be soooo stressful!   

Consistently invest in yourself, constantly improving your skills, techniques and knowledge of hardware accessories will make life so much easier. In addition, it can lower cost and save you time. In the past several years there have been significant improvements toward hardware. Here are a few of my favorites.

One approach that helps with the rigging challenge is with the use of gripper gliders and aircraft cable.  Using the combination creates the illusion that a heavy scenic piece is freely floating, unanchored by gravity. Cable gliders and aircraft cable are designed to improve our rigging endeavors toward suspending and adjusting heights much easier.   

We frequently use aircraft cable to suspend scenery from the fly system battens. The stranded steel core adds strength and flexibility to the cable. Aircraft cable is classified by the number of strands in the cable multiplied by the number of wires in each strand. For example, the notation 7x7 indicates that the cable has seven strands made up of seven wires in each strand. We use 1/16” 7x7 black coated galvanized aircraft cable for most of our scenic needs and 1/8” 7x19 black coated galvanized aircraft cable for much heavier projects. Be sure to check with the manufacturer specs on the breaking strength and factor the 5:1 ratio. As an example, if 1/16” cable is rated 480 LBS breaking strength, divide 5 into 480, 96 LBS is the dynamic weight limit for that cable. If your scenic piece weighs 120 LBS, you would need two 1/16” aircraft cables to support the weight.  I will go into detail of creating cable ends using swages, thimbles and crimping tools in the next article. Here is a link to a great company I purchase our aircraft cable and rigging supplies from.  Http://www.stageriggingonline.com/cable-black-gac.html

One of my most used hardware in rigging is cable gliders. A glider is a gripping mechanism for aircraft cable that locks onto the cable by ball bearings and can be easily move anywhere on the cable by pressing the quick release plunger. You can adjust a fraction of an inch or by any length. This makes hanging scenery quick, accurate and saves a lot of frustration toward repositioning something zillions of times. Just as aircraft cable, gliders are rated by the breaking strength of the glider with the 5:1 ratio to be applied. As an example, if the glider is rated at 300 LBS breaking strength then the dynamic weight limit is 60 LBS. Here is a link to a variety of gliders from. Griplocksystems.com

Hopefully you will see this article as beginning steps toward  doing the right amount of research before doing something yourself. Skimping on hardware or not doing something proper is dumb and could kill someone. As a church we want to lead people to heaven, inadvertently, we don’t want to hand them an express ticket.  Remember, safety is the most important thing.

Safety Toward Rigging by Glenn Davis

I read an article recently that said, “Gravity is a contributing factor in nearly all accidents involving fallen objects.” Even though, that is a pretty humorous statement, the fact is it takes a lot of overwhelming work to overcome gravity. When it comes to rigging “probably” or “maybe” safe, is not the most reassuring words either. Things fall down unless we take preventive steps to prevent them from doing so. Rigging suspended scenery, truss, lighting, curtains and screens depend on top quality hardware, materials and the know-how.  Knowing the basic structural properties of any materials used for rigging is critical to understand. Safety, reliable training, inspection, personal responsibility and efficiency are high values we must hold to.

The biggest challenge and what will actually be the back bone of rigging is being aware of trustworthy hardware and the working load limits. Buy rigging hardware from companies that specialize in rigging is essential. Most of their web sites have a detailed description of the hardware and its load rating. Stay away from buying rigging hardware look-a-likes at a local lumber company. They are not safe for overhead use.

Knowing the breaking strength of materials, the weight of scenery flown and the correct construction techniques are just as valuable. If you’re not for sure of the breaking strength, do a controlled test.  Using quality wood that have few knots and the correct grain structure is a crucial something to be aware of as well. All wooden frame scenery that will be flown has to be constructed with rigging in mind in order to take the stress and load.  The use of wood glue, screws instead of nails and bolts with washers is a good safe practice.  It’s the responsibility of the scenic carpenter and scenic designer to use the right materials, fasteners and added attention to make sure it is constructed properly to eliminate any failure. Make it a point before any object is flown check all rigging points, hardware and the weight of scenery matched with the appropriate ratings. Routine inspections of hardware and materials should be done often. Include discussing safety plans with your stage team if something were to fail so your team will know how to respond.

For churches that have a line batten systems, having designated trained individuals that knows what to inspection and how to properly use, the line batten system is a must. Scenery changes during a live event can involve moving a ton of weight vertically, in a matter of a few seconds. Some common knowledge among your team should be, know the lifting capacity of your line battens. Never stand under counter weighting or under scenery when hoisting. Call out “clear the rail or area” before loading or hoisting and to wait for a response that it is “clear” from individuals close to those areas.

When using secondary rigging such as motorized chain hoists know how much each chain hoist can safely lift and equally important, how much the hoist attachment point can support. Have your hoist inspected and tested periodically.

No one should do stage rigging until they have been thoroughly trained. Never risk the life of someone based on probably or maybe safe. If you intend to hang heavy objects over people’s heads, please value doing it correctly. Visit Willowcreekproduction.org, scenicdesigner.blogspot.com or churchproduction.com for video tips on rigging and scenic construction in the weeks to come.