Ever Build A Stage Before?

neolitic

Right, like a giant torsion box
table top.

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Splinter

Just an idea....

What about the raised access floors they use in commercial hi-rise office buildings? I've only seen the 12" legs, but maybe they make something taller?

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WarriorWithWood

That's what first came to mind when reading the thread Alex, but you have to fasten those legs to the ground. I like the grid idea.

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KentWhitten

Thanks Gus and Mike. I think that will be perfect. Now just for the top surface. I know they make panels I can purchase but damn they are expensive!

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mikeswoods

For the top I'd use 3/4 a/b ply with thin commercial carpeting glued on.

Nice look,quiet the foot steps,cheap, easy to get.

If you get the job take some pictures,--MIKE--

mikeswoods

Varnished 3/4 cabinet ply is often used for dance floors,Would work if they want a wood deck.

I've seen 'cam lock' hardware used to lock the dance floor sections together.
They are mounted under the ply and turned with a big allen wrench from above.. Only a small access hole in the deck--No "trippers"

Sorry,I don't know a supplier.--MIKE--

TimelessQuality

For the top, how about......laminate square 3/4 ply pieces (that fit loosely into the grid) undeneath? The pattern would mirror the grid and keep it from sliding off.

That way, the surface will be 1.5" thick except where it is directly supported.

Cool little project

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A W Smith

I have done one for a coffee shop, had to be knock down and to top it off it had to be semi circular to fit in a corner, To make it as light as possible i made it like an upside down egg carton in two pieces using only 5/8 inch plywood in an egg carton 16 X 16 inch grid 8 inches tall. I actually made it in my garage/driveway of my old house and delivered it to the coffee shop in my pickup. We were doing a full remodel of the shop at the time and there was a lot of activity with trades in the tiny 400 square foot city shop. So I did it in two evenings at home. The whole stage amounted to less than 60 square feet if I recall. Was over 10 years ago and the coffee shop is no longer in business. Drove by some 5 years ago to see the shop being remodeled again into a clothing store with the two stage sections still there leaning up against a wall.

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Willie T

We already built a stage like this for our church's youth club. I'll try to dig up the pictures. It was all done with 4'x4'x5'-7 7/8" triangles so that the configuration of the stage could be almost anything they chose it to be... big, small, long, "L" shape, whatever.

Easily picked up, piece by piece, and stacked one atop another.

We made ours 9" tall (it's a small club) but they could be as tall as you want to make them, just might need some extra bracing.

The "suspended for the picture" drummer's stand is 16" high.... I think I have pattern cut drawings somewhere for that if anyone wants them.

Everything is carpeted. The triangles, just on the top parts as shown. This helps "snug" them together without the lower sections causing any interference.

The cutouts make the pieces a little lighter, (they are 3/4" plywood), provide handholds, and give chases through which to run cables.

With the carpet applied, each intersection can accommodate a cable or two dropped down through the intersection. Works well.

And it is rock-steady. Doesn't shift on a carpeted floor at all. On a hard floor... it might shift some. With the design being three-legged, there is no way it can "rock" as a four-legged shape might.

You can see the three different colored configurations shown. Many more are easy to do. I think I supplied them 40 pieces to play with.

They have a 40 or 50 foot x 9" black skirt with velcro on one edge. This can be quickly reset to any desired setup. It greatly classes up the open edges.

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I'll be going out to the club this Thursday night. I'll try to get you guys some real photographs of the system in place.

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Bill Everett - St. Petersburg, FL

72chevy4x4

taking responsibility of the liability for a break down system (w/ folding legs) wouldn't make me too happy.

how about a system of 'boxes' where there are say three different sizes boxes where each box fits within the other box. The footprint of the stack would be the largest box with all boxes stacked vertically.

I coordinated a build at my church where the old front stage was removed and a new one built from the ground up. A lot of time and thought went into planning the placement of everything and some of the 'temporary' things that had been built in the past turned into permanent items. So...the temporary pub stage may not be too temporary-a permanent structure would be easier, more cost effective and less likely to be a liability issue (IMO)

Willie T

Chevy........... you nailed exactly what we did with our church club stage. And the triangle "boxes" were built that way for just the reason you mentioned... dumb, accident-prone teenagers. This was as foolproof and safe as we could come up with. And with ten or twelve kids working, it goes up or down very quickly.

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72chevy4x4

great design idea Willie-I'm going to store that away in my head!

Willie T

Only draw back is the required storage. It will eat up a 15 or 20 foot wall with the stack sticking out from the wall 34"..

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Willie T

This was also a GREAT Father-Son activity for the church. A friend of mine (our sound system guy) came up with the concept... I designed the detailed units and cut out all the wood beforehand................. then we had a father-son work party on a Saturday. I already had jigs setup for them, and three different crews assembled the triangles. Later that week, I went over and put the carpet on each one..... though this COULD have been done by the crews.

The drummer's stand was a little more involved, so I elected to do that one by myself.

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DarrenB

The metal stage sections you showed are what most stage rental companies provide.

Also, for temporary staging exhibit companies and production companies use 3/4" ply ripped in 6" strips framed 12" OC with at least 5/8" decking attached.

Then legs are made from a 5 1/4" and 6" rip stapled and glued together to form a right angle. These are cut to height needed.

The legs are then attached in the corners of the deck sections with screws or bolted. 4' x 8' deck sections will get another leg at the 4' center on each side.

You should then have cross braces that will either be screwed or bolted to stiffen the legs and knock out any wobble. Bracing is determined by height. Use your judgement.

The sections are attached to one another either from underneath with clamps or from the top with coffin locks.

Usually a piece of Marley floor gets rolled out on top or carpet.

The reason why those metal ones you showed are expensive is their ability to be broken down and set up quickly.

But for one off special event stages, even the large production companies still use wooden section to accomodate features such as radiused sections and such.

Hope this helps.

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KentWhitten

One thing I never thought much about until Willie said something. This is going over a commercial grade laminate floor. This was the bar/restaurant I was working on for he last 3 months. We put this flooring down and it's a little slippery. Not too bad, but I may need to put some rubber feet on this to keep it from sliding.

I'm supposed to meet with this guy Monday night. It will be a long day so I probably won't be on tomorrow night. I'm not quite sure of the shape yet. We did the area in question, it's a rave dance area. I just can't picture this thing yet, what he wants exactly.

Almost forgot about stairs too. I wonder what the codes are for that if it's anything different than normal IBC?

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KentWhitten

I'm going with the grid suggestion. Mike, thank your dad for the idea and thank you for bringing it to my attention.

I'm picking up ply tomorrow. I'm going with 3/4" MDO unless someone has a better suggestion. I think particle board would break down too quickly and I think most finish plywood would be fine. MDO is around $50/sheet.

Then I have 2 questions about the top. Do you think MDO will be OK for that? I'm not sure it would be rated for that type of use. And how the heck am I going to secure that to the grid?

I guess I also need to say that I want this to break down with no tools or at the very most one. I'm making it as idiot proof as possible and it needs to take a beating. You don't know the Old Port crowd, they are rough. I'm making somewhat of a minor career going there and fixing little things.

Thanks guys. You know I'll be posting pics of this when it's done, hopefully this weekend. We'll see. Lot of work to do.

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If you correct your mind, the rest of your life will fall into place ~Lao Tzu

Custom Cabinetry - Portland, Cape Elizabeth, Scarborough, Kennebunkport, Yarmouth, Falmouth, Cumberland, Ogunquit, Maine

Salmon Falls Cabinetry

jeffatsquan

Safty 1st

Idiot proof 2nd

I'm sure mike's dads system wasn't Idiot proof

mikeswoods

Hi Framerman--I've got to go to work now--I'll put some thought into the top while I'm working.--MIKE--

Cole82

I did one like the grid setup above for a local r/c car track it was a drivers stand. Made the grid 3/4" below the perimiter boards. So when the top was placed in it recessed down onto the grid makeing it flush with the side boards. This left a the ply edge exposed around the outside, but this was not an issue on what I was doing. Also the perimiter boards were hinged together to fold flat. Finished box was 3'by3'

On yours you could do triangle shaped blocks in the corners to keep the top from sliding around.