# What is it? #687B



## derekleffew (Jul 25, 2012)

Submitted by an anonymous (for now) member.


.


> Part number 687B. 9.25” long 2.04 lbs. Round hole will fit on 1.75” OD.



As with all QotDs, students only for one week, please.


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## porkchop (Jul 25, 2012)

Medieval torture device


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## Amishplumber (Jul 25, 2012)

Hhmm...

If it fit on 1.5" sch 40 I would say its some sort of quick release cable management device. Grab a handful of stage pin, release the little handle and it grabs your whole bundle for you, no more tieline needed! Would also make for a quick strike with the quick release latch. Would love to have a bunch on a batten at 3 foot intervals.

But it fits 1.75" OD!? Now I'm lost.


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## STEVETERRY (Jul 25, 2012)

Amishplumber said:


> Hhmm...
> 
> If it fit on 1.5" sch 40 I would say its some sort of quick release cable management device. Grab a handful of stage pin, release the little handle and it grabs your whole bundle for you, no more tieline needed! Would also make for a quick strike with the quick release latch. Would love to have a bunch on a batten at 3 foot intervals.
> 
> But it fits 1.75" OD!? Now I'm lost.



Nice try....but no.

To place it in time, think circa 1920.

ST


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## derekleffew (Jul 25, 2012)

porkchop said:


> Medieval torture device


Not surprisingly, that was my guess. Nevermind for which part of the anatomy.


STEVETERRY said:


> To place it in time, think circa 1920.


You know, back when Steve was young.


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## sk8rsdad (Jul 25, 2012)

My wild-***** guess would be some sort of rope management thingy for a hemp and bag system that works with some popular size belaying pin?


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## STEVETERRY (Jul 25, 2012)

sk8rsdad said:


> My wild-***** guess would be some sort of rope management thingy for a hemp and bag system that works with some popular size belaying pin?



Nope.

ST


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## BanditRO (Jul 25, 2012)

Need something from which to gauge dimension... is this thing a meter long? or a few inches... ;-)


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## sk8rsdad (Jul 25, 2012)

BanditRO said:


> Need something from which to gauge dimension... is this thing a meter long? or a few inches... ;-)



The text description under the picture says " 9.25” long 2.04 lbs. Round hole will fit on 1.75” OD."


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## BanditRO (Jul 25, 2012)

D'OH!!! Sad state of affairs when i miss that!!


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## venuetech (Jul 25, 2012)

Amishplumber said:


> Hhmm...
> 
> If it fit on 1.5" sch 40 I would say its some sort of quick release cable management device.
> 
> But it fits 1.75" OD!? Now I'm lost.



1.5" is the nominal inside dimension of 1.5 sched 40 pipe.


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## STEVETERRY (Jul 26, 2012)

Hint: Plumb the depths of the CB Wiki.

ST


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## STEVETERRY (Jul 27, 2012)

venuetech said:


> 1.5" is the nominal inside dimension of 1.5 sched 40 pipe.



Second hint: Rotate device approximately 135 degrees CCW from the orientation in the photos to arrive at the position it is actually used in.

SY


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## JChenault (Jul 27, 2012)

I'm pretty sure I have seen this in my old stagecraft books, but I have never seen 'one in the flesh'.


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## jstandfast (Jul 27, 2012)

I've seen a couple in the flesh,(so to speak)but never so clean and manufactured looking.


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## Abraddesigns (Jul 27, 2012)

I keep going back to one of two things in my mind, either something sort of mounting tool, or something to hold your cables for your fly system in place...then some part of me wants to say it's a thing that lets you add a pull ring to something...I have a feeling these are all wrong


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## gafftapegreenia (Jul 27, 2012)

Pretty sure I know, don't want to post my guess yet.


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## Cashwalker (Aug 1, 2012)

Is it used instead of a safty cable?


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## derekleffew (Aug 1, 2012)

Since it's been a week, the question is now open to anyone: the tired, the poor, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore. (Everyone except Mr. Terry; he'll have to wait one more week, unless the question is satisfactorily answered by another.)


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## STEVETERRY (Aug 1, 2012)

Cashwalker said:


> Is it used instead of a safty cable?



Nope.

ST


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## MPowers (Aug 1, 2012)

Here's another version of the device.


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## SteveB (Aug 1, 2012)

MPowers said:


> View attachment 7359
> 
> 
> Here's another version of the device.



Yup. Opera clamp.


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## tdrga (Aug 1, 2012)

Michael- I think you gave it away (filename of image...)

-Todd


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## chausman (Aug 1, 2012)

SteveB said:


> Yup. Opera clamp.



If so, then what did/does one do with such a clamp?


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD


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## SteveB (Aug 1, 2012)

It hangs/mounts to the top pipe on which a drop/cyc is hanging. If the drop/cyc has a bottom pipe, the clamps (spaced evenly along the top pipe) can pickup the bottom pipe allowing the drop to use half the height to get out of sightlines. Very useful in houses with less then adequate grid height. Care must be taken to not gather too much fabric when you clamp the bottom pipe, else the clamp can pinch and tear the drop.


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## chausman (Aug 1, 2012)

SteveB said:


> It hangs/mounts to the top pipe on which a drop/cyc is hanging. If the drop/cyc has a bottom pipe, the clamps (spaced evenly along the top pipe) can pickup the bottom pipe allowing the drop to use half the height to get out of sightlines. Very useful in houses with less then adequate grid height. Care must be taken to not gather too much fabric when you clamp the bottom pipe, else the clamp can pinch and tear the drop.



That sounds like what I need at school. Pathetic grid height.


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## derekleffew (Aug 1, 2012)

SteveB said:


> Yup. Opera clamp.




SteveB said:


> It hangs/mounts to the top pipe on which a drop/cyc is hanging. If the drop/cyc has a bottom pipe, the clamps (spaced evenly along the top pipe) can pickup the bottom pipe allowing the drop to use half the height to get out of sightlines. Very useful in houses with less then adequate grid height. Care must be taken to not gather too much fabric when you clamp the bottom pipe, else the clamp can pinch and tear the drop.


So a piece of hardware to aid in westcoast ing? Or, actually, trip ping a drop?

The picture that MPowers posted is of a batten clamp or "drop holder". 

But I'm not convinced either is what STEVETERRY's picture is. How would one get it onto the 1.75” OD (pipe?), except to slide it from one end?


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## JChenault (Aug 1, 2012)

Well
I thought it dates from a time when the top of your painted drop was a 1x3 batten ( or a pair of them sandwiching the drop). To attach this to the pipe you would clamp the 1x3 between the big jaw af the hardware device.

So it is a piece of hardware to aid in hanging a drop which is attached to a wooden batten.

That said, I am not totally happy with my answer, and I agree that mounting these on a pipe batten would be somewhat problematic. but somehow all of my old stagecraft books have been replaced with texts on lighting and software ( except for my third edition of Parker and Smith Circa 1974. - and it does not have an image of it. If I could just find my second edition... sometimes this board makes me feel really old )


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## MPowers (Aug 1, 2012)

The picture I posted is exactly what you have described. It allowed drops to be hung in a hemp house without a pipe batten on free ends the lift lines, only the clamps at the ends of the ropes. As the batten was indeed a 1x3 sandwich attached to the drop, the drop was rolled up as it flew in and another drop could be attached in seconds, a complete drop to drop "quick change". When shows toured by RR car, long and skinny was the size and type of package used. 

I could be wrong but I think the device the OP pictured is the same thing for use in a CW house with pipe battens. They would be installed permanently on the pipe and when a drop was to be hung, 4 hands, 4 minutes and it's up (or down). Steve please correct me if I'm wrong.


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## STEVETERRY (Aug 2, 2012)

MPowers said:


> View attachment 7359
> 
> 
> Here's another version of the device.



Correct.

ST


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## STEVETERRY (Aug 2, 2012)

MPowers said:


> The picture I posted is exactly what you have described. It allowed drops to be hung in a hemp house without a pipe batten on free ends the lift lines, only the clamps at the ends of the ropes. As the batten was indeed a 1x3 sandwich attached to the drop, the drop was rolled up as it flew in and another drop could be attached in seconds, a complete drop to drop "quick change". When shows toured by RR car, long and skinny was the size and type of package used.
> 
> I could be wrong but I think the device the OP pictured is the same thing for use in a CW house with pipe battens. They would be installed permanently on the pipe and when a drop was to be hung, 4 hands, 4 minutes and it's up (or down). Steve please correct me if I'm wrong.



That is correct. The 1.75" round hole suggests 1-1/4" sch 40 pipe, which was used in various theatre applications before 1-1/2" took over.

ST


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## JohnD (Aug 2, 2012)

STEVETERRY said:


> That is correct. The 1.75" round hole suggests 1-1/4" sch 40 pipe, which was used in various theatre applications before 1-1/2" took over.
> 
> ST


Interesting, I wonder if that has anything to do with this new facility:
http://www.controlbooth.com/forums/stage-management-facility-operations/28428-new-school.html
Tex, in posts #64 and #67 has a hanging position with 1-1/4" pipe instead of 1-1/2" and mega-claws don't work with it. 
I wonder if somewhere along the line a designer picked up an older standard.


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## STEVETERRY (Aug 4, 2012)

JohnD said:


> Interesting, I wonder if that has anything to do with this new facility:
> http://www.controlbooth.com/forums/stage-management-facility-operations/28428-new-school.html
> Tex, in posts #64 and #67 has a hanging position with 1-1/4" pipe instead of 1-1/2" and mega-claws don't work with it.
> I wonder if somewhere along the line a designer picked up an older standard.



....or should be checking the conditions of their Errors and Omissions insurance.

ST


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## kensmithld (Sep 2, 2012)

Steve--the real question is where do you find these? I am working in a 'new' theatre with a grid height of 55', a proscenium height of 30'. Somebody forgot to do their math and now stuck with tripping 10 soft goods. I would love to get my hands on a couple dozen of these.

Ken Smith


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## derekleffew (Sep 2, 2012)

Drop Holder / Stage Curtains & Storage Hampers / Curtain Track, Curtain Hardware & Stage Fabric / Home - Mutual Hardware
Here's hoping you have deep pockets! 
This variant Royal Opera House Collections Online may be easier to self-fabricate.


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## techieman33 (Sep 2, 2012)

derekleffew said:


> View attachment 7616
> 
> Drop Holder / Stage Curtains & Storage Hampers / Curtain Track, Curtain Hardware & Stage Fabric / Home - Mutual Hardware
> Here's hoping you have deep pockets!
> This variant Royal Opera House Collections Online may be easier to self-fabricate.




I hope it's made of titanium or something to fetch that kind of a price.


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## kensmithld (Sep 2, 2012)

techieman33 said:


> I hope it's made of titanium or something to fetch that kind of a price.



You'd think it was marine hardware...I guess there's always bulldog clips instead.


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