# What are these poles?



## Sam31955 (Dec 31, 2018)

These have been hanging on the wall forever. They have been used for many things but what are they and what were they originally used for? They all have the ends in the photos and a clamp so they expand in length.



3 photos included.


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## RonHebbard (Dec 31, 2018)

Sam31955 said:


> These have been hanging on the wall forever. They have been used for many things but what are they and what were they originally used for? They all have the ends in the photos and a clamp so they expand in length.View attachment 17226View attachment 17227View attachment 17228
> 3 photos included.


 @Sam31955 Scenic braces, scenery braces, flat braces. Pre-date French braces. 
Toodleoo! 
Ron Hebbard


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## derekleffew (Dec 31, 2018)

RonHebbard said:


> @Sam31955 Scenic braces, scenery braces, flat braces. Pre-date French braces.


@RonHebbard hit every term except the correct one: stage brace. Used to maintain a Flat, Broadway 's vertical erection. Also required is one stage brace cleat and one stage screw per.



Good job in picture#1 with the stage brace hanger. See https://www.controlbooth.com/threads/what-is-it-034-stage-brace-hanger.23998/ .

derekleffew said:


> ... The stage braces are now out of the way, and need not ever be thought of again. (Except to answer the young ones' question, "What the heck are those?")


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## SteveB (Dec 31, 2018)

I have a few of these, I used to use them to bang focus a PAR64.


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## Colin (Dec 31, 2018)

SteveB said:


> I have a few of these, I used to use them to bang focus a PAR64.



Done it! For a stupid high trim, from top of maxed out A-frame extension, half a lifetime ago when I did dumb things like that. The hooked ends have their pros and cons in that particular situation but in a short black box grid they're pretty sweet to use from the floor.


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## BillConnerFASTC (Jan 1, 2019)

Like other things that have become somewhat obsolete, stage braces, the associated hardware, and lash cleats were a very well developed system for changing scenery of the box set style. A decent crew could do an entire box set change fast with no special machinery.


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## Amiers (Jan 1, 2019)

Looks like a board stretcher to me.


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## derekleffew (Jan 1, 2019)

SteveB said:


> I have a few of these, I used to use them to bang focus a PAR64.




Colin said:


> they're pretty sweet to use from the floor.


It takes a "special" talent to use the forked end to remove/insert an unreachable gelframe.


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## SteveB (Jan 1, 2019)

derekleffew said:


> It takes a "special" talent to use the forked end to remove/insert an unreachable gelframe.



Remove, yes, done that. Insert ?, I never got THAT good at it.


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## RonHebbard (Jan 2, 2019)

SteveB said:


> Remove, yes, done that. Insert ?, I never got THAT good at it.


 *@SteveB* 
_Step one:_ You lower the new frame in behind the existing frame, this makes it much easier to accurately land in behind all of the frame retainers. 
_Step two:_ You catch the original frame and hook it out. Easy when you type it fast. 
Toodleoo! 
Ron Hebbard


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## SteveB (Jan 2, 2019)

RonHebbard said:


> *@SteveB*
> _Step one:_ You lower the new frame in behind the existing frame, this makes it much easier to accurately land in behind all of the frame retainers.
> _Step two:_ You catch the original frame and hook it out. Easy when you type it fast.
> Toodleoo!
> Ron Hebbard



Yeah, OK. On a S4, not going to happen if the gel frame retaining clip is locked down. Ditto a PAR64 with a spring loaded top clip. Altman 6x9 something ?, with an open frame holder ?. Maybe. Moot point anyway as I haven't used a 360Q in a decade, nor a PAR64 for that matter. My backlights these days are MAC Aura's and I nudge to focus with my iPad., yuk, yuk.


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## seanandkate (Jan 3, 2019)

SteveB said:


> I have a few of these, I used to use them to bang focus a PAR64.



The fact that "bang focus" is not in the wiki seems like a gross oversight...


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## Van (Jan 3, 2019)

I ran across a stack of Jacks in one of our storage places here at the shop. NOBODY who works out there knew what they were. :shock:


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## SteveB (Jan 3, 2019)

seanandkate said:


> The fact that "bang focus" is not in the wiki seems like a gross oversight...



Indeed.


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## RonHebbard (Jan 3, 2019)

SteveB said:


> Indeed.




SteveB said:


> Indeed.


 * @SteveB* Bus sock's not in the wiki either with good cause. 
Toodleoo! 
Ron Hebbard


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## SteveB (Jan 3, 2019)

RonHebbard said:


> * @SteveB* Bus sock's not in the wiki either with good cause.
> Toodleoo!
> Ron Hebbard



So true. I bow to your wisdom on this.


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## TheaterEd (Jan 4, 2019)

If we're talking about wiki edits, This little gem needs to be added to the stage brace definition.


derekleffew said:


> stage brace. Used to maintain a Flat, Broadway 's vertical erection.



The stage brace is basically the viagra of the scenic carpentry.


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## Ted jones (Jan 9, 2019)

I own a couple of them. When nothing but a stage brace will do....................


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## TimMc (Jan 9, 2019)

Grandpa, where did the dinosaurs go?

Well they were with the old stage hands that knew what resistance dimmers were, and how to strike and reset a box set during intermission...


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## RonHebbard (Jan 9, 2019)

TimMc said:


> Grandpa, where did the dinosaurs go?
> 
> Well they were with the old stage hands that knew what resistance dimmers were, and how to strike and reset a box set during intermission...


 * @TimMc* I'm waiting for *@Ancient Engineer* to explain brine dimmers to us along with how he erected the pyramids before he sat down to eat his dinosaur sandwich.
Toodleoo!
Ron Hebbard


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## Ancient Engineer (Jan 9, 2019)

Bwah! Well, a salty dog once told me about brine dimmers... <rimshot> He also made the case for board stretchers and turboencabulators.

Lemme tell ya about the time we rigged a 1940s 4.5'dia. mirror ball... and had it "drop in" un-announced during rehearsal... Oh. Nevermind.

Seriously though, if you told my first Steward about building structural set pieces with drywall screws his head would have probably actually exploded.

I will allow that most technology advances have been for the better. Some knowledge of the old-school techniques improves awareness overall, and that is never a bad thing.

And get off my lawn!


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## TimMc (Jan 9, 2019)

Don't go messin' with the Turboencabulator! You could disrupt the space-time continuum!


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## Ancient Engineer (Jan 10, 2019)

Some Turboencabulator literature from an ancient company...










GE_Turboencabulator



__ Ancient Engineer
__ Jan 10, 2019






And a video...


Knowledge -- check


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## RonHebbard (Jan 10, 2019)

Ancient Engineer said:


> Some Turboencabulator literature from an ancient company...
> 
> 
> 
> ...



* @Ancient Engineer* You need to meet the lads who operate L3 Engineering. I was one of several Canadians who needed to be fingerprinted by your FBI / CIA / "Men In Black" in order to watch one of L3's demo reels when we were considering one of L3's products for an automation project we were manufacturing for MSNBC. 
Toodleoo! 
Ron Hebbard


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## RonHebbard (Jan 10, 2019)

Ancient Engineer said:


> Some Turboencabulator literature from an ancient company...
> 
> 
> 
> ...



*@Ancient Engineer* "Every seventh slot" _BRILLIANT!!_ Consider what that does for minimizing triplen harmonics alone. 
*@TimMc* Care to comment? Imagine if they'd implemented their fully parametric features in their original release. 
Toodleoo! 
Ron Hebbard


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## Ancient Engineer (Jan 10, 2019)

I like harmonicas, but three would be a lot.


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## Bob Musser (Jan 10, 2019)

RonHebbard said:


> * @TimMc* I'm waiting for *@Ancient Engineer* to explain brine dimmers to us along with how he erected the pyramids before he sat down to eat his dinosaur sandwich.
> Toodleoo!
> Ron Hebbard


On Topic: We have a half dozen stage braces around, and I grab one for something a few times a year, sometimes even for bracing scenery! 

Off-Topic: I made a brine dimmer for a Physics for Non-Majors class in ~1978. What was interesting was that there were enough dissolved minerals in our tap water that it worked even before I added salt to the water!


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## TimMc (Jan 11, 2019)

RonHebbard said:


> *@Ancient Engineer* "Every seventh slot" _BRILLIANT!!_ Consider what that does for minimizing triplen harmonics alone.
> *@TimMc* Care to comment? Imagine if they'd implemented their fully parametric features in their original release.
> Toodleoo!
> Ron Hebbard



Ron, they multiply IIRC, and therefore the 21st harmonic is predominate.  Then again, maybe the cancel out at the 21st, and we enter the 6th dimension. Math is hard, I didn't know there would be a test...


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