# Fixing A Stage Curtain



## cgimusic (Jun 29, 2009)

At our school our stage curtain is broken and our caretakers can't/wont fix it. Can anyone help us with it?

Thanks in advance.


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## NickJones (Jun 29, 2009)

I think it would be against the CB Terms Of Service to help you with this sorry, I may be wrong though, could you contact someone from a local proffesional theatre to help you?
Nick


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## chrispo86 (Jun 29, 2009)

I think whether or not it crosses the line depends... Broken in my opinion could be anything from the curtain won't pull or it's falling down or there's a tear in the fabric. So what is meant by "broken"? A little more specific of a question may be able to get an answer (or it'll be clear that we're crossing into that no-no territory...)


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## cgimusic (Jun 29, 2009)

chrispo86 said:


> I think whether or not it crosses the line depends... Broken in my opinion could be anything from the curtain won't pull or it's falling down or there's a tear in the fabric. So what is meant by "broken"? A little more specific of a question may be able to get an answer (or it'll be clear that we're crossing into that no-no territory...)



Sorry I should have explained better. I didn't have a lot of time when I posted it. As you can see from the photo the cable used to open an close the curtain has slipped of the reel. The cable doesn't seem to go back on to the reel. We could get a professional to come out and fix it. I should have phrased my question a little differently I guess: "Has anyone had this problem before? If so how did you fix it?"


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## lighthouse (Jun 29, 2009)

Based on the picture, hire a professional. That cable is under tension, probably from the full weight of the curtain.


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## n1ist (Jun 29, 2009)

It's not only the issue of unrolling the cable and getting it back on the drum; that cable needs to be inspected for damage, and I don't see any sort of guards there, so the whole system should be inspected for safety. As said, you will need to get a professional in there to look at it. It's too easy to lose a finger or get caught up in the line and get seriously hurt.


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## headcrab (Jun 29, 2009)

Depending on your system, I would disagree. We have a curtain drive that looks very much like yours. When ours breaks, as it has in the past, I have to unwind the tangled cable, move both the motor and drive to one limit position, and rewind the cable. With our system, the curtain moves sideways, so I can get away with that method of repair, but if yours moves vertically, then yes, you should contact a professional.

EDIT by Gaff: I want to be very clear that Headcrab is describing doing this on a curtain that is traveling from side to side. Never attempt to do anything like this with a curtain that travels up and down.


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## chrispo86 (Jun 29, 2009)

cgimusic said:


> ...As you can see from the photo the cable used to open an close the curtain has slipped of the reel. The cable doesn't seem to go back on to the reel...



My bad...
I forget that I'm at the office and they have pictures from certain mass-photo-storage sites blocked. That was one of them.

I looked at the pic on my Iphone. Looks like quite a mess. Unfortunately I'd say get a pro to look at it. I wouldn't want to mess with something like that, there's too many other possible complications that could have arisen from that happening, and I do think that offering any advice would cross the aformentioned line...


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## gafftaper (Jun 29, 2009)

I'm THIS CLOSE to closing this thread. 

Please do not post any ideas of how to fix this situation. 

I am going to leave the thread open for discussion because I think you still need help and we can help you. However, I want to make it very clear that fixing this problem definitely requires a REAL professional rigger to come inspect and fix it in person. Any discusson of how to fix it is definitely not allowed under the TOS. As has been said you not only need the problem fixed you need it inspected for damage and analyzed to find out what went wrong and make sure it doesn't happen again. 

I see you are in Reading, UK. Looks like you aren't far from London. Is there a university nearby with a good theater program? (There might be a rigger there willing to help you out for free or for the cost of buying him lunch). Maybe somebody here knows somebody there. Anyone have connections to a rigger in the London?


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## aminorking (Jun 29, 2009)

Can i ask which school you are at? Is it Leighton Park?
If the caretakers won't fix it then the issue must be raised with the person in charge with buildings etc or in charge of the welfare of students on site. Getting a professional, qualified rigger in is essential, and with a bit of sweet talking you may be able to get one from the Hexagon (which for others is the local rep house)


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## NickJones (Jun 29, 2009)

High Schools are usually tight but they will splash out to make things safe So in this situation you are more likely to get the cash you want to fix it.
Nick


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## gafftaper (Jun 30, 2009)

Closely inspect the cable. Don't move it. Just look at it. Is the cable at all bent, does it have individual strands that are pulled out or damaged? Is there any part of the cable that looks like it's been bent, kinked, damaged, or in anyway doesn't look normal. Cable get's it strength from having a lot of tiny fairly weak cables wrapped in a perfect pattern. If anything happens to damage the way those cables are wrapped together it results in a massive drop in the strength of the cable. If there is any clear sign of damage to the cable I would have the stage shut down until repairs can happen. Even if there isn't any obvious physical sign of damage the cable may still be damaged internally, or it may have been stretched which would be very hard to see. 

There definitely is a danger no matter how much damage you may see. How dangerous, it's hard to tell without a professional looking at it. Remember the track and/or pipe that the curtain hangs from could easily kill someone if the cable failed. How much does your school value the lives of the people on stage? Are they willing to gamble the lives of their students and faculty by not repairing it? No matter what the appearance of the cable, it needs to be repaired soon.

The good news is you live near a major city so you should have plenty of repair options, the cable itself is fairly cheap to purchase, your most expensive factor will be the labor.


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## wah0808 (Jun 30, 2009)

Correct me if I'm wrong, but looking at your picture and working in three theatres with the same setup. If I'm not mistaken, this is for horizontally opening the curtain not vertically lifting and/or dropping the curtain. There is no weight on this cable and the curtain track is suspended completely independent of this cable.

That being said, I wouldn't tackle fixing this yourself unless you have knowledge of these type of cable reels, but I can't see any danger to anyone on stage...


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## cgimusic (Jun 30, 2009)

Thanks. After pointing out safety as an issue the school were forced to hire someone in to fix the problem. I might just think about mentioning that our current sound flight case is too heavy and we need a new one .


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