# Slash Line (noun)?



## derekleffew (Oct 30, 2017)

Students only for one week, please.
Submitted by a member.

What and where would one find the slash line?


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## epimetheus (Oct 30, 2017)

On your keyboard, to the left of the right shift key and above the enter key?


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## derekleffew (Oct 30, 2017)

Forgot to mention...
Hint: Has nothing to do with baseball player statistics. 
Nor numerators\denominators.


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## JohnD (Oct 30, 2017)

More clues please, does it have any thing to do with fighting forest fires, or maybe scurrilous fanfic?


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## derekleffew (Oct 30, 2017)

JohnD said:


> ...does it have any thing to do with fighting forest fires, or maybe scurrilous fanfic?


No and no. 
Another clew: Where (in a theatre) might one expect to find said noun?


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## Amiers (Oct 30, 2017)

The shop. Cut on the slash line?


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## derekleffew (Oct 30, 2017)

Re-iterating again: 

Students Only for one week please. 

Don't make me turn this forum around.


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## JChenault (Oct 30, 2017)

Can non students make punny suggestions?


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## JonCarter (Nov 3, 2017)

OK - 5 days. (That's a week, isn't it?) 

Might it be related to an adjacent (usually dull) knife on a chain?


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## derekleffew (Nov 3, 2017)

Five days is not seven, so wait until Monday. And yes.


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## seanandkate (Nov 4, 2017)

epimetheus said:


> On your keyboard, to the left of the right shift key and above the enter key?




JohnD said:


> More clues please, does it have any thing to do with fighting forest fires, or maybe scurrilous fanfic?




Amiers said:


> The shop. Cut on the slash line?




JChenault said:


> Can non students make punny suggestions?



See...THIS is WHY we have a Resident Curmudgeon...


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## BillConnerFASTC (Nov 4, 2017)

It would help if the thread title started with "STUDENTS" or "QOD". Clicking on "new posts" does not emphasize that its in the question of the day forum much at all.


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## RonHebbard (Nov 6, 2017)

BillConnerFASTC said:


> It would help if the thread title started with "STUDENTS" or "QOD". Clicking on "new posts" does not emphasize that its in the question of the day forum much at all.


@BillConnerFASTC Now Bill now. It's well into Monday, go for it.
Toodleoo!
Ron Hebbard.


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## JohnD (Nov 6, 2017)

Well let's see, @JonCarter would that knife sometimes be one of those carpet layers knives with the curved blade? Would there also have been a bucket of sand nearby? And as for @Amiers I remember from high school shop, you drew a cut line, then made slash marks on the offcut side.

Geezerish diversion: Does anyone remember that thing you used to see in projection booths. It was a wall mounted bracket with an inverted teardrop shaped glass bottle filled with a red liquid.


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## JonCarter (Nov 6, 2017)

@JohnD, _We_ know what it is, right? Let's see how long it takes the youngsters to come up with something. Hints:
- What's the first thing a new crew member is told the existence of?
- What's the first things a new crew member is told the location of?
- What's the first thing a new crew member is shown & explained?
- What's the first thing a new crew member is threatened with death if they touched?

The only thing I can come up with for your projection booth goodie is a carbon tet fire extinguisher.


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## JChenault (Nov 6, 2017)

I'm sure the slash line is short for slasher line. IE on certain types of movie sets, the line beyond which you are likely to be splattered with faux blood. Kind of like the splash line at SeaWorld.


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## Michael K (Nov 6, 2017)

Some of your hints are making me think Fire Curtain, or the line it falls to.


JohnD said:


> Well let's see, @JonCarter
> Geezerish diversion: Does anyone remember that thing you used to see in projection booths. It was a wall mounted bracket with an inverted teardrop shaped glass bottle filled with a red liquid.



You mean a fire grande? Pretty interesting in concept, despite being closer to impractical in use.


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## JimmyM (Nov 6, 2017)

Would it be the line that you cut to lower the fire curtain. You slash it with a knife.

Also, heres a pic of a fire grenade.


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## Van (Nov 6, 2017)

Now THAT's a Slash Line!


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## venuetech (Nov 6, 2017)

Seems every thing has two or three names it's known by..
But a hookbill knife chained to a sign just off stage brings one to mind .
My dad (a carpenter) taught me to to put a slash on the kerf side of the cut line. But he rarely stepped onto a stage.


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## JChenault (Nov 6, 2017)

In the belief that every kitchen needs a theme, and we like trompe loiel this is our kitchen art. The rope is real. The knife painted.


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## BillConnerFASTC (Nov 6, 2017)




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## teqniqal (Nov 10, 2017)

Well, if you are talking about the Fire Curtain Perimeter Release Line that is to be 'slashed' to release the Fire Curtain, I've found that most of them have all had the cut knife removed ("to keep the children from hurting themselves") and _sometimes_ it is replaced with a big wire cutter ('dikes', small bolt cutters) or a dull hack-saw blade (so you can burn-to death-while sawing the rope in two). Modern Fire Curtain release systems just anchor the end of the perimeter rope to a ring and it is released by manually pulling it off of a pin on the wall, or by pulling a hitch-pin out of a bracket that holds the ring.

Another answer might relate to a horror play script where the attacker yells " I'm gonna cut yur scurvy hide into little pieces and feed ya to the fishes!" - That would be a 'slasher line'.

Or any lyric from the songs of the many bands names 'Slasher' . . .


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## derekleffew (Nov 10, 2017)

https://www.amazon.es/Stage-Rigging-Handbook-Jay-Glerum/dp/0809317443
Just because slash and cut are synonyms doesn't mean one can invent new glossary terms.

So really, the most correct answer to "Where would one find...?" is the Costume Shop.


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## Daniel Yannantuono (Nov 16, 2017)

derekleffew said:


> Students only for one week, please.
> Submitted by a member.
> 
> What and where would one find the slash line?


You would find it going through all of the expensive items on your wish list of purchases


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## venuetech (Nov 17, 2017)

derekleffew said:


> Just because slash and cut are synonyms doesn't mean one can invent new glossary terms.


When I proposed the question I had no intention of " inventing" a new term. Slash line was simply the term I was taught. Clearly a few other members had a very good idea just what was meant by it. Search engines are a great tool for finding terms but they are only as good as their spiders make them. Cut line or slash line that method of triggering the (asbestos) fire curtain is long gone. In today's world it is likely best that a slash line belongs to the costume shop.


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## IsaacKirkwood (Mar 27, 2018)

Are we perhaps referring to the LX shorthand for "thru" when selecting channels?


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## RonHebbard (Mar 27, 2018)

IsaacKirkwood said:


> Are we perhaps referring to the LX shorthand for "thru" when selecting channels?


 @IsaacKirkwood Sorry! @venuetech had the correct answer in the post before yours from *November 17th, 2017*.


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## venuetech (Mar 27, 2018)

IsaacKirkwood said:


> Are we perhaps referring to the LX shorthand for "thru" when selecting channels?


That would be the shorthand for a split time notation on a paper cue sheet. First is the time up “/“ time down. Or at least that was the way I learned it, prior to the time of keypad entry.


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## derekleffew (Mar 27, 2018)

While mathematically incorrect, most consoles (and thus LX peeps) use > as thru.


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## jonliles (May 11, 2018)

The Theatre I was in last night still has a slash line with the knife attached at the defacto SM Station. Unfortunately, there is a stuff in the way that would make it difficult to actually get to the slash line. Typical county run facilty. @Footer should be familiar with the Jennie T Anderson from his old job from years ago.


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## venuetech (Jul 1, 2018)

jonliles said:


> The Theatre I was in last night still has a slash line with the knife attached at the defacto SM Station. Unfortunately, there is a stuff in the way that would make it difficult to actually get to the slash line. Typical county run facilty. @Footer should be familiar with the Jennie T Anderson from his old job from years ago.


Makes me wonder when was it last tested.


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## RonHebbard (Jul 1, 2018)

venuetech said:


> Makes me wonder when was it last tested.


 @venuetech When it originally opened in the fall of 1973, the Hamilton Place Great Hall was a 2183 seat soft-seater with a slash line; a knife on a chain DSR and a round iron ball at DSL. The knife on the chain was the most used, and probably dullest, knife because EVERYONE used it; carpenters to trim hemp and even 1 x 2's and LX to cut tie lines. The original knife was removed and sharpened a few times but was eventually replaced by a knife with replaceable blades. Like the IA; some call it nepotism, we call it tradition. 
Toodleoo!
Ron Hebbard


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## RonHebbard (Jul 2, 2018)

venuetech said:


> Makes me wonder when was it last tested.


 @jonliles @venuetech @Footer @derekleffew @gafftaper @dvsDave @tdtastic While we're chattering away about "slash lines" and knives routinely provided chained conveniently nearby for the purpose of slashing same, how many of you are familiar with the cast iron balls approximately 1.25 to 1.5" in diameter which were commonly found on the free end of the slash line on the opposite side from the slash knife and below the counter-weight carriage for the fire curtain / asbestos / call it what you will? 
If you're familiar with said iron ball, how many times did you have to use it to secure the curtain at its performance trim before you felt fully confident in its ability to do its job AND *your* ability to wrap it securely in position? 
*For bonus points:* How many times did you have to stand protectively in front of said cast iron ball during public tours, particularly tours involving children and curious 'touchy feely' back stage types who'd never been in a venue with a grid higher than 16' in their lives? 
I'll be first to admit, every time it took two of us grunting to haul the fire curtain out to its normal high trim and then we secured it with that one quick 'n simple (yet SO easy to quickly release if / when required) wrap, I looked back several times before walking away satisfied it was really that easy and that *I'd* actually done it correctly. 
*EDIT to add a P.S.*
In the case of Hamilton, Ontario's Hamilton Place Great Hall (Opened in the fall of 1973) the slash line and cast iron ball secured the manually operated clutch linking the non-variable speed electric motor's transmission which hoisted and secured the 11,000 pound originally supplied asbestos curtain in position. 
Eighteen years later in the fall of 1991 the exact same technique with the cast iron ball was used to directly secure the more modern fire curtain in Hamilton's Theatre Aquarius / DuMaurier Centre / whatever they're calling it nowadays. Both venues were heavily influenced by a long deceased senior member of IATSE 129 who absolutely INSISTED on having what he felt was the best method ever devised for the purpose. Ivan Munn, father of Butch and Dennis, taught me the ease and reliability of the cast iron ball and I've yet to forget his lesson.
Toodleoo!
Ron Hebbard


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## RonHebbard (Jul 2, 2018)

JChenault said:


> View attachment 15515
> In the belief that every kitchen needs a theme, and we like trompe loiel this is our kitchen art. The rope is real. The knife painted.


I *totally* love your "trompe loiel" and* please* keep in mind this is coming from a guy who knows less than zero about painting and thinks one of the best uses for a paint brush is adding drag to doors on box sets, just enough so they'll remain wherever preset without blowing in the breeze. I have seen a friend's attempt at a similar "trompe loiel" visual effect painted on the entire floor of his powder room immediately inside his front door to literally _startle the excrement_ out of guests casually walking in in the dark and closing the door prior to turning the light on. He and his wife's floor is designed to appear as if there is no floor and that you're somehow magically standing in mid-air about 20' above the concrete basement floor slab, of course the toilet drain pipe is painted in situ along with ceiling joists, and all the plumbing, electrical, HVAC and cross bracings you'd normally expect to NOT be seeing. I believe there's something similar on line they copied their work from. 
*EDIT:* Added @JChenault to flag your attention.
Guard your health. 
Toodleoo!
Ron Hebbard


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## MPowers (Jul 3, 2018)

[QUOTE="RonHebbard, post: 383730, 
............If you're familiar with said iron ball, how many times did you have to use it to secure the curtain at its performance trim before you felt fully confident in its ability to do its job AND *your* ability to wrap it securely in position? ........
*For bonus points:* How many times did you have to stand protectively in front of said cast iron ball during public tours, particularly tours involving children and curious 'touchy feely' back stage types........ haul the fire curtain out to its normal high trim and then we secured it with that one quick 'n simple (yet SO easy to quickly release if / when required) wrap,..........

Loved the Iron ball type. Installed a number of fire curtains with that as the OEM release. When doing repair, gen maintenance etc. I would always replace a knife with a ball release unless the owner refused to allow the change (only happened once). 
Re: protecting the release from curious fingers and hands. I was rarely involved in those type of events during the actual tour, but I always arranged for one or two tour guide "assistants" to open doors just in advance, close them behind the last straggler and to control access to things like curtain releases, doors to trap rooms, stairs to fly gallery, etc.


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## Smatticus (Dec 14, 2018)

Interesting, I had never really heard of the rope cut and ball release systems mentioned here. From the O. Glerum Stage Rigging Handbook 3rd Edition;

"D. Overbalance Systems 1. Free-End Ball Release: This system requires that the fire-curtain side of the system be heavier than the arbor side. A heavy ball made of steel or lead is affixed to the end of the release line and is tied to the operating line to keep the curtain open. When one of the automatic devices in the release line opens, the slack in the line allows the ball to fall to the floor releasing the knot on the operating line, and the overweight curtain comes in. The release line has emergency-release devices on either side of the stage. Releasing the ball by hand allows manual operation of the curtain."

As alluded to in this thread, it seems often there were no "automatic devices" for releasing the line... you either cut the rope with the knife or release the ball to release the fire curtain.

"B. Manual-Release Devices: In older systems, the release line, called a cut line, is made from Manila rope and tied to anchor points on either side of the stage. A knife, or other type of cutting device, should be chained to the wall near the termination with a sign that reads 'In case of fire, cut rope.' Often, the knives have disappeared or are so dull that they cannot cut the rope."

Going back to the ball-release... a "dangerous problem with this type of release is that many stagehands do not know how to tie off the release line with the proper ball knot. Do not tie the line around both sides of the operation line, as that will cause it to slip and not hold the curtain. Do not use any knot other than the one shown, or it will not release properly."

I would hardly describe what is illustrated in the textbook as a knot... it just looks like one wrap of the release line around the operating line with the ball passing underneath the working end of the release line after the wrap. I now understand the concern you are expressing, @RonHebbard, regarding novices backstage touching things, seems like it would be very easy to release.


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## Ancient Engineer (Jan 14, 2019)

Do you mean "Sash" line? Cause that is a special woven cotton line that has no twist when pulled through sheaves. And is rated only slightly stronger then shoelaces.


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## RonHebbard (Jan 14, 2019)

Ancient Engineer said:


> Do you mean "Sash" line? Cause that is a special woven cotton line that has no twist when pulled through sheaves. And is rated only slightly stronger then shoelaces.


 *@Ancient Engineer* In a word: * NO! *
Toodleoo! 
Ron Hebbard


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