# Revolving floors



## GOODCHILD (Nov 24, 2010)

im looking to build a revolving floor about 20 foot diameter on top of an existing floor, however i do not know were to start, i have a rough idea that it will need to be the type to be a circle in a square type of revolve and also i ideally needs to be motorized as well, does anyone no any good websites or threads in here that could get me started.

thanks for your help


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## MNicolai (Nov 24, 2010)

Some basic questions to get us started:

What's your budget -- roughly? (this is a hard one because people prefer hearing what something costs before guesstimating a budget, but for now just tell us where your pain threshold is)

How high from the existing floor is acceptable for the design?

How much weight do you expect to have on the revolving floor between props, scenery, people, and such?


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## GOODCHILD (Nov 24, 2010)

well im looking at about £1000 dont know if that is possible or not as to the ground clearence were looking ideally about 6 inches but no more than 12 inches and as for weight well im not good with things like that however at least a 10ft x 20ft set and 20 dancers


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## scenerymaker (Nov 24, 2010)

Other questions include:
How fast does it have to move?
Does it have to turn more than 180 degrees?
How big is the available construction space?
How soon do you need it?
What building skills do you have available?


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## GOODCHILD (Nov 25, 2010)

How fast can it move it dont have to be turbo but a slow stedy speed would be good
it would need to revolve 360 atleast 2 times 3 max
we have a 32 foot by 32 foot space to construct
we have until feb to build it
and all we have is a carpenter


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## ptero (Nov 27, 2010)

How large is the square (surrounding the circle)? It sounds like the live space for 20 dancers is half of the 20' revolve circle and some of the outer square section. I am trying to imagine fitting the 20 dancers in the space I am seeing. It seems like it could be kinda tight/packed. Then again, I may be way off on that!!!


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## venuetech (Nov 27, 2010)

Any number of ways to build such a device
"turntable" is one word for it
a google search for "stage turntable" came up with some of these.

Building A Turntable And Sets For A High School Production Of <em>Les Misrables</em>
http://www.dxarts.washington.edu/courses/490Form/readings/revolve.pdf
http://www.controlbooth.com/forums/scenery-props-rigging/3795-les-miz-turntable.html
http://www.controlbooth.com/forums/scenery-props-rigging/1636-how-built-motorized-turntable.html


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## scenerymaker (Dec 2, 2010)

I built my 25' dia. table to hold a set and a 50-person choir. About 14,000 lbs worth of load.

Structurally, I used steel studs and channels to support the decking on top and 26 wheels pointing down. The first year we used it, the wheels wore ruts in the stage floor paint so that when we loaded out, you could see 6 concentric circles that looked like a giant right in the middle of the stage. We got to repaint the stage the next week.

The next year, I put a layer of masonite under the table for the table to ride on. It still pushed on the masonite hard enough to be slightly visible, but owners let us by.

Consider wheels up if you can.

The table had to accelerate, turn 180 degrees, and stop in 25 seconds. I used two 3 hp motors, controlled with a variable frequency drive, being sure that both the table operator and an assistant on the the other side had e-stops and good visibility. I thought I could use this type of control as this is how I've made a living for the last 40 years.

To connect the motors to the table, I wrapped a #50 roller chain around the edge of the table, thinking the rough OSB beam I had laminated for the outer edge would bite on the chain. I was WRONG! After trying various things to increase the chain to table friction, what finally worked was a strip of commercial carpet, along with a seriously tight chain.

I had about $1,300 in wheels but they were super-low rolling resistance and noiseless. I also had about $3,000 in gearmotors, VFD, and chain. The $1,000 in steel and wood was the cheap part.

Good luck with yours.


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## gafftaper (Dec 3, 2010)

Revolves or Turntables have been covered extensively here on CB in a variety of ways. So do some searching you'll find LOT's of reading. Find the thread that most matches your situation and post followup questions in that thread. 

Also send a Private Message to Van with your e-mail address. He's got a info packet on how to build one that he'll e-mail you.


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## Van (Dec 3, 2010)

Sorry I missed this earlier. GOODCHILD , PM me with your email and I will be happy to pass along the drawing I have. It's similar to the design included in the pdf refereenced in the above post. < curiously similar to, considering that guys pdf was copyrighted in 2006.... Hmmm... >


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## Gregi (Dec 4, 2010)

A turntable project, one of my favorite subjects. The reason I came to this site two years ago was I was seaking advice on building a turntable for a production of Les Mis. I had never built one before. The best advice I can give is to do your research. 

Talk to people who have built turntables, revolving stages or revolves as they are known. Look into many designs and plans and decide which best fits your budget, time frame and resources. 

I found a few really good sources for design information. Two books: Technical Design Solutions for Theatre, Volume 1 & 2 - by Sammler & Harvey - Focal Press. (available at Amazon.com) They have several articles on turntable construction and drive systems. I also found a great paper written by Dan Ports, a Music and Theatre Arts student at MIT on the design of a drive system: 

http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/music-an...effects-spring-2004/assignments/drkp_proj.pdf

I used this paper as the basis of our drive system. The nice thing about a chain drive system like this is the rotation is not limited. We did not use his plan for the plywood turntable construction, it was for an 20' diameter turntable which is not easily adapted to the 24' size we needed. However, this may well work for you. Ours was something of a hybrid design. As far as cost, we built a 24' turntable with a motorized chain drive mechanism and the surrounding deck for ~$5000. I bought the 2HP motor on a close out sale from Graingers for about half the cost of a new one. The speed reducer was purchased on eBay for $150 which is 1/4 the cost of a new one. The 68 fixed casters we used were $1100 new. The lumber was purchased locally through a commercial yard.

A few hints: Use the best grade of plywood you can afford. Plywood used for roof sheathing for instance is relatively inexpensive but often has a rough surface that will generate noise while moving over the casters. This type of plywood also bows easily when the humidity & temperature changes. "A" grade plywood is often 2X (or more) the cost of sheathing but it is very smooth and very stable. We used 4" ball bearing casters with polyurethane wheels. This is a good balance between load capacity and the soft wheel surface to minimize noise. We mounted the casters on plywood strips on the stage floor with the wheels up. This allowed us to level out the casters with shims to compensate for the uneven floor. Our musical director was understandably concerned about noise when the turntable was moving during the performance. He was very happy the turntable could bearly be heard in the pit while moving.

The load capacity must also be a prime concideration. I learned (the hard way) many years ago when the director says there will be 20 actors on the turntable you had better plan for twice that many. We used three overlaping layers of 3/4" plywood to construct the turntable. I am very glad we did when we had the entire 50 + chorus on the turntable for the epilogue.

The turntable we built moves at 1rpm which may sound slow but when you consider the actors have to walk on and off the moving turntable during the performance it still takes some getting used to. That speed worked well for us for Les Mis. We set up the scenes behind the action downstage then rotated the actors and props into position during the scene change. 

If you have a limited budget (£1000) you may concider renting a turntable. There is a company in the UK called (oddly enough) The Revolving Stage Company that rents turntables for shows and concerts you may want to look into: 

The Revolving Stage Company

We were very fortunate to have an adequate budget and best of all we have a great group of adult volunteers that have been doing set construction for many years. Many have stayed on years after their children have graduated.

I wish you luck with this project, it will be a challenge but well worth it. Please keep us informed on your progress.


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