OnWithTheShow said:
Anyone know what
thickness of
Lexan should be used to ensure a safe surface that can be walked on?
When working on the show Who Wants To Be A Millionaire, I can tell ya the
clear flooring is a
bit over 3 inches thick, and shaped in 3' long framed sections that are
wedge shaped for the "spokes". The SIZE of your panels however will make the difference for
thickness, support and framing--as physics tells you a 8'x8' section 2" thick piece will not support in the middle what a 3'x3' section of 2" thick will support, so your support frame and overall size of the panel will also matter greatly. This can best be done by finding the size of panels you need and consult your local dealer with your load needs--and for general
safety you will want to do at least 8 times the support weight. So if you need to support a 150lb actor singly, you will want a panel that will support 8 times that body weight. Never get a
thickness that will be only supportive of the wieght of the actor or a tad
bit more--you need to consider physics of the size of the panel--the bigger the panel seize is between supports the less weight the center will support, and that a second person added, or if the actor should jump, dance or
bounce, will increase the load and
shock/flex the panel will need to be able to handle. As I recall, most
safety load ratios for equipment is 3:1 minimum, while for people they are at least 8:1.. If you have multiple actors on this panel at one time--you have bigger calculations to consider, smaller frames of panels, and much more support. I would make your estimates and sizes, and consult your local dealer for a safe thickness--they have charts that they work with all the time.
That is to do it safely....
-wolf