Tool Testing with a purpose
by Terena Wilkins, Technical director and Designer, Gustavus Adolphus College
Every year we start the fall semester with tool testing in the theatre scene shop. Giving each student the chance to try their hand at each tool is a wonderful way to encourage those new to power tools as well as being a refresher for those who have not used the skills all summer. It is also a great time to talk about safe tool use practices and the use of safety equipment.
The down side to tool testing is all the larger pieces of lumber cut into smaller pieces that are not really usable. Over the years we have made cabinets for the scene shop, CD stands for the dance studio, saw horses and even new “fish” push sticks for the table saw. But who needs large numbers of each of these items? This year I found a great solution that addressed all these issues, kept all the tool training and is helping our community. We joined forces with our local Habitat For Humanity ReStore to build toy boxes out of wood panels donated by a local business. Handles for the toy boxes, stain and some of the screws were pulled right form the shelves of the restore. The Restore purchased some supplies including plywood, piano hinges and toy box latches.
For those who do not have a local Habitat ReStore, they are stores set up by Habitat for Humanity that collect items, new and used, from local businesses, contractors and the general public to sell in their store, like a thrift store for home improvement. Items donated are cleaned up by a mostly by volunteer work force, priced and shelved for sale to the general public. You can pick up lighting fixtures, paint and stains, wood furniture and lots more. Items are marked at discount prices, so good for a theatre budget. If you make friends with a ReStore they may help you look for period items, keep an eye out for kitchen cabinets, or even encourage people to donate items to you that the ReStore would not want.
While working on the toy boxes, students learned to cut wood for the side panels, use a pneumatic tack gun, a screw gun, learned how to stain wood, clean paint brushes and about giving back to the community.
All in all 25 students learned valuable wood working and safety skills. Twenty toy boxes were returned to the Restore to be sold during December (the lowest sales month of the year), and if all goes well over $750.00 will be used to build Habitat Homes in our community. Next year we plan to build 20 more toy boxes and the Restore is already collecting donated parts for this project.
SECOA's THEATRICAL CHAIN (STC) IS PUT TO THE TEST AND PREVAILED!
At the USITT conference in March, Delbert L. Hall, Ph.D. performed a destructive test on trim chains. The STC test consisted of a single piece of STC trim chain terminated with a 3/8" shackle in a single load path. At 14,000+ lbs., the STC "stretched but did not break," whereas the other chains tested, failed at one half the breaking strength of the STC in a double load path configuration.
The STC is specifically designed for use in overhead lifting applications for the theatrical industry. This chain complies with OSHA 1910.184(e)(5) Sling use. It has the same link size as standard 1/4" grade 30 Proof Coil chain and easily works with existing 1/4" chain hardware. The STC chains ultimate tensile strength is two and a half times the strength of a standard 1/4" Proof Coil chain. Its working load limit is 3,250 lbs.
Rugged, safe, versatile, and low weight, describe just a few of the features of the STC. It is lot traceable with every tenth link coded with a date stamp for quality assurance. The STC is proof tested and easily identifiable in the field.
STC Literature