Make a Revolving Stage

A detailed description on how to make a large, people-powered revolving stage

for theaters
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
How to Make a Revolving Stage
How to Make A Revolving Stage
A human-powered turntable for low budget, low tech theater companies.
by Peter Konopak, Allan Robins, and James Wojciehowski

Back in November of 2010 my friends Alan and Jim, my wife, my son, and my
son's theater teacher/ director/ sister-a-different-set-of-parents and I were all
sitting around the dinner table when sister announced it was her intention to
stage the Broadway version of Les Miserables. This surprised none of us,
because she has a penchant for doing big, no-BIG things. She said she wanted to
do the things right, complete with the famous barricade and revolving stage.
How, we wondered, was she to accomplish this? "Yes", she wondered, "How are
we going to do this?" And so it began.

The first thing to do was to search the web and see what had already been
done. This turned up precious little. I am, however, indebted to the Drama
Department at BHS in Burlington, WV for the pictures of their turntable. It gave
us a good place to start.

What follows is the plan for making a sixteen foot diameter turntable, drive
mechanism, and ramp assembly.

First, the physical plant of the stage is 46 feet wide, with two-eight foot wings,
total width 64 feet.
The stage is 26 feet wide from psychlorama to footlights. The floor is hardwood
(Inviolate) with a 1/4" laminar covering. The play needed three feet between the
turntable and the footlights. The turntable must, perforce sit ON the stage, may
not be screwed to it, and be low enough that stage pieces may be easily rolled
on and off. Ramps would have to be designed to allow this.

At first we thought we would be able to motorize this thing, but looking at the
cost of motors strong enough to drive the table soon put that idea out of our

heads. We needed to keep the cost of the turntable as low as possible, the
drama department has no budget; all expenses are paid with the proceeds of
previous plays.
Once we told the director that she was limited to manually operated equipment,
an idea which she was
ok with, we started working on the idea of just how it was going to turn.
The director wanted as large a disc as possible: we settled on 16 feet. This gave
a few feet in front of the footlights for actors and a few feet behind for set pieces
and movement behind. It was also convenient because of the dimensions of
sheets of plywood, and simplified construction.
Borrowing heavily from Burlington High Schools design, we came up with the
following:

Stage plot for Les Mis @ Sherman E. Burroughs HS

A center piece of 1/2 ( 15/32s actually, nobody makes 1/2 plywood

anymore, chiseling cheapskates) cut into a four foot circle. In the very center,
screwed in from the bottom and glued to the top, is a 18 2x8, with a
galvanized 3/4 female pipe flange screwed onto it. A 4 inch galvanized nipple
was used a spindle, around which the table would turn.

Illus. A

Center piece with spindle

Next we took 1x4 composite wood boards( Next time Id use Doug fir) 1 x 4
and cut them 6 ft lengths. These would radiate out from the center at 45 degree
angles.

Illus. B

Spokes and Spider

Next we connected each of the spokes with two stringers of more 1 x 4. One
stringer joined the outside edge of all spokes together. The other stringer was
placed 3 feet from the centerpiece. The completed structure resembled a
spiderweb, and was duly christened so. We realized that the spiderweb would
adequately support the circular turntable along the chords of the circle, but not
at the circumference.

We secured 6 spurs to the midpoints of each of the outside stringers, which

would then give support to the circumference of the table. In hindsight we
decided that triangles would be better, as they would be less likely to be pulled
away from the stringer. ( This happened more than once, if the drive rope came
off the gears, we called it being casterated.

Illus. C

Spider web with triangular stingers

Next we attached 90 , 2-1/2 swivel casters.

4 on the centerpiece, six on each spoke, one on each of the inner stringers
midpoint, two on the on the outside stringer equidistant from the midpoint, and
one on each spur. We dont recommend using casters with locks.

Illus. D

Nail plates at Spider joints.

Each of the spokes and stringers was secured with 3 x6 nail plates.
We used 3/4 coarse thread drywall screws. Also, for ease of reconstruction
every joint was labelled.
Each spoke was given a letter, with each stringer given a number. Care should
be taken to not set the screws too deep, as a stripped screw doesnt hold as well
as one which isnt.

Illus. E A better view of the spider and spindle

Illus. F Note: we didn't use the triangular spikers in the middle of each
stringer. I advise YOU to use them.
So spiderweb is constructed. Now we construct the top. We used 15/32
flakeboard rather than plywood. Plywood is much stronger than flakeboard, but
also much heavier and more expensive. The flakeboard bowed slightly at the
edges when there was a heavy load directly on them, but for the most part they
were strong enough. And with a manual drive, weight, particularly inertia is
something to consider. We laid the sheets out in this pattern. Then we put a
second layer on top of the first, but the pattern was rotated 90 degrees, that way
no joints were identical from top layer to bottom, which greatly increased the
strength. Every joint was covered with gaffers tape. No glue was used because
the director wanted to be able to tear the stage down and use it again.

Illus. G This shows Humpty cut out and joints taped. Below are the patterns
for setting out the lumber preparatory for cutting.
OSB

We shot 1" coarse thread drywall screws through the top and into the bottom,
every screw was six inches from its nearest neighbor NOTE: because the
material was 15/32 rather than half inch, we were forced to grind the top 1/16
inch of every screw. This was necessary because the screws were now too long,
and would protrude onto the roller surface. Next, we used a piece of pipe with a
nail through it and a sharpie at the other end, and set up a compass, and traced
a circle. A sabre saw was used to cut a 16 foot, two ply disc. A 3/4 inch hole was
drilled through the center point for the center spindle to fit through. The two
parts, base and top were christened Humpty and Dumpty.

Illus. H This shows how the pieces overlaid oneanother. This picture is actually
taken at tear down.

Illus. I This shot shows the two plys of wood, the lay of the rope in the cog, and
the cog itself.

In this picture you can see how the two plys fit together. A piece of doweling was
stuck in the center flange, and with one strong thespian at every point of the
clock, Humpty was carefully lifted and laid on Dumpty, the dowel marking where
the center was. The dowel was removed, and the spindle was inserted and
screwed into place. Voila. The table is complete. Now we had to design the
manually powered gear drive.* Here is the complete table, with ramps. Humpty
looks scuffed, because this picture was taken after 3 weeks of rehearsals and 8
shows.

Illus. J Completed table & ramps

Illus. K

78 feet of rope with notes & splices visible

As mentioned earlier, powering this by mechanical means was out of the

question. So the job devolved to manual labor. We decided to use 1/2 inch
cotton/poly multistrand rope. The rope was knotted every foot originally, but we
revised that to every three feet. The rope was spliced into one continuous loop
by doubling the bitter ends into two small eyes, one of which was threaded
through the other, then wrapped with twine and taped. We did not use eyes
because we wanted the splices to have a very low profile. The rope had two
sides, a feed side, which was downstream from the guy pulling the rope, and
pull side, which was from wherever the point of friction was to the puller.

On the circumference of the disk, humpty, we screwed every foot,

a cog made out of dadoed and beveled 2 x 4. Each piece was 6 inches long.
Each screw had a pilot hole to keep the wood from splitting when screwed into
the bottom of humpty.

Cog with rope cup, screw points, showing bevel

When screwed in with the rope cup facing outboard, the bevel made the
rope cup cant upward, making it less likely for the rope to fall out of the cog.
One of the knots on the rope would catch the trailing edge of one of the cogs, the
point of friction, and the disk turned.
The number of casters made the whole stage relatively easy to turn. When
empty, a 16 year old girl was able to turn it overspeed( 30 -35 rpm). When the
stage was loaded with the props for the barriacde scene for Les Mis, and 14
actors of varying sizes it took a strong hand to move it at speed, which was one
full turn in about 30 seconds.
tensioners
bind point

We soon discovered that the knots were getting bound in the cogs at the point
where the rope
left the disk. We improvised a series of tensioners. Each was composed of a
cast iron wheel, which at some time might have held either a volleyball pole or a
lighting rig. They were threaded to 1 1/2. So we placed them at three points on
the loop. They made it possible for one person to move the table without a
second person keeping proper tension on the feed
About this time you are asking yourself How did you keep the puller out of
sight. In this theater there is a void behind the psych. We were able to raise
the psych a foot or so, since it was behind

Illus. L Backstage hub of tensioner assy. We DID screw this one lightly into the

laminate flooring. The tape shows the proper angle of attack for the rope out to
the stage.
a 20 x 45 foot canvas flat, and unseen, that was no problem. Fortunately, too,
the canvas flat was ancient and we made a rent in it about 6 inches high. It was
through that tear that pull side was pulled behind the backdrop and psych, and
then fed back out to the table. This is the space where the puller sat. You can
see the pipe nipple with the rope around it.

Illus. M
This is the heart of the tensioner assembly. These we did screw
lightly down into the laminar stage. We were concerned about a trip hazard,
but we rehearsed with it enough that the actors got used to it, and the director
moved her blocking downstage from it.

Illus. N Another view. You can see the two slits in the backdrop. When the
stage was lit for production you could see them, but only if you were looking for
them and knew where to look.

The very last part of the stage were the ramps. They were made of 2 x 6 x 6
foot which were ripped diagonally, and then had two layers of flake board
screwed to them. The leading edges of the ramps were sanded as close to flush
as we could make them, to allow large set pieces to be wheeled onto them.

Illus. O The leading edge of the ramp.

Illus. P Inside front view of the ramps.

Illus. Q The Ramp and Stage meet. The tape was there to let the
Stage manager see when the table was set to its optimum

positi
on.

They were also cut on the trailing edges to fit as closely as possible to match the
arc of the stage. There had to be a gap of about 1/2 between the ramps and
the stage , that was unavoidable, due to the imprecision of the cutting of the
ramps and Humpty. The techies knew to get a good head of steam up the ramp
with set pieces, and all worked out.
Just as an aside, the thing worked just fine! And it has been taken down and is
being stored, ready for use again.
Supplies: 24 sheets of 4x8 31/32" flakeboard.
128 lf 1x4 pine or Doug fir
96 2 1/2 non-locking, swivel casters
8 2x 6 x 8' pine or Doug fir
1 sheet 31/32 plywood ac
32 4 x 6" nail plates
5# 1" drywall screws
gaffers tape
paint
Total cost @ $ 900 ( 2010)
So there you have it. My friends and I hope this will help you. What you do to

this will be of more than passing interest to us all.

Peter Konopak
Theater Dad for Burroughs High School Drama Department
Ridgecrest, CA
Posted by Theater Dad at 1:13 PM
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5 comments:
1.

RonSherNovember 3, 2011 at 6:48 AM

Thank you so much for sharing this! I am a playwright and I have been looking
for a low budget way to build a rotating stage (to no avail). I will study what you
have posted. One question, how long did it take to build it?
Reply

2.
GlowMarch 29, 2012 at 8:47 PM
I really appreciate you taking the time to post this. I would like to make some
comments and questions, if I could. First of all, great undertaking. This really
looked like it was a fun build. I question, however, your use of OSB - Oriented
Strand Board (what you refer to as "flakeboard"). Not only it is NOT lighter than
its equivalent in plywood, as you claim, but it is not something that really it
strong enough for multiple uses. Screws pull through it MUCH easier than ply and
when it begins to fail...it just falls apart. Cheaper, THAT it is...and if this was a
budgetary concern I don't blame you in the least. 24 sheets at $8 is much better
than 24 sheets at $20. On a practical side, OSB swells a little with age. If this, or
anything else made of OSB, were stored for a few years and were exposed to any
level of humidity it would be practically unusable when you got around to it
again. Other than cost plywood is the superior building choice on almost all
levels.
You never cover what the actual drive mechanism was, other than it being
manual. Was it simply someone pulling the rope? Is that what the knots are for?
If so how did you keep tension? How easy was it to move when you were all
done? How many people did it take? Here is the main question. After you finished
it, what did you think to yourself that you would do differently if you had to build

another one. Again, thanks for your time in putting all of this together. (Oh, btw,
it is spelled "cyc" not "psych." It is short for "cyclorama.")
Oh, one more thing. If you were to do this again you might consider fixed (or
"dumb") casters instead of the swivel kind. You would have to mount them
perpendicular to the radius of the circle as you went around. Not only are they
much cheaper than the "smart" castors you wouldn't have any issues with
swiveling the smart casters if you decided to rotate the state the opposite way.
Reply

3.
PatMay 1, 2014 at 8:23 AM
Thanks for the design! I dont know if you still get comments from this site so I'll
try to track you down...but see what we did with your plans...http://patsaddition.blogspot.com/2014/05/dont-reinventadapt.html...at TC Williams HS
(Remember the Titans) Alexandria Virginia.
Reply

4.
Hailey JohnJune 12, 2014 at 1:52 AM
This post focuses on a general strategy for designing and building a sturdy
rotating revolving platforms which turns easily with a heavy load.
Reply

5.
Julie MyersOctober 2, 2014 at 4:24 PM
I have a performing group that goes to different schools to put on plays, and we
perform on a portable stage. I think that if we had a revolving piece then it could
add some great effects to our plays. Do you think this would be possible on a
portable stage platform?
http://www.thestagedepot.com/portable_stages_for_sale_s/3.htm
Reply
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Theater Dad
My buddies Allan and Jim and I
built this table in about 36 hours,
over the space of 2 weekends.

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