How to Hinge Broadway Flats
Broadway flats are stage flats that are used as scenery. Broadway flats differ from Hollywood flats in that, when you build the skeleton frame for the Broadway flat, the one-by wood is on-side; whereas, when you make a Hollywood flat, the one-by is on-face. On-face means that the lauan--which covers the skeleton--touches the wider portion of the one-by. On-side is when the lauan touches the 3/4-inch side of the one-by wood. "One-and-a-half or two-inch, loose-pin backflap hinges work best in hinging flats," according to Milton Smith, author of "Play Production for Little Theaters, Schools and Colleges."
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Things You'll Need
- Broadway Flat
- 3 loose-pin backflap hinges
- Box of 1 3/4-Inch screws
- Screw gun
- Router
- Band saw
- Formed hardboard sheeting, 2-by-3 foot
- Measuring tape
- Two C-clamps
- Wallpaper or canvas
Instructions
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How to Hinge Broadway Flats
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1
Rest the Broadway flat on its back. Measure the height of the hinges. Adjust your router to compensate the depth the hinge will sit within the face of your Broadway flat. Loosen the clamp inside the router's base and move the motor housing up or down until you reach your desired depth. Measure the length and width of your hinge, add to those lengths the diameter of your router base.
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2
Cut a rectangular piece of formed hardboard sheeting on a band saw. Cut it into a C-shaped frame within which you will route the depth into the side of the flat for the hinge. It should look like a rectangular frame with one of the long sides removed. "C-clamp the formed hardboard sheeting onto the side of the flat where you want to have your first hinge," advises "Backstage Handbook" author Paul Carter. "It is recommended that you make them evenly-spaced along the side of the flat, dividing the side into thirds or fourths." Make sure that the formed hardboard sheeting guide is in place and that you perfectly route the area needed for implanting the hinge into the face of the flat. This can be done by simply drawing an outline of the hinge and--with the router bit up--tracing along the side of the flat with the router and observing whether or not the router will route the area necessary for the hinge. Route three or four evenly-spaced positions for the hinges.
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3
Put the hinges in place and drill the hinge down through the two pieces of one-by. Stand the flat up. Apply wallpaper or canvas over the hinges to hide them if you wish.
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1
Tips & Warnings
Wood measurements will always be slightly off when you buy the wood from the supplier. Wood that is considered one-by is actually 3/4-inch. Two-by wood is actually an 1 3/4 inches. Three-by wood is actually 2 1/2 inches. Four-by wood is actually 3 1/2 inches.
A general rule of thumb is to put a hinge every 2 ft. on the flat.
Technical designers prefer loose-pin hinges to tight-pin hinges because it easily separates the two hinged stage flats.
Flats are hinged to help create movable scenery, which is good for traveling shows. Sometimes, three flats are hinged together. To help aid in the moving, they are hinged to fold like a piece of paper going into an envelope. This process requires a regular hinge pattern on one of the side flats to the middle flat, but the flat on the other side of the middle flat will have a "dutchman" between them--a thin flat that connects the second and third flats and gives the whole, three-flat bond a little depth so it folds flat onto itself without straining the hinges or flats.
Wear safety glasses when you are doing woodwork.
References
Resources
- Photo Credit hinge image by musk from Fotolia.com
