Stringing a tightrope indoors?
Barry Rosenberg
I've recently become interested in walking a tightrope. Due
to generally poor weather in Boston (where I live), I was
thinking about trying to string a tightrope up inside my house,
but I didn't know if this was possible. Has anyone out there
ever done this successfully? If so, how did you do it?
Any suggestions on where to buy a suitable wire?
--Sincerely,
Barry Rosenberg
Dusty Galbraith
Barry Rosenberg <jug...@world.std.com> wrote:
>--Sincerely,
> Barry Rosenberg
The pull on the ends of a line when you displace the center of the
line are UNBELIEVABLE! Stand on the line with a 150 pound body and
the pull on the ends will be TONS!!!!
I know NOTHING about wire walking but I'm and OLD sailor and DO know
line handling.
Dusty
Founder, President, and Clumsiest
member of The Quad Cities
Juggling Club Inc.
Andrew Conway
In article <5u2uan$qaj$2...@titan.globalserve.net>,
da...@globalserve.netSPAMBYEBYE says...
> [...]
> Hm. You could always get ratchetting tie-downs as used to hold loads onto
> trucks and see how those work; I don't know if you could get it tight enough,
> though.)
>
They're called 'come-alongs' and yes, they will give you quite enough
tension for a tightrope. They will, however, pull the bolts out of the
wall first.
If you can afford it, a much better solution is to buy the excellent free
standing tightrope rig sold by Serious Juggling. I think the cost is
around $300. It uses a loop of metal cable stretched around a frame, so
that the frame is compressed evenly at the top and the bottom. It's a
simple but clever design. If you can't afford it you can probably build
something similar if you have a few weeks to waste on experimenting.
Outdoors you can use the old 'car axels and X frame' technique, but it's
a little difficult to drive a car axel into the living room floor.
ANdrew
Tim Sheppard
In article <3404DB...@world.std.com>, Barry Rosenberg (jug...@world.std.com) writes:
>I've recently become interested in walking a tightrope. Due
>to generally poor weather in Boston (where I live), I was
>thinking about trying to string a tightrope up inside my house,
>but I didn't know if this was possible. Has anyone out there
>ever done this successfully? If so, how did you do it?
>Any suggestions on where to buy a suitable wire?
>
>--Sincerely,
> Barry Rosenberg
We had an indoor tightrope at Fooltime, and here's what happened.
Fooltime was an old Victorian stone built church hall, very solid,
very high ceiling with huge joists. The tightrope was a reasonable
length, and with an industrial tensioner. At one end it went over a
stand, through the gallery floor and round one of the main joists.
The other end was sunk deeply into the outside wall, with a special
wall bolt.
One day at lunch there was a bang. We went out to look, and
discovered a rather slack tightrope. Looking underneath the
gallery we saw why - a massive lump of stone about _two feet_ across
by a foot deep was dangling on the end of the cable. Luckily nobody
was hurt, nobody had been on the wire, and the wall was strong
enough not to fall down - but it needed serious repair!
Eventually the tightrope was fixed. This time the wall bolt went
right through the wall, to a metal plate fixed on the outside. And
we never left the tightrope tensioned again - it was always
released after use.
So if you want to have an indoor tightrope, think very carefully
about the forces involved. If your house has walls less than two
feet thick, you might need to consult an engineer.
However, at Fooltime we also had a free-standing tightrope. This
was an adaptable frame, with adjustable heights to attach the
cable to. The whole thing dismantled to fit into a van. It would
have needed a large room, with a tall ceiling, to fit into.
=========================================================
Tim Sheppard t...@lilliput-p.win-uk.net
Lilliput Press - Publisher of fine books in miniature
England http://www.lilliput.co.uk
The Storytelling FAQ is hosted here
=========================================================
DFrooman
><jug...@world.std.com>
>Date: Thu, 28 Aug 1997 02:03:01 GMT
>Message-id: <3404DB...@world.std.com>
>
>I've recently become interested in walking a tightrope. Due
>to generally poor weather in Boston (where I live), I was
>thinking about trying to string a tightrope up inside my house,
>but I didn't know if this was possible. Has anyone out there
>ever done this successfully? If so, how did you do it?
>Any suggestions on where to buy a suitable wire?
>
>
ben schoenberg from serious juggling carries an "indoor" tight rope that
is a rigged free standing unit and is really terrific for indoor practice,
portable for street performing, and i am sure you'll figure out other uses.
he's listed on jis......good luck!
Andrew Conway
In article <3406DF...@idir.net>, Bill Wachspress <w...@idir.net>
says...
> I am trying to use, a thick strong (17,000 lbs test) nylon hauser, but I can't
> recommend it until I am sure it works.
>
Interesting. How thick does that make the nylon hauser?
I learned on a manilla rope (3/4 inch) which seemed to stretch much less
than a nylon rope, and so was less work to get to the right tension. I'm
happy with a rope that gives up to six inches in the middle when I get on
it. It means that the rope does not have to be under nearly as much
tension. In fact, I can hand tighten a rope between two trees without a
come along at all. It takes a little elementary mechanics and certain
amoung of grunting, though. There were rope dancers long before there
were come alongs; I presume a pulley system was used to tighten the rope.
Andrew
Nic Price
Tim Sheppard wrote:
>
>
> In article <3404DB...@world.std.com>, Barry Rosenberg (jug...@world.std.com) writes:
> >I've recently become interested in walking a tightrope. Due
> >to generally poor weather in Boston (where I live), I was
> >thinking about trying to string a tightrope up inside my house,
> >but I didn't know if this was possible. Has anyone out there
> >ever done this successfully? If so, how did you do it?
> >Any suggestions on where to buy a suitable wire?
> >
> >--Sincerely,
> > Barry Rosenberg
>
Well i can't offer any advice on tight-ropes, but as an alternative, I'd
say that slack-ropes are faster to set up, pack down smaller, and are
still pretty sensational. We've only just set one up through the uni
juggling club, and it involves two ratchet tie downs, two sturdy trees
and about 8m of static abseiling rope. You could fit it all in a small
bag, (not including the trees of course) and you won't need a small van
to transport it.
For performances, i've seen a guy get 6-8 strong guys out of the
audience, have 3 or 4 on each end of a thick rope, and pull as hard as
they can. He then juggles while standing on it.
It could just be me, but i don't want to pay $300-400 for a tight rope
set up that is not highly user friendly or permanent!
Stewart Hutton
Barry Rosenberg <jug...@world.std.com> wrote:
>I was
>thinking about trying to string a tightrope up inside my house,
>but I didn't know if this was possible. Has anyone out there
>ever done this successfully? If so, how did you do it?
>Any suggestions on where to buy a suitable wire?
This solution falls into the "you're probably not going to just knock
this up in a weekend" category, but might provide useful ideas for
anyone interested in this problem - which I know includes many clubs,
workshops, groups etc. It's based on a setup owned by a juggler
normally based in Glasgow (Mark Segal) - he's in Canada currently but
might see this and explain better.
His rig is self contained (ie doesn't need fixed to walls or floors)
portable (estate car) and set only a couple of feet high for
introductory practice. Main materials are hefty steel tubes and a
metal cable. It was built with the help of a welder.
Each end is based on a T piece on the floor ( "top" of the T at right
angles to the cable, "leg" of the T pointing away from the cable) with
an upright tube at the intersection. In use, the cable runs from the
end of the "leg" of the T, over the upright, acrss the practice area
and same at the other side. The Ts provide lateral stability and
somewhere to connect the cable to.
Tension is created by what I think is called a turnbuckle in the cable
at one end. That means the cable is broken, the 2 ends being connected
(via eyelets, shackles and other hefty hardware) to bolts which in
turn fit into a cage (I guess one is fixed, the other not) which is
turned with the help of a rod or whatever to take up the slack and
create tension.
Under tension, the bases of the 2 supports are prevented from slipping
inwards by a "spreader" metal tube which runs at floor level between
the T pieces.. I think this is in 2 parts - and is probably the
limiting factor on the length of the rig.
To echo previous sentiments; although this rig is portable - it is all
still fairly hefty kit. I think its unlikely someone could create a
suitable rig without the right materials, some engineering knowledge
and skills.
Re-reading this I realise it's probably not very well explained - let
me know if you need clarification or I can put you in touch with the
owner.
HTH
Stewart
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Sajix 2
Speaking of stringing things...
where does one find poppers for bullwhips? On Dube's page it does not
have the popper. Anywhere else?
Dave Gedeon
Saint Ignatius H.S. Circus Company
Cleveland, Ohio
USA
Dusty Galbraith
Bill Wachspress <w...@idir.net> wrote:
<snip>
>WARNING! Don't even try to rig your own tightrope unless you really know what you are
>doing! There is tremendous tension on any tightrope. You can hurt yourself many
>different ways, seriously. If you aren't sure of yourself, buy a setup built by proven
>professionals.
>--
>Bill Wachspress <w...@idir.net>
AMEN, Bill!!!
You can pull a wall, or even a whole house down with the forces
involved.
Michael Rosman
In article <MPG.e76469a7...@news.sirius.com>,
con...@juggling.org (Andrew Conway) wrote:
>In article <19970902212...@ladder01.news.aol.com>, Sajix 2
><saj...@aol.com> says...
>>
>> where does one find poppers for bullwhips? On Dube's page it does not
>> have the popper. Anywhere else?
>
>links to their pages from the bullwhip FAQ at
>http://www.juggling.org/help/circus-arts/bullwhip.html. However, I
>usually make my own out of braided nylon kite string.
Andrew...
I met a guy in Pittsburgh who repaired my bullwhip and patiently taught me how
to make my own poppers. He is doing a bullwhip producing/repairing side
business. He made a bunch of poppers for me (the kind that last, not the kind
you get from the prop sellers, thus ensuring that I never actually learn to do
it myself)) and was a helluva nice guy.
Contact him:
Steve Otteson
Otto's Whip-Craft
608-251-0244 (Wisconsin)
Tell him I said thanks again...Michael Rosman