The Fly Wire, Newsletter 12: When an I-beam is mounted against a ceiling, it may not be possible to put a roundsling around the beam in order to hang an aerial apparatus. In these cases, a beam clamp that clamps to the bottom flange of the I-beam is often the best rigging solution. In this issue we will look at some of the many types of beam clamps on the market and talk about their pros and cons.
3 comments:
Beam Clamps?!?!? Hardly know her . . . I remember that for any non-theater performance or installation project that happens in Purnell, the limiting question is always: “Are there enough beam clamps”. We are spoiled in Purnell and have it easy with our lack of dropped ceilings, regardless of the reason why we are missing them, budget problems, or on purpose, it is nice that we don’t have them and have easy access to the structural steel of the building. While the article was very comprehensive in terms of rated beam clamps, I found it lacking on information about the small flange clamps that can grip onto one side of an I-beam. They should not be used for any sort of important overhead rigging, but are extremely useful for the convenient attachment point to any flange of accessible metal. I think it is important that we have both types in stock, and few more of the heavy duty ones, and we know where and how each should be used.
This article does a pretty good job at outlining several styles of beam clamps, but I noticed that it referenced Mc Master-Carr a lot. I understand this, but to me it might seem easier when choosing a beam clamp to just go on McMaster’s website and read the product description. All things considered, the article does however do a good job explaining some of the pros and cons of different style clamps so that a user might be able to narrow down the type of clamp they want to use. It goes into detail on adjustable clamps and fall rest clamps in particular, and emphasizes knowing the circumstances the clamp is being used under. There was even a few pictures that illustrated what can happen to a clamp if used improperly, and how that catastrophic that failure could be. At the end of the day, knowing the right hardware to use is crucial for both efficiency and safety.
Being in 33 last year, with al of those lovely exposed I-Beams, I learned to love beam clamps. They are incredible things that really do prevent jank solutions. I know that last year we would have done some pretty stupid things in 33 if those clamps weren’t available. Besides the one-sided ones and the heart shaped ones that we have, I hadn’t seen other styles so this was a pretty enlightening article. Now that we’re starting rigging in scenic fabrication and installation I’m excited to learn more about the right way to use things that I’ve seen used but have been unsure about in the past. The big thing in this building that I am unsure about are these clamps, mostly because of their use in 33. I remember last year we used them to hang a hammock in studio, and at first I was really worried about how sketchily I was thinking of hanging it. After talking to Ben though, he gave me a couple of beam clamps and I was suddenly in love with this new hardware that I had never seen before. Once I learned about them, I started to see them all around Purnell and the UC, and sometimes they are used in some scary ways. I had no idea how many different types of them there are, but it was interesting to learn about them and to see how different styles are better suited for certain purposes.
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