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So what are plans for "tower sets" doing on a photographers website? Simple really. My wife is the director of a local middle school theatre group and I needed to build some for their use. Besides you will take better photographs with good backgrounds!! A PDF file of the plans below can be found here. Set Tower Design By Dave Dabour
The Set Tower design is comprised of 6 identical triangular “towers”. Each of these towers is approximately 4’ wide by 8’ high and has three sides. Each tower has a base of plywood (1/2” or 5/8”) along with 2x4’s on their edge to provide support for the panels. On the top of each tower is a top piece compromised of 1 x 3” lumber. If possible I recommend making one complete tower first to get an idea of what is involved. If that is not possible then make at least one panel and a base and a top.
Frame Panels - 45 ¼” wide by 95 ¾” high
The frame panels are made out of 1 x 3” furring strips on the top and sides. There are also two additional horizontal supports spaced evenly (approximately every 32”). All of the joints were glued together along with biscuits.
Once the frame was dry, muslin canvas was rough cut, stretched and stapled to the back of each frame. The muslin was purchased from Wal-Mart fabric department. It comes in white and off white. You can mix and match since the canvas needs to get seized and primed anyhow. With 6 towers and each tower having 3 panels this will keep you busy for a while.
One enhancement I would make the next time I build these is to cut the back outside corner of the long side pieces to a 45 degree (or greater) angle. This will allow the frames to come closer together when on the stage. You would also not have to paint the sides either (they show a little).
Bottom
The bottom is made out of plywood and 2 x 4’s. Start off with 2x4’s cut to 45” long (including the joined piece). The ends of the 2 x 4 should be angle cut to line up with the next piece. All three 2x4’s will be on their short edge and form a triangle. Join the pieces together with screws.
Place the 2x4 triangle onto the plywood. The plywood need to hang over the edge of the 2x4 by approximately 1”. Mark this measurement onto the plywood and cut your first piece.
You will use your first piece as a template for cutting the other 5. First make sure everything fits together.
I also removed plywood from the inside of the plywood bottom. This was done to reduce the overall weight of the towers which will make them easier to “spin”.
Once you have the plywood base and the 2x4’s joined together you will need to add wooden pegs to the bottom. These were used to hold the panels in place. Note: I don’t recommend adding these until all bases and all panels are done. Then you can drill each one and mark all pieces. Unless you measure precisely, you will find that each panel mates best with the base it was originally designed for. So make sure you mark everything accordingly. I used the standard of towers 1-6. Then each tower had sides A, B and C. I marked this on all pieces.
To make the towers easier to “spin” I also attached sliders onto the bottom of each base. I used furniture slides available at home improvement stores. You can glue and/or screw these on.
Top Support
The panels attach to the base. You also need a support to hold them together on the top of the panels. I used 1x3 furring strips on their ends cutout in a triangle using the same dimensions as the base 2x4 triangle.
You also need to attach a corner brace to the tops. I used 2 per side. Make sure you use ones with holes in them. You attach the top to the side panels with screws.
Final Assembly
This is how it’s done:
1. Lay panel 1-A good side down on the floor 2. Take matching base and fit side 1-A on it 3. Lay panels 1-B and 1-C on the 2 other sides of the triangle good side out 4. I elected to hold the panels to the base with 2 additional drywall screws into the bottom of each panel. Optionally you could elect to secure them from the inside through a variety of methods. 5. Attach the top support to all three panels with drywall screws. 6. Carefully rotate the tower onto one of the other sides and secure the bottom of the first panel that was lying on the floor if needed. 7. Carefully lift the finished panel to its upright position 8. Disassembly is the reverse of these steps
Since we didn’t use grade “A” lumber to save money, I found there were variations in the wood and some warping. To combat this I did use some drywall screws in a few other areas. Most notable was on the sides of the panels in the middle to stop them from bowing out.
Photographs
Full size photos and some additional ones can be found on this link: http://picasaweb.google.com/dabour/TowerSetDesign I also included some additional notes on each picture caption.
Original Plans
Below are scans of dimensions I used to put this together. I apologize for the low quality of these. I made these plans from measuring another tower set design I saw and made some modifications along the way. A high resolution version of these 2 pages is also on the photograph link above.
Materials List
Here is a list of materials I used. I recommend you carefully review this to make sure it works for you. Prices were from Home Depot in the Spring of 2007.
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