Need a fresh perspective

Fabanddesign

Been a lurker here for some time so first off I'd like to say thanks to everyone who has helped me over the past several months.

Now here's my dilemma:

I work for a boating company and we hold semi-monthly boat shows. My job is to build the stage that we back the boats up to. Well our next show is 5 months off and since we have a longer than normal break my boss wants to basically start from scratch. As of right now we use 3/4 inch plywood with 4x4 legs. It's completely inefficient. Now that I finally have the okay to remodel the staging I've been thinking aluminum but my boss won't go for it because he said they went that way before and it was noisy, this was before me. So my questions are:

What other material has the strength but is lighter than wood?

Each piece of staging is 2 ft x 4 ft and we fit them together to create one big stage. Normally we would clamp them together from underneath to keep them from moving. What would be a better solution without drilling holes? (reason below) I was thinking some sort of notched bracket that interlock the tables.

Our legs are shipped separate and then screwed into the top. Obviously over time you end up with many holes in the same top. What better options are there? Biggest problem is not only do the tables end up with many holes but we are always using different legs with different tops so we are using shims every time.


Any help is appreciated greatly. I found it never hurts to step back and get a fresh perspective.

kwikfishron

Welcome to the forum.

Maybe if you can post some pictures of what the booth/stage layout looks like I'm sure that we can figure out the best way to construct it for quick setup, tear down and to be reusable. How to attach a photo to a post

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Fabanddesign

Will do and thanks for your reply. I'll have to get some pictures tomorrow when I go in and I'll post them when I get home.
Thanks again

joecaption

Here's some ideas.
http://www.bing.com/shopping/search?...M=HURE#x0y2302

Keep in mind that if your company makes them, guess who gets sued if they fail.

jaydevries

instead of using clamp to hold together you could us an interlocking cam lock like in link
http://www.sicoinc.com/camlock_dance_floor.php

also to help me does any one know where i can buy some of them at

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ddawg16

Make the supports from AL tube...but put plywood on top.

I have a buddy that makes that stuff all the time for the concert guys. He uses 1.5" AL tube welded and bolted.

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Fabanddesign

Sorry couldn't get pictures today everyone. Work was hectic. I'll try again tomorrow.

If it helps anyone get a better visual think of each piece of our staging like a table. The top is 3/4 plywood with a frame made out of 2x4's. We also add 2x2 slats from leg to leg for strength (x shape).

Fabanddesign

Love to do that but again my boss is against Al. That was my plan from the get go.

Fabanddesign

Hate to do it this way but here's a few pictures I took today. They still have the pieces of staging on the pallets so I got the best pics I could. Again sorry for the link but I'm on mobile.


http://imgur.com/7M9Hpry

http://imgur.com/9qyVuDx

jagans

Yo boss be nuts. The tubing idea is a great one. Like I said, throw a foam underlayment on there and a rug, and you are good to go. PT Wood = Heavy, Splinters, contact with poison, questionable load bearing as holes wear out. Need more?

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" A lot of men build things, and a lot of things fall down "

Fabanddesign

That's what I said.

Fabanddesign

Can you give me more details on the tubing?

Fabanddesign

Any more suggestions?

Dorado

For legs, I'm thinking of something I looked up about a year ago. I think they're stackable plastic blocks that can support a lot of weight, but I don't remember what they're called.

Not sure they're good for staging anyway.

Dorado

Cribbing blocks! Still don't know if they'd work, but that's what I was thinking of.