[Elfsea] Big Blue

[Richard Threlkeld]

Instead of lacing them together, how about hook and eye connections and an
overlap with Velcro holders? 

 

I like the idea of reengineering the top to make it work better. Are there
any in our group that do that kind of engineering?

 

Caelin

 

 

From: elfsea-bounces at lists.ansteorra.org
[mailto:elfsea-bounces at lists.ansteorra.org] On Behalf Of Armand Dragonetti
Sent: Wednesday, May 14, 2008 20:08 PM
To: elfsea at lists.ansteorra.org
Subject: Re: [Elfsea] Big Blue

 

After speaking with Ameline, who has facilitated some of the past repairs,
she seems to feel what we have may still be salvageable. Past attempts to
reinforce the seams have done so, but the process of stitching in the
reinforcement, in and of itself, weakens the integrity of the surrounding
material...so, the seam holds, but the area immediately adjacent to the
repair tends to rip out next. It seems to me that rather than trying to
patch little isolated areas, we could adhere a heavy duty liner (of sorts)
to the four "corners" where the bulk of the stress gets concentrated. Not
just the seams and grommets, but a much larger panel. Another possibility
might be to construct a custom support frame for the high stress areas. Say
a pole or strut that connects an outer center pole, down to the top of a
regular wall-side pole (at the four corner points). Or perhaps even
something a more substantial, but with the goal of allowing the top to be
thrown over it all, with little or no tension on the top itself. (sort of
like a cover for a cooler)

 

Ameline also brought up the fact that most really large tents, (circus tents
and the like) are sectional, with the sections in effect getting laced
together. (I think Ramone had a BFT like that). Sliced into three sections,
the top would be easier to handle (though it might be more tedious getting
it all together) If done with care, we could end up with a versatile
pavilion that could be scaled down to use subsets of the pieces, like taking
out a leaf in a table.

 

Not sure how practical any of that might be, but ....hey....at least I'm not
afraid of sounding like an idiot. :-)

 

 

-=A=-   (The A is for anonymous)

 

 

  _____  

From: Betsy Marshall

I feel compelled to point out that the poles, ropes and stakes are all
great- most of the walls are still in excellent condition- (maybe a few
nibble holes hither and yon?) so what we really need is just a new top; in
white or white and yellow would still go with the baronial color scheme, and
I wonder if might it be possible to incorporate the "porch roof" section
into a new top? Just a few thoughts off the top of my head.. Pyro.

 

  _____  

 

Greetings!

Well to get the ball rolling, these are the first things that popped into my
pea brain....I'm not advocating anything in particular though.

 

1. What did we originally pay for it (approximately) and how much
(approximately) have we spent repairing it so far? Roughly speaking, how
many times have we used it? 

 

With those questions answered, what has it cost us per use? Have we gotten
our money's worth, and if not, is it reasonable to think we ever will?
Especially if we continue to need repairs after each use?

 

(I suggest also considering the less tangible costs of dealing with Big
Blue, it takes time from "someone's" schedule to either do minor repairs or
transport it to a place that can do them, the hassle of setup/teardown,
loading and unloading, etc. some of which will exist with any pavilion, but
the size sometimes makes it onerous if there are too few folks to help.)

 

2. What are the benefits that might justify the "costs"?  It may be a source
of pride for some, as it is fairly impressive looking. Does it help attract
prospects and other folks at demos and events? Does it help us appear more
credible at say "Highland Games" than a series of small pavilions would?

 

3. With cost per use established, we have a benchmark to compare the
cost/benefit or return-on-investment of any proposed replacement.

 

4. If we choose to retire it, what will replace it? And what is our budget
for such? Does it "need" to be replaced?

 

5. If retired, could we make use of it for other purposes? (ie, cut up into
banners, signage, mundanity covers for use by the populace, maybe use the
walls to mask/hide parking areas at events, etc.)

 

6. Would it be more cost effective to simply try and sell it "as-is"?

 

I'm sure there are lots of ways to approach this, but that's all I've got
time for at the moment. I'm very pleased to see the leadership in addressing
the situation. EVERYONE should be able to contribute to some degree and be
part of this process. NOW is the time to help out by speaking up.

 

Just my initial thoughts.

 

-=Armand=-

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