Application: The flats lab was a lab that focused heavily on the construction and assembly of flats in the theater. This was a lab that I was very familiar with. Working on many different shows I have built, assembled, disassembled and cut many different flats. But this lab helped me learn a lot of new things about flat construction, as well as figuring out problems that might come up during a show. Such as what happens if the two flats you try to put together don’t have holes in the right spot, or the one I struggled to understand at first. What happens if you need to have 2 flats from a right angle, but one of the flats does not have the support to connect the bolt. As it would just tear through the ¼” skin. Well starting off with the first question, once the flats are out together, and are leveled out, you could use a driver drill with a bit that can help form the hole for your bolts to be inserted through. Next, when faced with the situation of not having a 1×3 support on the back of the flat for a right angle. One solution would be to quickly cut a 1×3 scrap piece and install it where you need the piece to go, or even using c-clamps to attach to the stiles for a stronger connection.
Application: The lab overall was very helpful in gaining new knowledge about flats. As mentioned the previous problems that came up, I feel that because I was able to go through these problems step by step while in school. It was easier to understand and keep in my head, so if a similar situation rises up while I’m working, I would be able to go through the many options that I have learned and solve it in a timely manner. For example, when working on a job about a month ago, I was faced with an issue where I had to connect flats for a show that has been used many times, however there were some new flats that replaced the previous ones, therefore the pre-drilled holes for the bolts were not present. So I had to make the holes myself so that the connection could be made and I could quickly move on. The lab helped me understand this problem and I was able to quickly get the tools that I needed once I found out the bolt size and move into the next piece of work.
