Maker At Play Blog

Developing software has been my passion since I was ten years old and creating my first programs on a Commodore VIC 20. This passion now includes thinkering with electronics and woodworking. I produce videos for my projects and share them on my YouTube channel.   http://makeratplay.com 

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First Contest — Bandtober Begins

Bandtober officially kicked off today with our first contest of the season — the Don Hanna Memorial Marching Band Contest in Denton!

This was our first real test of loading and transporting all the props. Even though the stage parts were designed to disassemble for travel, the goal was to fit everything — stages, back props, sideline screens, and spear racks — into the 20-foot box trailer and one box truck without taking the stages apart. That would save us precious setup time once we arrived.

Loading went smoothly, and we had plenty of help on-site for unloading and assembling everything. The back props went together quickly, though our attempt to use duct tape to seal the coroplast seams didn’t hold up as well as we hoped. During prelims, two of the back props blew over — a reminder that wind is always the invisible competitor. For finals, we had the secondarys stay with their props to keep them steady, and that worked much better.

Overall, the day went really well. The first show always brings a bit of extra stress since it’s the first time running the full setup under real conditions — a five-minute setup window and a two-minute teardown window. We got everything on the field with more than a minute to spare and cleared it all in about 90 seconds.

A few tweaks to make before the next show, but I couldn’t be happier with how the props performed in their first real test. Seeing everything come together on the field made all those long shop nights worth it.

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Homecoming Parade Fun

Not a props day, but still a band-filled day. Today was the Homecoming parade, and since Susie is the booster club president, we got to ride the golf cart in the parade.

The theme this year was “All Aboard,” so the band moms came up with a creative idea to decorate the golf cart like an airport luggage cart. They stacked suitcases on the back and even rigged one to trail behind us like it had fallen off—complete with the look of “losing your luggage.”

It was a fun change of pace from welding and painting, and great to see the band community come together for something lighthearted.

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First Rehearsal with Full Props

Big night—our first full rehearsal with all the props on the field!

We ran the entire show with everything in place: the full stage with four drums and all the coroplast, six spear racks with 74 spears, eight sideline screens, and seven back props. And it all went smoothly. Nothing broke, no surprises, and no “oh crap” moments that required rethinking a design on the spot.

The only thing I forgot to bring were the bungee cords to help hold the spears on the racks as they’re moved on the sideline carts—but that’s an easy fix for next time.

We had a great group of volunteers, which made setup much easier. I only had to focus on attaching the drums to the stage while others handled assembling the back props. It was awesome to finally see everything working together on the field the way we envisioned it.

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Home Stretch

Today’s focus was all about finishing the stage and drums. First up was wrapping the three remaining drums in vinyl. Once the vinyl was on, we added one-inch foam to the tops so the students can make full contact during the performance without making noise.

The final stage task was attaching the coroplast to the sides. Since the stage is still at the high school, the prop shop had to go on the road. That meant guessing what tools I’d need to bring along. (Foreshadowing: I didn’t bring everything, which means a few tasks will spill into Monday.)

Since we were headed to the school anyway, I didn’t want to haul the trailer back home, so I used the chance to build out a storage shelf inside it. The new shelf is 11 feet long and 23 inches wide, tied into the e-track. It provides plenty of space for all the coroplast panels, with room underneath for the media frame parts.

Then it was time to “skin” the stage. First step was attaching the coroplast by drilling holes for all the attachment points. Next, I cut the coroplast to make room for the drums to attach, and finally trimmed the top edge into a jagged design to match the tops of the back props. The side coroplast ended up being a few inches short, which meant I couldn’t use the rivet nuts I had placed at the ends of the stage. Of course, I didn’t bring the drill or rivet tools with me, so adding new rivet nuts will have to wait until rehearsal tomorrow.

Even with that small setback, I can say that at this point all fabrication is complete. From here we move into show mode and maintenance mode. A lot of lessons were learned along the way, and knowing what I know now, I would have done some things differently. But overall, I’m happy with how it all turned out.

Tomorrow will be the first time seeing all the props on the field together at rehearsal. Excited to finally see it all in action.

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Long Saturday in the Props Shop (My Feet Hurt)

After starting the morning at an early cross country meet, it was straight into a full day of props work.

First task was hunting down more neon pink spray paint. Home Depot only had two cans yesterday, which wasn’t nearly enough to finish the spear tips. We managed to find three more cans at Walmart, which allowed us to complete painting the rest of the spear tips, plus all the extras we made in case of breakage. I have to say though, these spray cans were frustrating to use—the nozzles kept clogging. Maybe it’s just Rust-Oleum, or maybe it’s something about neon pink paint, but it was a pain.

Once that was out of the way, we worked on wrapping one of the stage drums in vinyl. While we were in the middle of that, FedEx Freight showed up with the missing coroplast pieces from our original order—the ones we drove all the way to Tulsa to pick up weeks ago. The delivery window was 9 to 4, so it was a relief to see them arrive early enough for us to use them in the afternoon.

By lunch we had one drum fully wrapped. After lunch, with a band dad and mom pitching in, the main focus was back props. First we assembled all seven media frames to make sure there weren’t any issues. Then we started hanging the coroplast panels—now with all the missing pieces in hand.

The original plan was to use bolts and wingnuts to attach the EMT frames to each piece of coroplast and remove them for transport. But during Tuesday’s rehearsal, attaching EMT that way took longer than I hoped. Last night I started brainstorming faster options, and this morning I tested out using pop rivets with fender washers instead of bolts. The rivets held great, and since they don’t stick out, they make stacking the coroplast much easier for transport. After a quick trip to Home Depot for more rivets and washers, we spent most of the afternoon drilling new 1/8-inch holes and riveting the EMT to the coroplast.

The first couple of panels went slow as we figured out the process, but with extra hands helping, we eventually found a good rhythm and completed 20 coroplast pieces. We didn’t quite finish all 21 though—because even though the missing coroplast arrived, one piece was still wrong. Instead of a proper 4x8, it looked like it had been scaled down. The whole image was there, but the panel was only 6.5 feet tall, so it won’t work with the others.

Even with that hiccup, it was an awesome day. All of the remaining back props are assembled and ready, the spear tips are finished, and one drum is wrapped. A long day in the shop, but a very productive one.

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Friday Night Lights: Props Edition

Another night of knocking out a long list of random prop tasks as we push to get everything ready for the first contest in just a week.

Painted all of the EMT frames for the coroplast black

Painted 30+ spear tips neon pink (new request from the band director this week)

Repaired four spear tips that had broken since the spears were first finished and handed off to the band

Installed the final rivet nuts in the media frames that will secure the bottoms of the coroplast panels

Reattached the corner pieces to the top and bottom rails of the media frames

Tested every rivet nut to make sure none of them had bad threads or other issues

It was a bit of a grab-bag of tasks, but every one of them moves us closer to being contest-ready. One more step in the countdown.

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Friday Night Lights (Thursday Edition)

No props work tonight—it was an away football game, so the focus shifted to the logistics of getting all the band equipment to and from the stadium. That meant getting to the high school early to load the box trucks, heading to the game to unload, pushing equipment onto the field for the halftime show, and then loading everything back in for the trip home.

There was a little bit of props mixed in, though. We gathered up all the spears to bring home since it’s been requested that the spear tips be painted neon pink instead of the current white. We also brought the small trailer home, since we’ll need the props inside it for this weekend’s work sessions.

Not a welding-and-grinding kind of night, but still part of the bigger picture of making sure the show comes together.

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Wednesday Evening in the Props Workshop

Another productive evening in the countdown to finishing props by Sunday.

First up was resizing three of the media frames to match the other four. That meant welding in 10 extension pieces, drilling new pin holes in the extended ends, cleaning up all the welds with some grinding, and finally giving the new parts a coat of black paint.

After wrapping up the frame work, I shifted focus to cutting and sanding extra spear tips. We’ve already had a handful break, so it’s good to get ahead on spares.

I finished the night by attaching wheels to two of the wheel bars for the media frames. One more set of tasks checked off the list—slowly but surely getting closer to the finish line.

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Chipping Away at the To-Do List and Taking More Props to Rehearsal

Today was another step forward as we chipped away at the to-do list and moved more props over to rehearsal.

Before heading to school, I cut the stage panels to length (10', 8', 2', 2', 8') and taped the two 2' panels together. At rehearsal, the focus shifted to getting the coroplast ready to hang on the four back props that weren’t missing any bottom 4x8 sheets. Susie and I drilled the remaining holes needed to attach the EMT hanger frames, then loaded those props and the front screens into the trailer.

We set up the front screens at rehearsal. The plan had been to assemble four media frames and drill the holes in the coroplast as we hung it. But, as usual, I overestimated how much we could get done during rehearsal—we only managed to finish one media frame with its coroplast attached.

One lesson learned: trying to drive screws through the coroplast into the rivet nuts on the frames is a bit of a hassle. Susie had a great suggestion—use headless bolts (all-thread) threaded into the rivet nuts before hanging the coroplast. That way, it’s easier to line up the holes and just slip on a washer and wingnut. I’ve ordered some all-thread and will test this method out this weekend to see if it speeds up prop setup.

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Heading into the Home Stretch

I’ve mapped out the full list of tasks needed to finish this year’s props. It’s clear there are still lots of little details to wrap up across every part of the build, but the goal is to have every outstanding item complete by the end of Saturday. That leaves Sunday as a buffer day—and also a chance to focus on figuring out how everything will load into the 20-foot trailer. Right now, I’m thinking coroplast panels on one side and media frame parts on the other, but we’ll test that as we go.

I’ve broken the list into daily tasks for the week, and today’s focus was on three fronts:

Media Frames – Ordered and picked up the metal needed to extend the width and height of three frames. Cleaned and cut everything so it’s ready for welding on Friday.

Spears – We were short by two, so I picked up PVC, cut it to length, and routed the slots for the tips.

Drums & Rehearsal – Took the four drums to rehearsal to mount them on the stage and confirm everything works as planned. Happy to say they looked and functioned great.

I wrapped up the evening by bringing the 20-foot band trailer home so tomorrow we can load the front screens, carts, and four back props to take to rehearsal.

Lots of good progress today, and best of all—I checked off every item on the plan for the day. Hoping the rest of the week goes just as smoothly.

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Sideline Screens, Back Props, and Stage Drums

Today was a big progress day across several different props.

I started the morning fabricating the braces that will hold the faux barrel drums on the stage. These braces set the drums at a 22-degree angle, hanging just off the front edge of the stage with their bottoms about 6 inches below stage level. I cut all the pieces, drilled the holes, welded everything together, and then ground down the welds so they’d look clean.

We also had a band dad and a band mom stop by to help out. Susie, John, and the band mom worked on attaching all the coroplast panels to the frames for the front sideline screens, then moved on to taping the top and bottom 10mm coroplast panels together for the back props. The band dad took care of airing up all the wheels for the media frames so they’ll be ready to roll once the back props are finished.

Meanwhile, I made a template for drilling the holes in the 10mm coroplast where the EMT hanger frame bolts will attach. Then we wrapped up the day by testing one of the drum braces. I mounted a drum to my old welding table to simulate how it would sit on the stage, and it worked perfectly. With that test a success, we went ahead and painted the drum tops, bottoms, and braces black, and then bolted the braces onto the drums.

Another full and productive day in the Maker At Play props workshop.

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Back Prop Progress

Started the morning fabricating 21 EMT frame hangers to support the coroplast panels that will hang on the media frames for the back props. I welded the pieces together while Susie drilled the holes in each frame, then we attached the U-bolts to all of them.

In the afternoon, another band dad came by to help out. He took on the job of replacing all the wheels on our screen carts with new ones while Susie and I kept working on the back props. Our focus was figuring out the exact placement for the holes to attach the EMT frames, as well as where to install the rivet nuts in the media frames so the bottoms of the coroplast panels can be bolted in securely.

Once we had all the measurements finalized, our helper drilled the holes for the rivet nuts, and I installed them one by one. By the end of the day, we’d made solid progress and the back props are starting to take real shape.

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Friday Night Lights (and a Few Hours of Props First)

Home football game tonight, which meant I didn’t have to be at the high school early to help load the band trailers for an away trip. That gave me a few extra hours in the shop to squeeze in some prop work before heading out to watch the band at halftime.

Tonight’s goal was to prototype an EMT frame hanger and see if my idea would hold up in the real world with actual physics. I cut three pieces of EMT, drilled six 1/4-inch holes in them, and welded them into an H-shape. The horizontal piece got two holes for U-bolts, which act as hooks to hang on the top bar of the media frames. The two vertical pieces each got two holes for 1/4-inch bolts that will attach the EMT to the 10mm coroplast.

Happy to report—the prototype worked. The size of the EMT frame was just right, and the design should be both strong and simple enough for consistent use.

Once the prototype proved out, I moved on to production prep. I cut 60 pieces of EMT to length and drilled all the U-bolt holes so I can start welding these together first thing in the morning. Unlike last year’s EMT frames, which were large and custom-built for each coroplast clock, this year’s frames are all the same size. The plan is for them to not only work better this season but also be reusable for future shows.

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Media Frame Layout and EMT Run

Another short props day, but still steady progress. I laid out one of the 8-foot media frames in the driveway and placed the coroplast for one of the back props on it to confirm my assumptions and calculations from yesterday’s planning. Everything lined up the way I expected.

I took a few measurements to figure out where and what size to make the EMT hanger frames that will attach to the coroplast and hang on the media frames. After that, I made a trip to the band container at the high school to retrieve some EMT left over from the Zentangle show in 2022. That tubing will be repurposed to make the new coroplast hangers.

While I was there, I also picked up all the wheel bases for the media frames so we can check and air up all the wheels this weekend during the parent prop work sessions.

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Spreadsheets and Planning Day

Today was more of a spreadsheets-and-planning kind of day in the Maker At Play props workshop. Now that we’ve sorted the coroplast sheets for the back props, the focus was figuring out what size to adjust the media frames to be.

My goal this year is for all seven frames to be the same width and height so we don’t have to worry about matching a specific frame to a specific coroplast panel like we did last year. That meant starting with the minimum width of each back prop as the baseline for the max frame width, then deciding where I want the top of the frame to sit in relation to the seam at the top of the 8-foot sheet of coroplast.

Last year, four of the seven frames were built at 8 feet wide and 93.5 inches tall (plus wheels). That size worked well with the coroplast, and as a bonus, I won’t have to modify those four frames at all. The plan is to adjust the other three frames to match—8 feet wide and 93.5 inches tall—so the full set is consistent.

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Giant Puzzle Pieces

Today we finally got around to sorting all the coroplast we picked up in Tulsa over a week ago. There are seven back props, each made up of six pieces of 10mm printed coroplast. All told, that’s 42 sheets—each one a slice of lava-molten rock imagery. With the similar colors and patterns, putting them together was like solving a giant jigsaw puzzle.

We moved all the furniture in our living room up against the walls to make space to lay out each prop—these things are about 12 feet by 10 feet. We chose the living room partly because it was too hot outside, and partly because we could get photos from the stairs above for a better view.

As we laid everything out, we discovered a problem: some pieces were exact duplicates. That meant others were missing. In the end, three props were each missing one piece, and one prop was missing two pieces—for a total of five missing parts:

P1-6.eps (bottom right of prop)

P2-1.eps (top left of prop)

P3-3.eps (top right of prop)

P7-6.eps (bottom right of prop)

P7-1.eps (top left of prop)

I reached out to the print company, and to their credit, they quickly owned the mix-up and agreed to reprint the missing pieces and ship them to us ASAP.

While we had the props laid out, we also took measurements so I could finalize the size of our seven media frames. My goal is for all the frames to be identical, and it looks like 8 feet wide by about 7 feet tall (not counting the wheels) will be the right fit.

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Building the Faux Barrels

Monday in the Maker At Play props workshop was all about building the faux barrel drums for the stage. On Saturday I had quickly hacked together a mock-up and sent videos and photos to the director to make sure it matched his vision. Got the thumbs up to proceed, so today was about building the real ones.

I started by breaking down some 1/2-inch plywood into 2-foot squares for the tops and bottoms. Next, I ripped sixteen 3-inch strips of 3/4-inch plywood for the legs and cross-cut them to 36 inches. Then I routed dados into each plywood top and bottom to hold the four legs in place, cut the tops and bottoms into circles, and finally glued and nailed the legs on.

It was a day of sawdust and glue, but the barrels are finally taking shape. Next step will be wrapping them in the printed vinyl to give them the look we’re after—and making sure they’re sturdy enough to last the marching season.