Always happy to contribute!

I do not, sorry!

Great question! If you are going for an overall 18x18x18 cube, you want the top to be 18x18 so that it rests on top of the support of the sides. If you want a fully enclosed cube, you can make the bottom the same as the top, however, I’d recommend leaving the bottom open generally. In a bottom-open scenario, 2 of your side pieces would span the full width of the top, so they would be 18” wide and 17 1/4” tall, accommodating for the roughly 3/4” top. Your other 2 sides have to be inset 3/4” from the top as well, making them 17 1/4” tall too, but they have to be inset by 1 1/2” due to being between the two 3/4” ply sides, making them 16 1/2”. So for an open bottom box, you have 2 @ 17.25Tx18W, 2 @ 17.25Tx16.5W, and 1 top @ 18x18. If you want it full enclosed, you’ll have 2 (top and bottom) @ 18x18, and then the widths of the sides will remain the same but the heights will be reduced another 3/4 from 17.25” to 16.5”. If you do add a bottom, you should make some sort of clear indicator of top and bottom because if you stand on the side which is full inset between the other pieces of plywood, you are only being supported by the shear strength of the screws rather than having solid wood underneath it. Hopefully that makes sense!

Makes total sense! And I know exactly how to reinforce the insides if I throw a bottom on it. I really appreciate this! Thank you!

It’s the little things😂

So glad it helps!

Perfect! So glad you’ll be able to use it!

My pleasure! More full length videos coming down the line, but in the meantime, feel free to check out simplestagecraft on TikTok for daily technical theatre bell ringers!

Great question! It depends on your program/class, but generally you absolutely don’t have to choose before starting. In fact, you’ll hopefully be encouraged to try a little of everything as you go! Some people never specialize at all, but odds are you’ll find one or two areas that you like more or are particularly good at and then run with those. Some people who are particularly good at an area might find that they’re encouraged to stay in that area, but if you want to try something else, be assertive about wanting to explore and learn other things!

1 5/8”! You can get by with 1.5”, but 1 5/8” tends to be the magic length for successfully sucking down 3/4” plywood to platforms or whatever else. Generally you want your screws to be at least 2x as long as your material is thick so that there’s plenty of thread driving it further in.

That’s an excellent idea! Definitely a career video is in the books for the future. It’s a really important topic that I think could get a lot more students, parents, and administration looking at technical theatre more seriously!

My pleasure! I’ll get back at it soon (post new baby).

Great question! Sorry for the late reply. But yes! Generally speaking, if you get over 2 feet for platforms, flats, boxes, etc, you want to start adding in support. You can do that in a variety of ways, but for this method, just add in essentially another vertical wall in the center around 1.5 feet. That should cover you! If you’re thinking of it in terms of open air under your actors’ feet, as long as you have under a two foot gap in one direction, you should be good.

Haha, I had limited time, so this was the solution! Just make sure the box is angled down away from the saw, and stick a shop vac/dust collector hose in the bottom if you can. Makes a huge difference!

Thank you!! Yeah, it’s crazy when you realize how many things are just obvious to you but then realize that obvious has come from years of doing it.

In retrospect, I'm not sure why I even included that bit! It is better practice to go along the width, but if an upstage to downstage system works for someone, great! That being said, "never dos" will definitely still crop up from a safety perspective. "Never stick your hand in the blade" etc, ha!

@@SimpleStagecraft Thank you for your response, sorry to be a schmuck.

Thanks! I'm super excited to be doing it. P.S. - Bobby's dorm is *awesome*!

I was going to suggest it for you after watching your video!

You're in luck! After a nearly two year hiatus (sorry to leave you hanging), I'm about to take a serious dive into this. So stay tuned and tell your friends!

Thanks for the feedback! You could definitely refer to them that way, but I just went with their technical names.

We could probably do a quick stage-mopping video! I could also do a quick roller cleaning video; however, in my personal opinion, life is too short to wash roller covers. Whenever I buy them, I buy in bulk (or as in-bulk as I can afford at the time). The only time we ever use rollers at all is for base coats, so they don't have to be high quality.

I've got to keep people coming for something other than my looks!

Haha, I can't remember if I mentioned it at all in the video, but it's the original box that the saw came in! Works just fine for now.

I definitely agree that a face mask or respirator is always recommended if you have one and it is convenient! Our dust collection works reasonably well for what it is, and we have an air filtration system that circulates the air pretty quickly in our small shop.

Thank you!