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Reuse * Repair * Refurbish
Despite the high cost of shop labour in developed countries, it can
still be cheaper to not buy new. If you are considering the replacement
of a piece of equipment with the same type and don't need additional
features or strengths, refurbish what you have. This idea can be also
be applied to tools and hardware.
Another factor is the quality of current replacements versus the
quality of what you have. So many poorly designed and cheaply made
goods permeate the industry today that many are not as good new, as
what you already possess used. This is particularly true of tools and
hardware, but also applies to lighting instruments, dimming equipment,
and to accessories. If you do want quality, it's usually very expensive.
Weigh these costs against refurbishing your existing inventory.
Change your Attitude and Realise that Older
Equipment is a Resource Rather than a Detriment.
Labour costs to redo what you already have can be held in check if one
takes the time to study the situation. Determine the feasibility by noting
the hours spent from start to completion for overhauling a single item,
then multiply that times the wages per hour of the person(s) doing the
work. If the total does not exceed the cost of buying new, then do the same
work on future items. Keep notes of the time spent on each and every item
as it is overhauled along with the date of overhaul. Of course, if the
savings amount to only a few dollars, refurbishment may not be worth it. I
place an arbitrary 75% cutoff: If the work and parts cost exceeds 75% of
the new price, it likely won't be done.
There are exceptions to the 75% figure. One is if the item can be rented
out to recover some of the cost before selling it, then the refurbishment
is carried out. The main criterion for this is that I hate waste and don't
want to throw out old, but usable, equipment, so it gets repaired/refurbished
and is put into rental stock. Eventually, it is sold to needy groups or
individuals that cannot afford to buy new.
This leads to another exception: Customer Satisfaction. Sometimes
equipment is refurbished for no other reason than to sell a usable item
to a customer for a low price because he, she or they do not have the
budget to buy new, or even good quality used. It may not pay monetarily,
but it satisfies a niche of customers that hopefully will continue to
deal with us rather than go elsewhere. Again, it's nice too because
it is yet another item that doesn't get thrown out. It continues to
provide service and stays out of a land fill.
Equipment that is too far gone gets stripped for parts, and those parts
are then restored. Equipment should be considered on an individual basis
though, because other factors may result in some things being redone
despite the cost. A favoured or sentimental item might be one example.
Another is if you want a museum piece for a showroom and wish to have it
look and operate as new. (Peruse Equipment Maintenance in
Shop Tips for equipment restoration
procedures.)
Regarding small items and hardware parts, clean them instead of buying
new. Use a variable-speed bench grinder with a wire brush attachment to
buff hardware back to like new. If a grinder is unavailable, use an electric
drill with a locking trigger and a wire brush accessory. Secure the drill
in a vise, start it and lock it on. Using a pair of pliers to hold each
item, buff away. The pliers will give a better grip and keep fingers away
from moving parts. (Remember safety goggles; wire bristles can, and
do, fly off during buffing.) Coat buffed metal items with a light oil
and return to stock or reattach to equipment being overhauled.
Even plastic can be buffed if it is tough enough. Instead of a steel
wire brush, use a brass one to lightly remove dirt and unwanted paint.
Brass is easier on the parts being buffed because it is a softer metal
than steel. Solvents can be incorporated provided they don't melt the
plastic surface too drastically. Even at that, wipe in one direction to
give the renewed surface some semblance of uniformity. Finish up with a
coating of ArmorAll or an equivalent surface conditioner. (Be certain to
have good ventilation when using solvents and to test the plastic in
an unobtrusive spot before applying any such fluids.) (See
Lubricants and Solvents.)
Some of you may be thinking: "Why should I take the time to buff a
10-cent part?" Again, do the mathematics regarding the cost of the new
item versus the labour cost to restore a used one. As an example, let
us consider a $10 per hour labour rate for junior shop personnel. That
works out to be 17 cents a minute. One need only buff two 10-cent pieces
of hardware a minute to be economically favourable when overhauling versus
buying new. In our shop, workers can average eight or more hardware pieces
a minute. So even at $20 an hour, we are still ahead.
Remember The Nickle & Dime Approach; the savings on just
this one item over the run of a year or multiple years add up. Now consider
these little savings for many items over many years and the amount can be
huge. It's akin to a large manufacturer saving a dollar on a part. It's
nothing to a million-dollar company, but if 100,000 of these parts are
used, the savings would cover quite a few other expenses. Savings begin
with nickels and dimes, people.
Further to the idea of refurbishing parts, if a retail $36 charge-out
rate is considered, it's still feasible at that volume of items. For more
expensive things, this returns even more for the time invested, even
though these parts may take longer to work upon. Take a $10 tilt-lock
knob. Only two to four of those an hour justifies the cost of their
refurbishment. (Our shop staff can do easily do ten to fifteen in that
time.)
Regarding the retail charge-out, refurbishment is done during slow
periods when customer work is not being done, so we don't actually figure
that rate into this cost. I only mention it for those readers that may
calculate a retail time value for in-house shop work.
Here is another example: It typically takes us four to eight man hours
to carefully and completely refurbish a 150mm ellipsoidal depending on its
condition. This is to disassemble, strip or buff the parts, repair, paint,
reassemble, lubricate and align it. Even at a company charge-out rate of
$36 an hour, refurbishment labour calculates to a $144 to $288 retail
value. An equivalent new light might be $400. Multiply that by ten lights
and the cost difference is around $1100 to $2500. That is enough to buy
about three to six new $400 lights. If one considers the actual wages
paid to shop staff or yourself, the savings are even higher. (You should
always consider yourself to be an employee of yourself and receive shop
wages -- or at least figure them into the cost.)
Realise too, that with practice or when overhauling groups of fixtures
at the same time, efficiency increases so the overhaul time per light can be
reduced considerably. Even when the cost of typical replacement parts are
brought into the calculations, it's rare that it is not worth it. Even if
it's not, we can put these lights into rental inventory and easily get
back the cost of refurbishment.
Redoing equipment or even small items over a given year can keep rental
rates in check. This is especially important to theatre groups and small
bands with little to no budget. It can also make your fees for a full-scale
show low enough to compete (without hardship) against companies and
individuals that must recoup the cost of new equipment. Remember: The key
to this method is that your older equipment must perform and be as reliable
as new. So do your restorations carefully and completely, and pay attention
to small details.
Something else to consider is that few lay persons (read: clients)
know lighting fixtures; if they appear and perform as new, those
persons will think that they are. Don't take this as an indication
that refurbishment is done to deceive; it's simply that well-performing
equipment has no age.
As an example, just recently I was installing some fully refurbished
lights into a theatre venue. While a set of them was sitting on the floor
waiting to be hung, the venue's assistant manager happened by -- he thought
the lights were brand new. They were at least 20 to 25 years old!
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Obtain "Obsolete" Equipment
Manufacturers push the lighting, as well as other, industries toward
*New* *Improved* *Better*, while dissuading users
against that which they currently have. They condition consumers to
believe that old is useless. However, differing types and features aside,
a light is a light is a light, and each projects illumination on to a
stage. Few clients know what is modern and what is not -- and few even seem
to care. They are absorbed with other aspects of their productions and
rarely take the time to notice. As long as the lighting operates and looks
as they envision, they are happy.
So with all this in mind, seek out older, used equipment -- even that
which is not in perfect condition. Educate yourself as to what can be
refurbished at a competitive cost so you will become a better buyer. If
equipment is restored so that it looks and performs as new, it can be
very useful. Doing so can maintain lower prices for you compared to
companies and individuals that must cover the cost of expensive, new
equipment -- and the continual replacement of the same.
A good example is the groundrow fixture. With the growing popularity of
LED cyclorama-wash units, one can find incandescent and quartz groundrow
(and border) lights for a good price. Large, 200mm ellipsoidals are also
easy to find. They have been replaced with more efficient and smaller
units, but those big, old fixtures cast a lot of light (even with lower
wattage lamps) because of their large lens and reflector sizes. They
simply need to be overhauled (or at least cleaned and lubricated), and
an alignment performed to become a workhorse fixture in a permanent
venue. (These fixtures are a little too large and heavy to be considered
for inclusion in a touring light rig.)
Some of you will bring up the issue of reliability regarding older
equipment, but this is only relevant if that equipment is not properly
preserved. It is not relevant at all for that which has been thoroughly
and entirely restored. In many cases, little work other than cleaning,
lubrication, alignment, and perhaps some hardware replacements or
rewiring, will be required to have extremely usable, older gear.
If refurbished carefully, older equipment should be
able to perform as new and be just as reliable.
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Spend Money on Stock Parts Wisely
One must have some parts in stock because it's a nuisance to go out to
get things as needed. It's expensive too, because buying them one-off costs
more than in quantity. The question is: "How do I know which items and how
many of them to buy?" Unless you are experienced in repairs and/or overhaul,
you won't know. Even asking someone may not help because that person will
likely have different criteria than you when it comes to generalities. Yet,
you must have a good selection on hand.
For specific fixture and accessory parts, the answer is easier because
you can ask that experienced person which ones fail the most often, and
then buy accordingly. You can also observe lights, dimmers and accessories
in the field to see which are in the worst shape. After a while, a pattern
will become evident that will determine which parts to stock. You can also
buy up old equipment for parts and use those, or even use ones from newer
equipment and then replace them with new or used ones later on.
For common hardware parts, one solution is to buy assortments. These
typically come in transparent, compartmentalised boxes. Buy a number
of different assortments to have for stock. Store them in an organised
manner and begin to track the hardware used most. Then buy only those
individual types and sizes of which you run out the fastest. The
"assortment" method guarantees that you'll have most all sizes in stock
for the odd time a less-often-required part is necessary. Of course,
you'll save money in the long run because the majority of replacements
will be those used most, and they will eventually become purchased in
quantity, so the price will be lower.
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Stock Up on Sale Items
Consumable supplies that you use during the year as a tech can add up
to be a major expense, but they must be purchased in order to do your job.
Whenever your suppliers have these items at less than the regular price,
buy as many as you can afford -- even if you don't need them right then.
It may be more than you want to spend in the short run, but over the time
of a year, your consumables can come to cost you far less. Compare this
cost to buying items only whenever you run out. Most often you will be
paying higher prices for the latter because the quantities purchased will
be smaller. Plus, consider the time, expense and frustration when having
to go out to get an item versus having one already in stock and near at
hand.
If you are close to running out, buy only enough to last until the
next sale. Considering this, keep a usage log, or at least note when
supplies of a particular item are running low. Add each item to a
"shopping list" which you will take with you whenever you go out to buy
things. Each trip, compare the list entries with what is on sale and buy
accordingly. If you buy a lot from a variety of suppliers, make separate
lists for "Electrical", "Electronics", "Hardware", etc, and take them
with you whenever you go out or go to make up an order.
Shopping lists are best kept in a computer file. Keep a master list
of items and copy & paste items into a "To Buy" list as they become
depleted. When you go to take the list with you, it can be either a
paper copy printed out or an electronic one dumped into a personal
organiser or cell phone. If you order from your shop, dump the list
into an e-mail.
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Lamp Savings
Replacement lamps are an ongoing expense for any lighting person
that maintains, or is responsible to maintain light fixtures. Here are
some tips to lower that cost.
- Use Long-Life Lamps
If available and reduced light output is not an issue,
buy 2000-hour, or more, lamps. High output, non
arc-source lamps last less than 1000 hours. Some very
high output lamps last only 25 hours. 2000-hour lamps will
cost more but pay for themselves over their life.
Note that colour temperature of incandescent/quartz lamps
will be lower than their long-life versions.
- Lower the Socket Voltage
A 10-percent drop in socket voltage via dimmer trimming
boosts life of incandescent/quartz lamps to 400%. At this
voltage other factors may be detrimental, though. Typically,
the following happens at 90% of rated lamp voltage:
85% Wattage Consumed
82% Efficiency (Lumens per Watt)
70% Light Output
-100 Degrees Lower Colour Temperature
Except for wattage, the others may not be acceptable,
especially light output. A 5% drop will boost life to
about 200% while allowing light output of 85%.
- Maintain Fixture Sockets
Nothing kills lamp life more quickly than tarnished
sockets. Always inspect burnout lamp bases and the
sockets from which they are removed. Any that are dark
or corroded need to be buffed or replaced. Also have a
look at heat dissipation to be sure the sockets are well
ventilated. Be sure to burn fixtures socket down whenever
possible. A clue that heat is excessive is discolouration
of the lamp base and/or socket.
- Give Lamps a Break
During rehearsals when there is a break for a director
to speak with actors or musicians, tech crew, etc., lower
the board master to half. It keeps light on the stage and
maintains the scene, but this increases the service life
of lamps, gels and fixtures. It may not seem much, but
added up over the years, it can be significant.
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Buy Only One Spray Dispenser Per Product
For any liquids that you spray or otherwise dispense by pump, buy
just one dispenser bottle per product, per work station -- say in a
500ml size. After that, only purchase volume quantities of their contents.
Common products such as soaps, hand creams, glass cleaners, multipurpose
cleaners, disinfectants, polishes, solvents, lubricants and others can be
bought in two to five litre jugs, if not even larger. Simply refill each
sprayer or dispenser as required from your bulk supply.
As for the sprayers, go to a janitorial supply company and buy spray
bottles from there. They are cheaper, tend to be more robust, and using
the same bottle type will standardise your spray/pump dispenser
collection. I like the trigger type the best. Ensure that sprayers can
be set to `Off', `Stream' or `Mist'. Also check that each is rated for the
products you intend to use. Some liquids such as solvents and oils may
melt or deform both the bottle and spray head, and/or cause the latter's
mechanism to bind or seize.
Try to buy different coloured sprayer heads, if possible. If not, on a
dry bottle wind a strip of coloured electrical tape around the entire
circumference as well as labelling what is inside. Colour coding the
bottles makes it less likely to inadvertently use the wrong product.
Suggested colours are:
- Solvents: Red
- Multipurpose Cleaner: Yellow
- Disinfectants: Green
- Glass Cleaner: Blue
- Lubricants: Orange
- Oils: Brown
- Polishes: White
One additional tip regarding these products is to dilute them.
Some concentrations may be stronger than your requirements dictate.
In particular, water-based liquids can be diluted with ordinary
tap water unless that water is excessively hard. Experiment to see
what dilution ratio works well. Start by adding 5 or 10% water
to soaps, hand creams and cleaners. This will stretch your budget
while introducing smaller quantities of these items into the
environment. Glass cleaners may leave streaks if diluted with tap
water; the method is to use distilled water. Dilute the spray
bottle contents so that you can test the ratio with that quantity
rather than possibly over-diluting the bulk quantity. This also
ensures that one still has the full-strength product available
to use when it is needed.
Finally, if cleaner or soap nozzles get clogged or their mechanisms
become sluggish, they can often be cleaned by pumping water through them
and/or by inserting a small-diameter pin into the nozzle opening.
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A Larger Shop?
For you freelance techs that have your own shops, I am willing
to bet that most are smaller stand-alone operations, or are simply
an area in your home or garage. Here are ways to keep from having
to buy or rent a larger shop space. Rental and construction/renovation
costs have not gone down, so reorganise to make more efficient usage
of the space you currently have.
- Give Away / Recycle / Throw Out Deteriorated Whatevers.
Take a thorough look at your shop inventory. How many
items have lain around for years that never get used for
one reason or another? If they can't be put to use because
they have deteriorated too much, can't be stripped for
parts, nor placed into storage elsewhere, consider throwing
them out. Better yet, give them away to someone starting out.
That person can put more labour into them than it's worth to
you because, while he or she cannot afford to buy those items,
he or she does have the time to fix them.
Otherwise, recycle what you can before throwing out the
rest. Remember that metals can bring in money. Recently,
recovered metal salvaged from around our shop was cashed in
and garnered just under $80 in scrap value. The bulk was
steel, but there were copper and aluminum too. $80 was almost
a tank of fuel for the company cargo van. Some metals, such as
copper, command amazingly high prices on the scrap market.
Take the time to strip the metals of fabric, plastics or
other. Clean metal nets higher prices from the scrap
dealers.
Not sure that you want to get rid of an item or three?
It's best to hang on to these if you have the space. At the
next shop inventory point, consider them again. Few feelings
are worse than down the road regretting having gotten rid
of something you once possessed. Don't end up singing an
"I used to own it" lament; keep those items.
- Move to Upper or Out-of-the-Way Locations Anything
Not Used in the Past Two to Five Years.
This is for things that you definitely want to keep but
aren't presently being used. Having to move them out of the
way or reach over top of them is not conducive to an efficient
workplace. Besides being in the way, they take up valuable
space in a shop that may seem to get smaller as each year
passes. This adds frustration to one's day and can increase
the time to complete projects through procrastination generated
by not wanting to work among clutter. A simple repositioning of
items not frequently used in favour of those that currently are,
can do wonders.
- Store/Sell Anything Not Used in More Than Five Years.
Five years is a long time. If you have unused items that
are sitting somewhere for no other reason than that is
where they have always been, it's time to move them into
storage, or to consider their sale. This point relates to
more valuable items that you don't wish to give away,
recycle or throw out. If they still have worth or might in
the future, be sure to protect them in plastic when storing.
- Locate Nearest at Hand the Items Used Most Often.
Why stretch or walk for things you use every day or week?
Move them closer to your principal task area. This
mainly applies to tools or service equipment hanging
on the wall above a bench or work area. Arrange for
those most frequently used to be near the work that
requires them.
- Clear Out the Shop and Start from Bare.
A good way to reorganise and to implement the above
suggestions is to move out everything and then clean
(and repaint, if possible) what remains. Reorganise
benches, shelves and electrical power. Things will
turn up. They may be those lost items you sought so
long ago (or even recently!)
Begin to replace things back into the shop. You can now
decide what you actually use on a regular basis, and for
the rest, find out quickly what is necessary and what isn't.
While doing this procedure, apply all the previous suggestions
to each item. So for what is not brought into the work area,
after contemplating each item, place it into one of these
piles: "Store", "Sell", "Give-Away", "Recycle", Throw Out".
You may surprise yourself with the amount of shop space you
can achieve. Even if you keep everything, it would be rare
that a reorganisation would not result in more available
space. At the minimum, the reorganisation should make for
a more pleasant work environment.
- To Gain more Floor Space, Build or Buy Shelving.
If upper wall space is unused, put shelves there --
right to the ceiling. The latter may seem excessive,
but available shelf space will always become
used. Think about dividing those shelves by installing
compartments and also placing in-between shelves for
smaller/thinner items. Hang a step ladder close by if
these shelves become higher than one can reach from the
floor. Test that the shelves and mounting brackets can
handle the weight of stored items.
- Hang Up Items.
Some things are better hung on walls, posts or bench ends
than stored on shelves or in drawers. Of course, this already
applies to tools, lighting fixtures and cables, but also to
other items. Think about hanging up product dispensers for
tape and solder; installing a literature rack for shop manuals
or sand paper grades; mounting pairs of brackets to grip and
spread open garbage and recycling bags for easy, one-handed
access; or screwing spring clips to a post to hold work gloves.
If you hang up enough items, especially smaller ones, you
may find that you can free up a drawer or shelf for the purpose
of storing larger things. Perhaps a series of bins or parts
cabinets might be mounted on a wall bracket with the same
result.
- Use Empty Flight Cases for Storage.
Road boxes that sit in a shop take up space. If they
are empty and little used, consider them as storage units.
Items that are moisture sensitive can be wrapped in plastic
and sealed with tape. For extra protection, use any air-tight
cases you have for these. Mark or tag each as to its contents,
then arrange all cases in a manner whereby the ones with
items most likely to be accessed are in front or on top. If
room is short, stack boxes on top of wheeled cases because
the latter can be moved as necessary to access things in
behind.
If necessary, any case can always later be returned to
service, but in the meantime, take advantage of the storage
potential of empty cases. Remember: Boxes stack far more
readily than loose items!
- Remove Little-Used Desks and Tables.
These often become junk collectors. It is more efficient
to design and supply appropriate storage for these items
than leaving them sit on a desk or table top. If there is
a desk or table that is little used for much more than
telephone calls, think about a wall phone, plus a
wall-mounted writing surface and storage. Phone numbers
can be on a clipboard, also on the wall. Pens, paper,
phone books and accessories can be put into mountable wall
pockets which are available at stationery stores. The space
vacated by a desk can be filled with shelves (or some of those
cases that were just discussed) so as to gain greater storage
facility.
- Adapt your Shop Vacuum to be Remote.
Move your shop vacuum away from your work area to
increase your at-hand room. Plug it into an outlet
that is switched from within your work area and turn
the vacuum's power switch on. Extend the hose up, over
and down to your work area. Use U-bolt-style brackets as
guides for the hose. Add hose extensions as required.
Terminate at a wall-mounted bracket or holster to hold
the hose. Another set of brackets or a pegboard at that
location can hold vacuum accessories. When needed, unhook
the hose and hit the wall switch.
If there is no floor space for the vacuum at its
new location, consider mounting it on the wall, too.
Don't make it too high or too difficult to access
for when it comes time to empty or service it. Regarding
the latter, remember to clean the entire hose length from
time to time; dips in the hose tend to trap debris.
- Consider a Shop Laptop instead of a Space-Hogging
Desktop.
Laptops are dropping in price as netbooks, e3PCs, tablets
and handhelds become more common. Used laptops are easily
available, especially if you place no great demands on
a computer system and can make use of an older one. If
you require a printer, consider a wall-mounted shelf
with a small table below for the laptop instead of a
full-size desk or large table. If the printer uses
fanfold paper, install a shelf underneath it with ridges
at the edges to contain the paper. It's not a bad idea
to make an enclosed housing for all this if your shop
generates dust.
For more on these subjects, see
Shop Tips.
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Purchase Metric Tools
Non-metric tools are generally unnecessary. Simply stock sizes
of each tool type separated in size by only 1 millimetre. A millimetre
is about 1/25th of an inch. That is pretty small. It means that if you
have a complete selection of sizes, a metric tool will fit any non-metric
piece of hardware snugly enough, if not exactly, to be useful. If you
need to apply a lot of torque, any metric sizes that don't fit
well enough to do the job will have to be bolstered by non-metric tools,
or by adjustable models. This is to ensure that the fit will be snug
enough to stand the strain. So, excepting specialty tools and the
additional few that are required to be absolutely the right size, only
one set of tools is needed.
One can also apply this somewhat to hardware, although thread count
will be a factor if one tries to mix & match metric and non-metric.
However, if one is replacing, say both a nut and a bolt, they can just
as easily be metric. Given the amount of equipment on the market already
with metric hardware, it certainly pays to have that hardware on hand
if you do an appreciable amount of refurbishment. Eventually, you will
find that some non-metric sizes will no longer be necessary to stock.
This eliminates duplication, saving you money.
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