Free standing walls

[LittleDollClaudia]

We are constructing our maze but are trying to figure a way to make walls out of plywood that will stand on their own. Does anyone know how to do this easily? (any help or diagrams would be appreciated, thank you)

Oh, the maze will be on concrete.

[Jim Warfield]

If the plywood was at least 3/4 inch thick it will stand by itself.
Thinner plywood doesn't have a chance of being self-standing.
2 by 2's framing the edges will begin to help this to happen.
If no anchoring to the concrete floor is going to happen, then zig-zag the wall sections so they support themselves and pretty much remain in place once they get heavy enough with a whole bunch of them screwed together, filling a large space.

[Greg Chrise]

Free Standing walls

This of course depends on your location or planet gravity factors or etheral plane conditions that your wall will be installed and used.

The aerospace method would employ at least two inclinometers calibrated in a pitch roll and yaw format to accomodate a gyroscopic actuator of some sort per wall segment. Always remember the right had rule to be sure which is the positive moment of each axis. The 24 volt sensor array is best.

The barn stormer method would require ballast of either sand, lead shot or water in some type of containments for what would become the bottom of the wall. For the top of the wall, chambers of either helium or hydrogen depending on what your gaseous matrix your local fire marshal will allow. A wall can be floated anywhere and ballast installed to keep it there. This is sometime refered to as the weebles wobble but they don't fall down principal. designed properly the whole haunt can drop ballast and be piloted to the storage area. Or for security reasons it can be kept 40 feet off the ground when not in operation so no one can steal it.

The hologram method, the walls are not really there but projected onto a smoke or mist.

The gravity method employs cables where the walls are actually hanging from some structure higher oe yet another grid of horizontal cable systems and walls might actually not be touching the floor or aforementioned substrate. It is still best to have such a design tethered to the ground as gusty wind turns the haunt into a life sized paddle ball game.

The stantion method, holes are core drilled down to bedrock, in most areas at least 50 feet deep and then the walls are slid down over stantion posts inserted into the hole and ultimately supported upright. Each panel should have a methane and radon gas detector during the first 12 months of using newly established holes.

The labor method, not the type that requires occassional rythmic breathing such as in child birth but, each wall is in fact held up in position by a helper for the entire time the haunt is in operation. Please be advised of child labor and migratory worker laws for this application. In the future perhaps robots will do this work as cheaply. With some coreography the entire haunt can actually be done with only 12 nimble helpers each with a wall flowing and moving the architecture in the space that would be your event. This is good seasonal work for marching bands with a grid on the floor and a good rythum section.

The 7th method bends the fundamental laws of mathematics presented in the electro weak theory and has been know to have research victims/customers morphed into walls and adjoining substrates, so I will not elaborate too much further on this. In this day of people trying to compensate for carbon foot prints by planting trees, this generally requires the planting of several forests in energy useage. A small 3,000 SF haunt would require at least 6 train deisels running 1400 megawatt GE turbines. The cooling stack alone takes up some of the parking lot but you do get mass quantities of free fog effects from this. For further carbon footprint accomodations you might want to remove toilet paper from the porta poties at your event.

If walls are cast in an agregate material whereas the thickness of a wall is actually more than how high the wall is such as in dam construction or pyramid technology, the walls would be free standing. This works great for keeping the sound from what is happening in a previous or next scene from bleeding over into the present room's presentation.

Or yes, you could do the frame lumber and zig zag thing.

[Jim Warfield]

Who is Stanton Walls? and why should we free him?
I always imagined the fun from having a few walls on hidden wheels with a worker behind it, looking through a peep hole, moving the wall around when someone tries to walk around it.
A 1,000 panel maze could be replaced by two guys, some plywwod and some old roller skates!
"The shifting, changing maze! Always different!"

[SteveR]

2x4's and 7/16" OSB

We usually build mazes out of 2x4's at 4ft (eek!) on center with 7/16" thick OSB (like plywood, but cheaper). All the wall sections are cross-tied on the tops at every junction, and if you don't have more than two straight sections in a row, it works pretty well. Every so often we'd have to put a bottom cross-tie 2x4 and pile gravel or build a ramp or something over it so it's not a trip hazard. In areas where you expect your victims might bang the walls, add extra bracing. Screw it all together with coarse-thread drywall screws.

[slash]

This of course depends on your location or planet gravity factors or etheral plane conditions that your wall will be installed and used.

The aerospace method would employ at least two inclinometers calibrated in a pitch roll and yaw format to accomodate a gyroscopic actuator of some sort per wall segment. Always remember the right had rule to be sure which is the positive moment of each axis. The 24 volt sensor array is best.

LOL LMAO

[Lord Barnabus]

WOW!!!!

If that hadn't been posted by Greg, I would have expected that answer from Jim.



.....maybe they're related intellectually....

[Greg Chrise]

More Free Standing Walls

How else do you get your walls to stand up besides showing your walls pictures of other undecorated walls?

[Greg Chrise]

Even more free standing

How about spraying your walls with a combination of fire retardant and one Viagra pill per gallon.

If a single wall stands by itself more than 4 hours, contact a physician as you are probably laying on your side.

[Greg Chrise]

A point of perspective.

Rather than go to all the trouble of having standing walls, just have all the patrons lie on their sides!

Then spray THEM with fire retardent and viagra and demand they move along quickly.

[Greg Chrise]

Another option(s)

Distribute special glasses that either have walls painted inside the lenses or little models of walls actually glued to the outside of the frames.

If your haunt offering was located on an asteroid in the Van Allen Belt, a smaller rock would have low mass and the gravity would be insignificant enough that you would only have to come through and straighten the walls in the upright position about every 8 minutes or so.

There is the Theatrical version of a haunt where the patrons wander through a space and come upon an actor who says "I am a wall."

[Jim Warfield]

If your walls are "Free", they probably won't be standing very well very long.
I know the older and older I become the more horizontal napps I need, practising for the great "Dirt-Nap" someday.
My verticle naps began like almost everyone else's, in high school study hall.

[Greg Chrise]

Free

If your walls have that certain smell you'll think they'll stand on their own.

I'd say Free Willey septin he's dead. Hence the fragrance of rotting bloated whale.

If a smell doesn't make the walls stand, how about mental telepathy? You only have a few weeks to practice trying to move toothpicks floating in a glass of water with only the power of your mind! Then work you way up to larger objects!

How about ventriloquism? Throw your voice! "hey, watch out for that wall!"

How about reverse bat sound deflection? With speakers fixed to interactive frequncies it would give off the feeling in the dark that you were getting close to a wall?

Or harness the magnetic grid of the planet! Like they say it's all about location location location. Make the walls out of sea corral and mist them at just the right harmonic with sea water and the magnetism will have them stand. Every other wall should be precharged with a condensor effect to be opposite poles.

Have your walls put under a spell from a fairy God Mother to think they are wooden toy soldiers and when every you open the door to let in new customers command "Attention!"

[Greg Chrise]

Oh, my aching walls.

Does anyone need anything while I'm in here? You don't have to get up!