Home Shopping Network

One of the most challenging pieces I ever had to engineer for F/X was a jewelry showcase for the Home Shopping Network across the state in St. Petersburg. This was a free-standing, multi-curvacious wall twelve feet high on one end and eight on the other, twelve feet long with swooping switchback curves coming down and a footprint that was vaguely S-shaped. It had a window through the wall with a display case mounted behind it. The designer gave us a half-inch scale model of it, and it was given to me - dumped, I would say. I had to figure out this thing that curved in every direction, disassembled into three chunks, and looked good enough for close-ups on Home Shopping's Jewelry Showcase.

Like the Grinch (my hero!) I puzzled and puzzed 'til my puzzler was sore. Finally I was saved by my old mantra, "Start with what you know." I worked out and drew the S-curve on three quarter inch plywood, carefully cut it out and duplicated it three more times with my handy dandy router (don't leave home without it!) Then I made two six foot high walls faced with bending plywood and stacked them up. I took my handy dandy pencils (d l h w t) and drew switchback curves from the top left, terminating at eight feet high on the right. After standing back to look, I modified the curves again and again until I felt they matched the model. Then I called in all the bosses to approve the line before cutting. You can always cut something, but you can't uncut it once it's cut. Eventually I cut it and capped the top edge by laying on bending plywood and tracing it. Then I traced the inside of my S-curve onto birch plywood for the front edge of the display case, cut it out and duplicated it for top and bottom.

I worked out and cut the window through the lower section, faced edges of the opening and fitted my bottom shelf behind it, blocking it in place and legging up the back. After that it was a simple matter to fit sides to the height of the window and the depth of the shelves and put the top in place. All of that was attached together, a back was fitted, and the deed was done!

Other guys had other pieces to build for the same install, and when we were all finished, we all went over to St. Pete. That was the scary part. We had to haul our stuff through a half-acre room filled from end to end, side to side with small cubicles with people sitting in front of computers wearing headsets taking orders - thousands of them at a time. We were freaked out at first, but gradually got used to the idea as we made several trips back and forth. Then it was lunch time and we went to the cafeteria, on the far end of ANOTHER half-acre room filled end to end and side to side with small cubicles with people sitting in front of computers and wearing headsets, taking orders - thousands at a time. It gave us the creeps. We installed our sets and scrammed out of there as quickly as we could.