Doughty Clamps - Best Entertainment Equipment MTN Shop brings in the industry

When it comes to film, television, and theatrical productions, the equipment is just as important as the performers. To properly set and capture the scene, riggers and visionaries alike need the best rigging equipment and studio equipment to perfectly mesh with all other performance elements.

As entertainment professionals, we sell only the best gear available for the hardworking men and women across the rigging, film and photography industries. Therefore, we added Doughty Clamps to our rigging shop.

 

Doughty Clamps Promise Quality, Safety & Efficiency

 

Doughty Twenty Clamp(Left) & Doughty Quick Trigger Clamp(Right)

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Doughty Engineering is a world-leading manufacturer of rigging, suspension, and lifting equipment for the film, TV, and theatre industries. Doughty was founded in 1985 when it began producing equipment for the entertainment market in the United Kingdom.

From the beginning quality and safety were key to Doughty’s success with rigorous testing of all products to ensure the highest quality standards including TÜV product services. We admire their dedication to manufacturing safe and efficient products, which is why we are proud to add them to the MTN Shop.  

Whether you’re a rigger, grip, gaffer, or someone else working in the entertainment industry, stages, and set design are vital to overall production value. Apart from the physical stages and sets themselves, rigging hardware is also necessary for design and performance. Doughty Engineering’s full line of couplers, clamps, and brackets make building functional sets safe and efficient.

 

Doughty Clamps: Combined with Truss/Tubes

Scaffolding and truss can be utilised throughout the production process, from building sets to using towers for camera crews. Doughty Clamps, Couplers, and Brackets all aid in building production and design and can upgrade or alter existing structures.

Doughty Half Coupler attaching to an Aluminium tube for hanging a lantern

Steel tubes or truss chords are easy to combine with Doughty Clamps. With a wide variety of clamps to choose from (see the list below), they can construct various scaffolding configurations and hold frames, lighting instruments, and fixtures for film/TV, theatre and concert halls. Brackets also serve different on-site functions, including hanging overlap track and handrails. 

• Types of Stage Lighting Clamps:
  - Half Coupler (or called Wrap-Around clamp): Provide a greater grip to the tube as it fully wraps a tube
  - Hook Clamp (or called C clamp): An affordable light-to-medium-duty steel clamp that allows one-person operation 
  - Trigger Clamp: Allow one-person operation when rigging a heavy light
  - Quick Trigger Clamp: Mount on any point on a truss piece without obstruction, and allow one-person operation

• Tube Diameter: Doughty Clamps fit the tubes or bars with a diameter from 20mm to 75mm.
  - 20mm: Doughty Hook Clamp (20mm)
  - 25mm: Doughty Atom Half Coupler (25mm)
  - 32mm: Doughty Atom Half Coupler (32mm)
  - 35mm: Doughty Atom Half Coupler (35mm)
  - 38mm: Doughty Atom Half Coupler (38mm)
  - 48-51mm: Doughty Half Coupler, Doughty Hook Clamp, Doughty Trigger Hook Clamp, Doughty Swivel Coupler, Doughty Fifty Clamp, and a lot more
  - 60-63mm: Doughty Mammoth Half Coupler
  - 70-75mm: Doughty Hook Clamp (Large)
• Material: Doughty range of clamps is made of high-quality Aluminium or Steel.
• Width: 21mm to 50mm. The slimline clamps can be used between truss webs.
• Finish: Most of the aluminium clamps are available in two finishes - Polished Aluminium and Black Powder Coated, while steel clamps in zinc plated finish or black powder paint. 
• Safe Working Load: 2kg to 750kg. Ideal in both light-duty and heavy-duty tasks.

#1 Important Safety Tip: Always fit a safety bond or safety chain directly between the luminaire and the bar or suspension point when hanging a lantern. They provide a secondary hanging in the event of primary suspension (i.e. Hook Clamps or Bolts) failure. If the safety bond or chain catches a falling fixture, it must be retired from service as it is no longer safe to use.

#2 Important Safety Tip: Some applications will result in the recommended maximum load being reduced such as side rigging that the light is not vertically hung. It is always recommended to follow the manufacturer's user manual.

 

Doughty Clamps: Used in Modular Stage Lighting Rigging System

It is an award-winning Modular Rigging System from Doughty, offering safe and quick rigging of luminaries from truss or fixed tube barrels. This a strong, secure alternative to home-made drop arms, which until now have been the only option for riggers. By combining Doughty Clamps with sets of drop arms, T-bars, H-frames and stirrups, custom lighting tree or lighting ladder can be quickly assembled.

This system can easily be hung from a truss piece, permanently installed, or fashioned into a floor standing assembly.

 

Top 5 Doughty Clamps - Perform Challenging Tasks Riggers Desire

1. Doughty Trigger Clamp

Constructed from high tensile aluminium extrusion, this aluminium clamp does not only lightweight but sturdy. It has a large tee ‘easy-grip’ handle, allowing one person to hang and position heavy luminaires or other equipment easily and securely. So, the production setup can be quicker and more economical.

When the weight of the object being hung, it becomes the safety factor by automatically closing the trigger and the bottom half of the clamp. This range of clamps has a safe working load of 200kg and fits tube diameter from 48mm to 51 mm.

 

2. Doughty Twenty Clamp

Twenty Clamp is the new addition to Doughty range of aluminium clamps. It received an overwhelming welcome from many riggers and became one of our best selling gears.

This compact clamp can secure 48 - 51mm diameter tubes with only two turns of the knob. Its safe working load is 20kg.

Manufactured from pressure die-cast aluminium, the Twenty Clamp has been specifically designed to minimize damage to thin wall truss. In the long run, it will hugely save your maintenance cost. 

 

3. Doughty Hook Clamp

Manufactured from high-quality steel, these clamps are easy to handle and strong. They are available in bright zinc plated finish or black powder paint. It is an affordable solution to light-to-medium-duty rigging (2kg - 150kg), ideal for working on steel counterweight bars. (P.S. Softer aluminium truss cords may be damaged by a bolt if the clamp is secured very tightly.)

We supply the standard Hook Clamps that suit tube diameters from 48mm to 51m, and special hook clamps that fit larger tubes up to 75mm diameters and smaller tubes of an 20mm diameter only. 

 

4. Doughty Beam Clamp

It is an all-steel clamp with a 1000kg working load limit. This Beam clamp is designed for attaching to steel beams, providing a quick versatile rigging point. This beam clamp is manufactured with a forged steel attachment eye that allows loads to be hung. It fits a huge range of beams ranging from 75mm to 220mm wide. Its versatility no wonder is widely applicable in the stage, theatre, and events. 

The Beam Clamp is opened and closed by turning the threaded spindle. When securing the clamp to a beam, the clamp must only be tightened by hand.

 

 

5. Doughty Truss Adapter

Truss Adapters enable triangular and square truss sections to be mounted to any of the Doughty winch stand range. This system provides the means to lift truss sections into place safely. The range of Hanging Truss Adapters has been designed to suspend truss sections with a chain hoist. 

They are supplied with two high tensile 6082-T6 aluminium couplers with a high-quality silver powder coated to fit 48 - 51mm diameter truss chord. We supply both fixed and swivel truss plates to form your own constructions. 

 

FAQs by Professionals in the Entertainment Industry

1. How much weight can Doughty Clamps hold?

With a safe working load between 2kg and 750kg, they are ideal for both light-duty and heavy-duty tasks in the live event industry.

2. How do you hang stage lights?

• Have a lamp, clamp and safety bond securely attached before getting up in the air
• Make sure the bottom of the clamp is tightened to the fixture and the mouth is open to receive a lighting tube easily
• Make sure the safety bond goes through the yoke (bracket) of the light
• Once in the air, place the light assembly over the tube
• Keep every fixture hung with the clamp bolt facing the same direction
• Tighten the (wing) nut of the clamp in order to secure the fixture to the pipe and tie the safety bond to the tube.
• Tilt the fixture forward into the desired position 

3. How many different sizes of Doughty Clamps are there?

• 20mm: Hook Clamp (20mm)
• 25mm: Atom Half Coupler (25mm)
• 32mm: Atom Half Coupler (32mm)
• 35mm: Atom Half Coupler (35mm)
• 38mm: Atom Half Coupler (38mm)
• 48-51mm: Half Coupler, Hook Clamp, Trigger Clamp, Swivel Coupler, Fifty Clamp, and a lot more
• 60-63mm: Mammoth Half Coupler
• 70-75mm: Hook Clamp (Large)

4. What are the most popular clamps? 

• Hook Clamps: An affordable light-to-medium-duty steel clamp that allows one-person operation
• Half Couplers: Provide a greater grip to the tube as it fully wraps a tube
• Quick Trigger Clamps: Mount on any point on a truss piece without obstruction, and allow one-person operation

Our selection of rigging hardware meets all access requirements within the film industry. Find what you need at MTN Shop.