CurtPalme.com Home Theater Forum

[garyfritz]

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Oh CRAP!!! I am such an idiot...

I got the DW glued on, glued a strip of Luan to the back, mounted the whole thing onto my frame, cut a 2x4 for French cleats, glued the cleats onto the Luan, measured where I needed to attach the other half of the cleat to the wall...

...and realized I had glued the @!#%&)^@#$ cleats to the screen UPSIDE DOWN!! urrghghghhhhh

So I had to rip them off the Luan, which of course shredded the Luan, so I can't use those cleats again because they're covered with bumpy glued wood, etc. ***SIGH***

Damn, I thought I was 10 minutes from done.

I gotta say I'm not overly impressed with that Weldwood contact cement. The Luan isn't sticking to the foil-covered foam worth beans. (Especially when I was ripping the cleat off...) I hope the DW sticks better than the Luan did!

[ecrabb]

Gary, the contact cement is pressure-sensitive... It requires a good amount of pressure to activate the bond. What did you use to attach the luan to the foam?

SC

[WanMan]

Adhesive:

The 3M Spray On adhesive that I used in the 80's for photography mounting (and presentation) was only one-surface spray, which is unlike the contact cement used in traditional laminate installation processes. BTW, 3M has a bazillion spray-on adhesive products listed on their website. After five minutes I had to go get the can I bought, because I couldn't find it on their website. They also make industrial strength versions, versions specific to foam insulation installation, and structural adhesive in a spray can. Wow!

Rigid Foam board:

Ripples in the foam? Maybe I have not looked close enough to take note. I wasn't going to spray the laminate. Using spray on adhesive in the home is not a good idea, IMO. I'd be spraying the foam outdoors. Mind you I am presently fighting constant rain threat, and the humidity isn't dropping below 60% anymore.

Masking:

I have not been very lucky in this bastion called Atlanta. Seems no one makes things from cloth anymore via the traditional sewing practices. Sure, there are Joann and Hancock fabric stores, but almost none of them stock the velvet that I was looking for. And the people there are inept (like me and calibrating CRTs).

Did some reading last night and a couple of things came to mind. The first looks to be something like a flock material, and the other a velvet material. Both of these products are adhesive-backed roll material. I'm thinking of ordering minimal amounts for sampling.

Whole Project Note:

As my wife experienced the limitations of where we live, the difficulties in finding basic items for this project, and the lack of sewing talent (in and out of the home), I think she may be congealing to the thought of a commercial screen. If this WA/DW project doesn't material results soon, and be acceptable then I'm going to call someone at @v$ and get a 120" SmX AT screen and be done with it.

I finally managed to get more than one feedback on this particular AT material that are using it in a) the size and scope I was looking for, and using the same projector I just recently purchased.

[ecrabb]

Wan, use the contact cement. You can easily do it in the garage over a drop cloth, while the 3M spray adhesive will get EVERYWHERE. A little Super 77 is fine for mounting a few photos, or doing a small project, but there's no way in hell I'd try using it to spray 30-odd square feet of material. Just pick up everything you need, leave the cars out overnight, and go out to the garage in the morning and git'er done!

If you do decide to go commercial, instead of dropping the big bucks on SmX, check out Seymour AV. Same basic material, less money, nice small Iowa-based company.

http://seymourav.com/screens.asp

SC

[garyfritz]

SC, I used Weldwood on the Luan/foam bond, just like I did for the Wilsonart. I didn't have a J-roller but went over it multiple times with a rolling pin with most of my 180lbs of weight leaning on it. (Bent the rolling-pin handles. ) I think the Luan just warped a bit on that end and pulled away. I re-glued it last night -- the can says you can re-apply if you don't get it stuck down in time -- and left a 10lb weight on it overnight. It's sticking better now but the Luan is still warping away a bit on that end. Shouldn't be a problem though.

And it's up! If I shine a light down from the top edge, I can see some areas in the lower-left part of the screen where it picked up some ripples from the foamboard -- but I can't see it at all on an all-white screen. No worries.

There is a noticeable "warm" spot in the center, but I doubt I'll see it on anything but an all-white screen. I think the colors may be popping a bit better than they did on the BO, but it's definitely not a night-and-day "oh my God look at that" difference. At least now I know I've got a "GOOD" screen instead of the POS BO I've used for 6 years so I can quit worrying about it.

Total project cost: $80 for the DW, $12 for the foamboard, $12 for the Weldwood, a few dollars for misc screws, dropcloth, etc. Can't knock that. I re-used the Duvetyne-wrapped frame I built last year.