CurtPalme.com Home Theater Forum

tri_joel · Joined: 03 Jul 2007 Posts: 646 Location: Northern Virginia

I am building bookcases in my theater. I have this crazy idea of building in a wilsonart screen on track system. It would work in the same manor as a roll-top desk. I envision the screen curling behind the bookcase when not in use. Difficult to describe. My question is to those who have purchased the wilsonart - it comes rolled? How tight is the roll?

I think I can make this work if the material is flexible enough and I can find a way to make it flat when in use.

Thanks,
Joel

**AnalogRocks** · Posted: Mon Apr 07, 2008 10:08 pm Post subject:

How long (wide) do you intend to go? It does come rolled. Mine's on order ( finaly ) I'll let you know the size of the box when I get it. I ordered the 5' x 12' piece and a 2.5' x 12' piece.

ecrabb · Posted: Mon Apr 07, 2008 10:53 pm Post subject:

The supplier I bought mine from had it rolled into roughly a 3-4' roll - so, roughly an 18-24" radius. I wouldn't be as concerned about the bending as much as I'd be concerned with the inability to get the sheet flat when in use. Not sure how you'd manage that.

SC

nuttall_chris · Posted: Tue Apr 08, 2008 2:20 am Post subject:

I bought a 5x12 piece and it came rolled in a 2 foot roll (12" radius) No problem getting it to go flat, as soon as I removed the straps around it, it promptly unrolled itself.

Chris.

paw · Joined: 08 Mar 2006 Posts: 1176 Location: Arvada, CO

I'd be concerned about future cracks in the laminate. It's not designed for repeated flexing. It might work, it might not.

**AnalogRocks** · Posted: Tue Apr 08, 2008 4:01 am Post subject:

'Wonder if you can back it with something suportive but flexible....

tri_joel · Joined: 03 Jul 2007 Posts: 646 Location: Northern Virginia

I haven't sat down and figured it all out yet. It sounds like it will bend enough to make the turn I need.

There's a Reico two miles from my house, I think I'll go ahead and pick up a sheet and experiment with it in the coming weeks. I'll keep everyone posted.

Thanks,
Joel

dropzone7 · Joined: 12 Jun 2007 Posts: 1069 Location: Charlotte, NC

It bends pretty easily the length of the sheet. My 5x10 sheet was rolled up to about the diameter of a manhole and put into a cardboard box. It was like a big spring when I took it out and cut the string. Be very careful of the corners and ends as these areas can chip very easily. It's pretty tough stuff on the surface but can be damaged if dropped on a corner or if too much stress is placed on the very edges. I have mine screwed to a frame of 1x4's with sheet rock screws. If I had it to do over again I would probably glue it to a piece of something more rigid of the same area or larger and use a dry paint roller to smooth it out on the front. I'm not sure that bending it over and over again as you propose would maintain a consistently flat surface however. Interesting idea.

larryk · Joined: 23 Aug 2007 Posts: 106 Location: Edmonton Alberta

I don't know how long this will work before structural fatigue sets in but if you purchase PF grade laminate, it is thinner, it may be flexible enough to roll over and over again without cracking. I would suggest getting a roll of felt and using quality spray contact cement to glue the felt to the back, that will enable it to roll onto it'self without causing scratching or noise. ( it will definatly scratch without something between the rolls)
To make the lam stay flat maybe you could have a sheet of perforated peg board and a couple of fairly quiet exhaust fans so the back of the laminate would suck up against the peg board, you would have to have a niceley sealed perimeter so that it would take very little vacuam to accomplish this.
Just thinking out loud...
Larry

JustGreg · Joined: 07 Mar 2006 Posts: 3098 Location: Kenosha, WI

How about this. Just something off the top of my ever expanding bald head. (The bald spot...not my head) Laughing

It should be easy enough to build with basic work shop tools.

How about laminating it to .125 (1/8th" or 3.175mm) sheet metal? Get the metal wider than the Wilsonart by about an inch or so, and have a tin knocker crimp a bead on each vertical side to fit inside a channel of the custom made framework you're going to build out of hardwood. See below.

Once the wood has been cut and fitted for the sides and top radius', (the 2 radius' may have to be made from 2 pieces of wood unless you can find stock wide enough) use a T bit in a router to create a T channel the beads will slide into. The corners of the sheet metal will have to be ground off smooth and shaped to prevent gouging into the wood.
Grease up the channel good with a non drying grease. Something silicone or Teflon based that can be reapplied periodically in a spray would work good.

I'm envisioning all this whereby the screen will be lifted up and thru the radius, and then out of the way in a horizontal overhead storage position (into another room or up inside the ceiling but still more or less horizontal).
If your plan is to have the Wilsonart roll up into itself (a tube), then you're on your own. Laughing

Sounds like a fun project with alot of possibilities.

**AnalogRocks** · Posted: Wed Apr 09, 2008 3:39 am Post subject: