Ok, I have decided I am going to DIY my screen.... I have purchased two twelve foot and two ten foot pieces of 1" x 4" poplar wood to make the frame (all the pieces are a couple of inches longer for wiggle room). I also picked up some steel angle brackets, wood glue, and wood screws to secure the corners and the two support posts that I will be putting about a 1/3 of the way on each side to support the frame in the middle. Now, I am trying to build the biggest screen I can fit between my two ceiling soffits (which are 141" apart). I am doing a 2.37:1 aspect ratio... so, using my very weak math skills and a calculator, it looks like a 59" x 139.83" is the size I am going for. I am planning on wrapping the screen material around the 1" x 4"s and stapling to the back of the boards... so it will all be viewable image.

I am looking for a little input here....

1st - 139.83" is aproximately 11' 7.83" - anyone have a suggestion on how to get .83 of an inch? If my math is right, which is always questionable, this would be closest in a fraction to 53/64.... I am not sure exactly where that would be on a tape measure.... I mean .75 would be 3/4 of an inch.... I know how to use a tape measure and maybe I have been looking at these numbers to much, but the closest I can figure on a tape measure would be 13/16, which would be .81 and if I go up t0 7/8 or 14/16 then I'm at .875... any suggestions.... am I over thinking this? I just want the screen to be as accurate as possible.... suggestions?

2nd - I have seen a couple of people's DIY wood screens and it looks like everyone is doing a miter cut on each piece and fitting them together like a frame or like trimming a door or window. I have both a laser miter saw and a miter box and have done plenty of trim work.... but the main reason for cutting these this way is for appearance, to make it look like the pieces are bending around the corners. Since my frame will be entirely covered in fabric and not visible from the front, I was thinking, why not just do butt joints? Any reason you can think of not to do this? Remember I am using steel angle brackets and wood glue to secure the corners....

I welcome all input!! And 2 cent's

Thanks!!

sorry if you looked at this post earlier.... I accidently hit the post reply key when I only had two sentences in.... and I was busy editing it to what you see now, during that time in between.... so it probably didn't make much sense if you looked earlier. :)

I followed the instructions for my screen from this site, it turned out great.

http://www.av-outlet.com/en-us/dept_397.html

Ed

check out the diy screen forum. lots of step by step pics.

I have been through the DIY screen forum quite a bit and looked at a lot of the designs, thus the questions I posed in my post above...

Also, it seems like there are far more posts on painted screens then building a frame there....

Thanks!

BrianD,

I have built both wood and aluminum framed screens. I have pictures and specs for both on this page: http://www.reighn.com/theaterprojects_a.html

These might help.

-Gary.

Brian,

I'm in the same boat and will soon be putting my screen together in the same way. I think you're overthinking the sizing :) Go with the slightly smaller number... it will give you some wiggle room with fitting your screen in if you have to adjust it at all for whatever reason.

I'm still debating on going with the wood frame vs. aluminum frame... have you figured out which one you're going to do? Using velco to attach my screen material (SMX) just makes me nervous... if I screw up a staple on the wood frame, I can just pull it out... from what I hear with the velcro, if you screw it up... you're hosed.

Nick

I think you are WAY over thinking the fractions.

Whether you miter the corners or not is a matter of personal preference. I would suggest pocket joinery but that is my preference.

As for stapling the material to the back, be careful, if you use a pneumatic stapler most staples are longer than the wood itself you may want to consider attaching the fabric to the sides rather than to the back of the frame. If you use a hand stapler be ready to tap the staples in with a hammer. Your experience may vary.

If you are not going to see the joint anyway, you might consider a lap joint. It would be much stronger than either a butt joint or a miter joint.

Modern CinemaScope is a 2.39 aspect ratio. It used to be 2.35, but SMPTE changed the ratio in 1971. It seems the taller height if the 2.35 frames made film splices visible in the projected image, so they made the frames a little shorter (same width) and the ratio went from 2.35 to 2.39. It's still sometimes referred to as 2.35 out of historical convention, but it is really 2.39. I bring this up because if you change your aspect ratio from 2.37 to 2.39, your 59-inch height requires a 141.01-inch width. And I wouldn't worry about the one-hundredth of an inch.

Brian,

There are numerous documented screen frame project on this site: SMX Screen Forums (http://www.smxscreen.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=4).

I built a 110" screen based on the following example: The AT Woody Frame. (http://www.smxscreen.com/forum/showthread.php?t=101) This was the most complete detailed build example I could find while deciding on how to build my screen. It came down to this design verses going with an Aluminum design. In the end I figured this was something straightforward that I could handle. Maybe next time I'll try Aluminum. I used Mitered corners (to answer your question) and used the same metal angle brackets shown in the photos. All the extra bracing is definitely necessary to keep the frame straight and true when moving in and out of the screen wall.

Sounds like you already bought your wood but I used, and I strongly recommend, the finger-jointed, engineered, pre-primed wood available at Home depot which I believe is manufactured in Chile. It comes in 16' lengths and doesn't warp, twist or split. It's straight as an arrow and stays true. This stuff is awesome and I ended up using it on my screen wall as well. Lot's of discussion on this type of wood here in this forum, just try searching on finger jointed.

I painted the frame flat black and covered the front sides of the recessed cross braces with black velvet to absorb the light passing through the screen.

The only addition to this design is that I attached metal handles to the backside of the braces for easier handling when inserting and removing the screen from my screen wall.

One of my fellow local HT builders, BigMouthinDC, also used this type of wood and posted pictures of it a while back: Engineered, finger-jointed, pre-primed lumber. (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showpost.php?p=10296941&postcount=14)

Lastly I would recommend using a pneumatic stapler set to shallow depth with small staples. It takes a lot of staples to secure the fabric. The first attempt my wife and I had a heck of a time stretching the screen fabric (SMX) by hand. The SMX material is very thick and hard to stretch by hand. I ended up with a bunch of small wrinkles that weren't visible while watching a movie but drove me crazy when the lights above the stage were on making the wrinkles look huge. I did some research and found that artists who regularly stretch canvas over frames use a special tool call canvas stretching pliers. They allow you to grab the material with a wide mouth and roll the pliers over the frame giving you the leverage you need to get a strong pull. I'm pretty sure this is where I ended up purchasing the pliers: Utrechart Art Supplies (http://www.utrechtart.com/dsp_view_product_zoom.cfm?item=34173&v=1).

http://images25.fotki.com/v954/photos/1/1068290/6427440/CanvasstretchingPlierssmall-vi.jpg

Here's a shot of the finished frame before paint and black velvet.

http://images38.fotki.com/v1217/photos/1/1068290/6429510/screen_frame2c-vi.jpg

Good Luck with your screen.

BillMac

Thanks for all the input guys!! There is a lot for me to go through and digest here.... I am going to take some time and look at all the posted links etc...

I'm still not positive what I am going to do about the width... maybe I'll just go 139 7/8" and zoom it.... though I was really trying to be precise with this and not do that... I'll have to think about it....

THANKS!

bmackrell - I was looking at where you bought the canvas stretching pliers and saw this:

http://www.utrechtart.com/dsp_view_products.cfm?classID=1318&subclassID=131810&brandname=Tight%20N%20Up

Anyone ever try this on an AT screen - specifically the weave type? Like Seymour Av's screen material.... just curious

Thanks for all the input guys!! There is a lot for me to go through and digest here.... I am going to take some time and look at all the posted links etc...

I'm still not positive what I am going to do about the width... maybe I'll just go 139 7/8" and zoom it.... though I was really trying to be precise with this and not do that... I'll have to think about it....

THANKS!

You do realize that all of the movies you watch on the screen will be various aspect ratios and so you will need to zoom and or mask to some degree. It is also dependent on placement of the projector etc. It would be near impossible to be that exact and it would still not make a big difference.

I did my SMX screen as a DIY project. I used canvas stretcher bars from Utrechtart. I used the canvas plyers, [a MUST] and stapled to the back. You can see my screen in the thread in my signature.

bmackrell - I was looking at where you bought the canvas stretching pliers and saw this:

http://www.utrechtart.com/dsp_view_products.cfm?classID=1318&subclassID=131810&brandname=Tight%20N%20Up

Anyone ever try this on an AT screen - specifically the weave type? Like Seymour Av's screen material.... just curious

Brian,

I hadn't seen that product before but I'm not sure it will work on AT screen material. Painter's Canvas is a lot thinner and lighter than AT screen material (Seymour or SMX) so I'm not sure it would work. Although for $5-$10 it might be worth a shot versus spending an entire afternoon re-stretching your screen.

Regards,

BillMac

bmackrell - I was looking at where you bought the canvas stretching pliers and saw this:

http://www.utrechtart.com/dsp_view_products.cfm?classID=1318&subclassID=131810&brandname=Tight%20N%20Up

Anyone ever try this on an AT screen - specifically the weave type? Like Seymour Av's screen material.... just curious

You can also use hot water on the back of canvas, but that is canvas. I have SMX and I do not believe it's going to work on a polymer.

McCall - I do realize this, but I was trying to have the 2.37:1 aspect ratio be the biggest screen size I had, and for it to match perfectly, since most of the DVD's I have will come out as 2.37:1 with my native 16:9 RS2 projector and Panamorph anamorphic lens... I also have the motorized sled for the panamorph as well, so no real zooming etc... between 16:9 and 2.37:1. I realize other adjustments will have to be made for different aspect ratios unless I can deal with the black bars for other ratios.... I did for a loooong time with my Da-lite 16:9 screen and my Sony VPL-400q.... we'll see how I feel when I am done with my current re-build. I have been planning to do side masking with a custom motorized curtain system, but have not committed to anything yet.

Anyway.... I do like the idea of the aluminum parts already built in with the wood on the pro stretcher bars as shown here: http://www.smxscreen.com/forum/showthread.php?t=201

I believe McCall did this build with the Hercules bars. Has anyone else on here done this with the Best bars? I like the idea of just having them come pre-cut and essentially just assemble. I am in no way afraid to build something, I was in the construction trade for a good bit when I was younger, and I am constantly doing projects around the house still.... building decks, finishing additions etc... but this just seems so no muss, no fuss, for not that much money, even with the extra freight people were talking about paying on that thread....

I am a little worried about some people saying the bars weren't coming exactly the right size. Is this just with the Hercules bars or the best as well?

Any other thoughts on any of this?

THANKS!!

Brian,

It's been a while since I thought about it but your last post reminded me that I was originally going to go with the Hercules stretcher bars for the same reasons you mentioned. It looked pretty simple! In the end I think there were some issues getting them shipped via standard UPS since they were over-sized (length). you might be able to pick them up if you live near an art supply store that carries them.

Additionally I started to worry that they wouldn't be stiff enough with out additional bracing and hold up to the stretching necessary for the screen material. I think I recall someone adding additional braces to theirs.

Anyway, I ended up going with the basic wood design.

Good Luck with your project.

BillMac