Building first screen, have a couple questions

[John_Galt]

Hey all

Im getting ready to build my first screen and have a couple questions. I read through the FAQ's and really like the look of this one: http://www.eldamar.net/house/ht/screenHowTo.html

I see that he used quarter round on the frame, but can't really tell where he put it. The first pic looks completely different from the rest, it looks like he glued the board so that the frame was only 1" thick instead of on the 3" side. Is the quarter round really necessary?

My next question is how should I construct the braces? I am looking at a 107" screen so I wasn't sure if I could get by with only 1 center brace and the 2 angled ones or if I should have 2 or 3 vertical ones with other braces in between.

Should I use wood screws to go along with the glue or will this cause the frame to bend? Will regular wood glue work or is there something else better? Anything else used to make the joints strong?

I'm going to use blackout fabric and I know that there is a debate over which side of the material to use, can someone list the pros and cons of each side for me? I will be using a Optoma HD70 for my pj.

Is black velvet the best thing to use around the frame?

How do I mount it to the wall? Do I use some wood screws and drill into the studs through the frame?

I think that's it for now. I'm going to try to work on this this weekend so any help is greatly appreciated.

[bud16415]

John
The quarter round is placed at the very edge so that the fabric will only come in contact with just that edge. We often do this because if any of the frame or braces touch the cloth it will make a slight line that will show when projected to.

If you look in my signature link below there is a thread and also a photo essay of the screen I built and I did something similar around the outer edge.

Be careful and select only kiln dried wood for the frame. Even them there is a chance of warping. That’s why I made mine from laminated strips cut from plywood and did an interlocking corner joint. Several people have copied that aspect of my screen and didn’t use the self tension part.

You really can’t have too many braces as you go around the frame putting the skin on you will stress the frame a huge amount. That’s why I went to what some consider over kill, but after a year it’s still drum skin tight without warps.

As for the black out cloth. Most use the plastic looking side but dependent on projector others liked the cloth side. All I can suggest is experiment first. In the same photo pages mentioned above I have several pictures comparing BOC with samples of painted screen. You may want to take a look at them.

Glue and screws is the way to go. Screws wont hurt anything. (drywall screws)

Black velvet is good.

Many use something called a French cleat to hang it to the wall.