My WA, DW, aluminum frame screen build - Page 2

I am thinking of ordering this from a local supplier. I already bought the BOC. Will the velcro work for BOC? I don't think I want to use the clips as a permanent solution.

20Fan:

Thanks for the follow up answers! I appreciate it.

I'm waiting for my local 80/20 distributor to give me my bid on Monday. Until I get my laminate screen built, I'm going to paint a screen for now.

Thanks again for sharing with all of us.

Travis

I have the Epson 1080UB coming in a few days. With your guidance here, I'll be building a DW screen so when it's up I'll definitely post my thoughts and some screen shots.

I have a couple more questions for you...you said to make sure I added the "extra inches for the velvet border" when ordering my 80/20 frame. I will be going with the velvet border so I should add 6" to the width and height of my frame, correct?

You mentioned mounting rope light on the frame behind the screen. I've never heard of that before. Is this for ambient light purposes?? And can you post any links here to screen shots of this? I'm very intrigued by the idea but would like to see what it looks like.

Thanks,

Travis

Very nice example from auburnu008



and one from tlniec

That is sweet!

I don't want to hijack the thread here as I'd like to keep it on topic, but I wonder if this rope lighting technique affects the picture at all. From this screen shot I'd say the answer is no.

Travis

Hello All;

Finished my screen over the weekend, and as promised an update . Got the screen wall mounted just in time to see GB stomp the Bears

First up a tip when ordering an 80/20 kit:
Be sure to specify the quick frame product. I did not specify, and by default my supplier "assumed", the result >> I ended up paying about $50.00 extra for heavier duty extrusions that used a "T-nut type connector" at the connection points. Not a bad thing - just more expensive and heavier than needed.

My screen dimensions areas follows:
viewable area 57" x 101.5"
overall size is 61" (delivered width of the DW) x 105.5".

For cutting it to length, a few tips that resulted in a very clean edge:
Bought a new plywood blade for my skill saw, taped the "cut line" on both sides, and cut from the unfinished side (finished side down).

I used contact cement to attach a 2" border. Here are the supplies. I meant to take a photo showing how I masked off the inner edge of the border with painters tape. This kept the contact cement off the viewable area and made it much easier to get a nice straight edge with the border.



The finished result:



And Temporarily Mounted (screen will be coming down so that I can install linacoustic, GOM, trim work, and finish the drapery valance on top):



Someone was asking about photos with a 1080PJ? The following are HD-Ota shots from a JVC RS-1. Sorry did not have time to put up any 1080p blu-ray material. (I will make my excuses in advance; did not user a tripod, these are my first attempts at screen shots, and have not yet tweaked the PJ with my Video Essentials Essentials disc).

First up is 1080i from Fox sports:



The remainder are 720p from PBS:









Thanks Again to 20Fan for sharing !!

Thanks guys (esp 20fan for starting the thread) on this.. I think this is the route I'm going to take.

For those of you thinking of using the OPS frame design with BOC:

I built one of the earlier versions of the aluminum frame (although I think this build seems much easier and sturdier) and decided against the "clip" design. I rolled "Blackflame" onto my BOC first and then painted the frame with black matte spray paint. Finally I attached the BOC to the inside of the alumninum frame using industrial velco (therefore using the aluminum frame itself as a picture frame). That was four years ago and it's still holding strong.

I seem to remember the aluminum frame materials costing between $70-80 bucks so this design seems a better "bang for the buck."

smithmal


smithmal

20fan,

Could you list exactly what was ordered from 80/20? I know you mentioned the "quick frame" style but in terms of the number of connectors, type of connectors, lengths of alumninum tubing, etc. It would be extremely helpful.

Thanks,

smithmal

First I have to stress that I am happy with the 8020 product

However two points:

1) I briefly mentioned earlier in this thread that you need to specify the quick-frame product. I suspect that some distributors, either by innocent assumption (or perhaps even upselling) could put you into a heavier dutier product. This happened to me and the cost of the product went from ~100.00 to 154.00 - not a big problem in itself.

2) The product I ended up, because of physical size required motor-freight shipping. The result: Yesterday I received a follow-up bill from my distributor for shipping. My credit card is now being charged an ADDITIONAL 131.42 FOR SHIPPING. YES you read it correctly an ADDITIONAL $132.10 for SHIPPING & Handling? I am going to call now to see how much of this shipping charge is the distributors "handling" markup, and if anything can be done.

Sorry to be redundant, but IMO you will be happiest with the 8020 product if you keep two points in mind when ordering. Make sure you are getting the Quick Frame product, and make sure you have confirmed in writing your shipping costs upfront.

And just to add to Craig's post here...

I just ordered my 80/20 frame from my local distributor and it was $88 for a 59" x 102" frame. The rep I worked with said that the prices of the 80/20 frame should be the same throughout the country because 80/20 sets the price for their material. Their might be slight differences but for the most part he said we should all be paying about the same.

When I placed my order I just gave them a basic sketch with the overall dimensions. I also gave him the link to this thread so he could see 20Fan's pictures of the frame. The rep said seeing the pictures helped because he knew exactly what I needed and there was no confusion.

As for shipping, I need to check with them on that. Thanks for the head's up on that, Craig. My rep just said he'd have it delivered to my house. He didn't mention the shipping costs I'm going to call them right now to find out.

P.S. Craig, thanks for the details on how you cut the laminate. That helps!

Travis

I got the same pricing quote if I ordered the tubing uncut due to it's long length (145"). As soon as I switched to cut pieces, the shipping cost went down to around $20.

Does anyone have any pictures or "how-to's" on how to mount these 80/20 frames to the wall? My 80/20 rep said most of his customers are just screwing the frame directly to the wall. That's certainly an option, but that would require I attached the screen with the frame hung and that just sounds like more work than it needs to be

Terry mentioned the "French cleat" method but I have no clue what that this. I need to do some more digging on that. Regardless, I'll need to attach some kind of bracket to the frame for mounting and I'm curious how you all are doing it given that the cores of these frames are hollow.

Thanks,

Travis

I've actually answered my own question and thought I would post it here if anyone else is curious. I'm going to use the Hangman bracket product. It holds up to 200 lbs. and makes mounting stuff like this a snap. I'll take photos of this and my entire project once I start it. I'm still waiting for my 80/20 frame to arrive.

20Fan...for the industrial velcro that you used, was it a 2" wide roll? I've looked high and low and all I can find is 2" wide rolls. Obviously this will work, but a 1" wide roll would be ideal since the frame is only 1". Just curious...thanks.

Travis

Great build! I wondered about using this method back in February in the "Post Your Untried Ideas Here" thread. I'm curious to see if anyone uses this method for a BOC or Sheerweave screen.



It doesn't stick to velcro very well - I had to staple it to BOC.



This was the primary reason I didn't go with this method. For my 150" screen the horizontal pieces would have to be truck freight (not UPS). The rep I talked to did offer this info during our first conversation. Too bad, cause I really would have liked this method over all the work I did with metal studs.



I used two Hangmen - they're great. They are simply a manufactured French cleat. Lot's of folks make 'em out of wood (DIY).


In my situation I just cut the 2" roll down the middle.

GREAT screen build 20fan!

Is this the Wilsonart product that is being used?:

http://samples.wilsonart.com/p-246-d...e-d354-60.aspx

Thanks,
Peter

Yup

Thank you. Got it ordered and picking up on Wednesday.

The 80/20 is a little more difficult to get ordered. They list 2 distributors in my area, by neither seem to keen on helping me.

Next, I need to order the industrial velcroe and black velvet tape.

I ordered the hangman hanger about an hour ago.

Holy cow that black velvet tape is pricey!!! $40 for 35 ft of 3". I was expecting $10. lol

Are you still looking for a distributor for the 80/20? My guy here in Minneapolis can have these built for anyone. He just has 80/20 ship it directly to your house so it doesn't matter where you live. PM me if you need his name and email. He'll take care of you.

Travis

So tonight I finally started on my laminate screen. Being the complete NON handyman, idiot that I am, I tried to cut this sheet with two flimsy saw horses. Long story short, I was half way through the cut when one of the saw horses collapsed and the weight of the sheet tore it right through the center of the sheet The tear was so bad I couldn't salvage any of it. So now I have to order another sheet of laminate.

Can anyone reading this provide specific details and/or pictures how to cut this stuff? I had a feeling this was going to be the most difficult part of this project. I'm clueless when it comes to this stuff and I'm not exactly Bob Villa when it comes to using a circular saw either.

The only way I can see this working is if I go out and buy about 6 heavy duty saw horses to lay this sheet on so I can run a circular saw across it without it snapping or tearing. After the sheet tore I thought I would just "practice" scoring it like 20Fan said he did but that didn't do anything but scratch the heck out of the surface...but then again I was just using a box cutter. If a guy wanted to score this stuff and snap it like 20Fan did, what specific cutting tool do you use to score it with?

There has to be a way a dumb*ss like me can get this cut without ruining another sheet! At this rate, this "cheap" laminate screen is going to cost as much as a Draper screen! I can't afford to screw up another sheet or my wife is going to kill me.

Travis

Did you score it from the finished laminate side or the unfinished back side? I tried to score it from the back side with a box cutter after I ruined the sheet just to practice. It was a brand new blade and it barely would cut. It must have taken you forever to cut it with a box cutter.

Did you snap it off then or did you literally score it until the sheet was totally cut through? I did some digging in here and some of the guys score it and then snap it off. I would think that would totally screw up the sheet but apparently not.

Travis

I wouldn't use the tin snips, it might put cracks in the edge.

tvanslooten, just put a wood board on your saw horses first (for support), then lay the laminate on top of that. Or just lay in out on the floor, and put a thin piece of plywood under the part you're cutting.

Ideally, you would put it on the saw horses with a 4x8 sheet of plywood underneath, then tape around the line you want to cut, then use a jig saw with a metal cutting blade. They might even have a specific laminate jigsaw blade.

If you use a saw, it doesn't matter too much which side you cut it from. Any slight mistakes will be covered up with the velvet edge. But I would try cutting from the top first, see if it causes any chips. If you cut from the top, obviously mask off where ever the base of the saw will be sliding on the laminate.



Having said that, I used the score and snap method. But that's not the easiest way. If you do it, make the first few razor passes fairly light on the top, so you get a good straight line. Then just keep running over your same cut as many times as you feel is necessary (harder each time). But that's a long edge to score and snap, so I'd get someone to help you bend the whole thing at the same time.