Cyclone Cinema Build - Page 10

Just a few pictures of what I have been working on lately...not much

When I installed a wall to create a laundry room, I needed to install a 2x6 (ish) wall. Instead of ordering a custom door jamb, I decided to make my own. I bought some preprimed MDF and attached it to the door jamb with biscuit joints and glue. I filled with a wood puddy and sanded smooth.

Here is the jamb after it has been sanded smooth.


And below are a couple odds and ends.

Here is my "clamping" system I devised to hold down the laminate/stair tread bullnose. Just to keep it from wanting to pull away from the base.


Here are a couple pieces of red oak with some samples of stain...red mahogany on the left and ebony on the right...


The stained pieces are after a 180 grit sanding and a couple applications of stain...neither of which my wife likes. She wants a very light stain (which I vetoed) so we are going to try something else.

So yesterday over lunch I stopped by the Woodsmith store and picked up some wood dye.


I dont know exactly how this will turn out. I have never used any wood dyes before, but I am interested in learning. I am hoping we will get a more even darkness...I plan on doing a few more samples this weekend.

I will take a few pictures along the way - just to document it.

Yeah, the Woodsmith Store is great. Its a good place to dream, but I don't buy a whole lot from them - any bigger tool purchases are usually used or online.

I don't know if it will be as much of a tutorial...more like a chance for everyone else to learn from MY mistakes

Here are a few quick photos from what I completed last night and today.

I built the stage finally! Here it is built and stuffed with insulation with some tar paper underneath.


Here is one when the top on...waiting for the top to be trimmed up.


Here is a picture of the router trimming the extra off.


I didnt take a final picture , but it is finished up. Something to note for people who are wondering. I plan on adding a solid wood lip to the stage. That is the reason I was able to use a flush trim bit.

Here is a picture I made quick on sketchup to show what I am trying to explain.

I wanted to get those pictures up first, so this question didnt get lost.

I cut three 3" holes for my screenwash can lights. Here is a shot showing the can light and the clearance. Its a nice tight fit.



So looking inside this hole is where my question lies...


My question is about the clearance requirement. The can lights are Non-IC rated. The packaging states that insulation must be kept at least 3" away. There is no insulation up in this small space, but as you can see from the picture above, the holesaw cut through the 2X4 will be touching the can housing.

Do I need to trim that wood away from the to create an air gap between the housing and the wood? If so, how much space is required?

Thanks Nick! That's exactly what I needed to know.

I went through a few ideas for how to tackle this problem and settled on using a rabbeting bit with my router.

Here is a picture of the setup...thankfully that bit has a longer shank than most of my bits.


Here is a picture of the wood trimmed away. Its kind of hard to tell, but you can the bottom of the wood cut away just above the drywall.


After the router made its pass, I couldnt safely extend the bit to cut deeper. So I ended up using a wood chisel to cut away the remaining wood. It did more splintering than actual cutting, but in the end there is clearance.


After all holes were cut and wood trimmed I had to fish out the wires out. My hands didn't fit inside the 3" holes, so I had to fashion something to catch the wires. When I grew up we had heavy gauge wire about 40" long to catch chickens by the leg...I just bent a spare piece of wire in the same pattern and was able to reach the wires and pull them to the hole.

Here is a picture of my wire catcher


I was able to get the wires from the left two holes, but my wires were about 4" too short to reach the right hole!!! That sucked - no way around that. My only option was to cut closer to the wire, and extend it. Here is the second hole


I thought about making as small a hole as possible, but thought it would still need to be big enough that it would be noticable. Instead I cut another full size hole to retain some of the texturing.

Here is a picture of a short piece of wood I glued to the inside of the drywall.


After the glue dries, I glued the plug to the piece of wood. Here is a picture with the three cans installed and the plug installed. You can also see the cleaned up stage.

Finishing up my update for the weekends work.

Here is my riser. I copied someones idea (I think AirBenji) to keep the insulation off the floor using wires. I think they are actually designed to support insulation in floor joists. They worked perfect for the riser.


Here is the riser with the insulation installed.


Here is some of the top installed.


And finally, here is the last photo showing all the plywood installed. You can see the front outlets are installed along with the floor outlets.


Also in the picture above, you can see the finger jointed pine stacked at the back of the riser. Next up is building the frame to support the screen.

One thing to note, when i pulled out my two heavy duty floor outlets to install them. One had all the necessary components, but the other box only included the housing and the cover plate - the actual outlet and the screws to attach the box and the screws to attach the cover plate were missing. I will need to make a quick trip to HD to buy some screws and an outlet to finish that part up.

I stopped by Home Depot today. I found a black outlet to replace the one that was missing from the box, and also found brass screws that fit so I was able to secure the cover.

While there, I spoke with an associate that is going to work on getting me a price on OC703 for my front wall. He said he can get anything Owens Corning makes, so I gave him my cutsheet I had printed and he is going to get me a price tomorrow. Hopefully he can order the commercial products, because I think that is technically how Owens Corning has it listed. I am supposed to get a call tomorrow morning, so I will know more then.

I just received a phone call from Home Depot. They can order OC703, but the minimum order is 5 cases. Each case includes 12 pieces of 2'x4'x2" OC703 and runs $111.31 each.

I need 3 cases for my theater, so I just wanted to check in to see if anyone else in the area needed any.

I will call around some more to see if I can find another source, but thought here was worth a try. I am in Des Moines if anyone is interested.

Just a quick update. I did more calling around today an found a VARIETY of prices. Prices ranged from $1.15 to $1.75 per square foot.

I didn't get any response from anyone looking to split an order, so I went ahead with a different place. They were slightly more than HD, but allowed me to buy single sheets if I wanted.

So now I have some OC703!



Totally off topic: Not sure if there is any interest in this kind of stuff.

So today it got up to about 70 degrees outside for the first time this year. All our snow is gone and a few friends and I decided to go shed hunting.

4 of us went trouncing through the woods and I was the lucky guy to find some antler.

As they lay:


Close up:

Ha! I figured someone could relate to the chicken hook!

I ended up buying my insulation from L & L Insulations in Des Moines. Its nice because its in stock and you can buy it by the sheet if necessary.

I laid about a thousand square feet of engineered hardwood in a friends house on saturday, but spent a little time in the basement today.

Proof of a little progress


Now time to watch some golf, some nascar and find out what seed the cyclones get for the tournament.

Quick question. I haven't done too much looking, but I know someone around here will know the answer right away.

I am worried about my projector being mounted too low and being at "head knocker" height. Are there any projectors available that have a lens memory function that do not require the lens of the projector to be within the screen area? I would like to mount the projector tight to the ceiling in front of the rear soffit, but that would raise the projector lens above the top of the screen.

If not, what would others recommend. Mounting the projector lower and farther back, or manually adjusting the picture when switching back and forth between aspect ratios.

I roughed in the power and HDMI in the vertical portion of the rear soffit in order to mount the projector high in front of the soffit. I also installed a sheet of 5/8" plywood in that area too to facilitate projector mounting (however, there is also a layer of plywood on the bottom of the soffit too).

Maybe I have not explained what I am doing as thoroughly as I could have. There will be bare concrete behind my stage, as there is a sump pump and a radon mitigation system beind there.

I have right at 30" of space between the back of my stage and my back wall. The stage itself is 19" deep at its deepest point. The first step is 7" deep, and the "top" step is about 9" deep.

My black fabric panels will sit on top of that stage at the back fo the top step. They will rest against the white screen supports and the boards I attached to the walls (as you can see if the latest picture I posted).

I plan on setting my speakers on the bare concrete floor, and building an individual speaker stand for the center speaker (and the mains if necessary) - in order to get the tweeters at ear level.

Hopefully this answers your question, but if you have any others, just ask.

Did anyone have any idea if there are projectors that have a lens memory function that will work without the lens being within the screen area? (my question in post #288)

Thanks!

Okay, well I will just experiment with projector locations and see what works best for me.

Moving on. I have a question about fabrics...three in particular...

What do people usually use for:
1. Wrapping the screen frame. This is probably a non-AT velvet.
2. Making black AT panels for around the screen.
3. Fabric to cover the OC703 on the rear wall and bass traps.

It would also be helpful to know the best place to purchase the fabric too.

I did a little work last night...itchy work.

I went from this


To this


To this!


I cut 4 2x4's with a 45 degree bevel and secured them to the wall to hold everything tight.


In the picture above, you can see a minor mistake I made. I roughed in an outlet too close to the wall - after I installed my bass trap it ended up being covered. I have enough outlets on the wall without that one, so I threw a white cover plate and covered the outlet with the bass trap.

Here is a picture with of the cut piece laying on the riser with a piece of insulation tucked into the void


After attaching the supports to the wall and stacking all the insulation, I am two pieces short. So I need to go out and cut two more triangles...after I already cleaned up all the mess of course.

If anyone is interested in how I cut the triangles, I used my table saw for all the cuts. First I cut the 2x4 sheets into 2x2 sheets. After I had my squares cut, I made a jig to help cut them in half.

Here is a picture of the jig


Just a tip for anyone planning on using a table saw to cut their insulation. I wore safety glasses and an old long sleeve tshirt when cutting it...I had quite a bit of tiny pieces of insulation on me after I was finished cutting. The shirt went straight in the trash and I headed straight to the shower.

I didnt take any pictures of the insulation stacked in the corners, but I will cut the final pieces and put up the insulation around then install the full pieces on the wall before I take a final picture.

I would still be interested to hear what people used for their fabrics. If nothing else, I will start scouring the current threads to see what others had used - I just figured someone would know off the top of their head what works best.

Quick progress update.

Finished the insulation behind the screen.


I have about 10 sheets of OC703 left over for wall treatments after the room is complete.

I also glued down 2 of the remaining 4 stairwell steps. It is a pain to cut the 45 degree miters and then an angled notch for the return. It wouldnt be bad, but the bullnose lays at an angle so I cant just lay the board on the bed of the miter saw and/or table saw to make my cuts. Everything is being cut while sitting on a jig to make all the joints line up correctly.

I didn't take any pictures, but should have them mostly completed mid-week.

I would technically be ready for the hand rails, but I think I am going to leave them off until the very end, just so I can get all the furniture and building materials moved in.

I went with 2" thick.

I figure I can play with the sound treatment after the theater is complete, but I am coming up on two years now with very little to show for it.

I want the room complete before I start playing with measurement software...I dont even know what I am listening for, so it shouldnt be a big deal if its not perfect.

Good to know you are still following along.

I cut and glued down the final two stair treads and bullnose. Turning out pretty well, just takes longer than anticipated.

Here is a picture with the last two glued down


And here is a closeup of the two that were glued down yesterday. Just shows a nice view of the miters.


As you can see in the first picture, I am using blue painters tape to hold my miters together, and a few weights to hold everything down until the glue sets up.

I still need to cut and glue three of the four returns, but that should be minimal...hopefully.

You can also see we have a painted door and a handle on the bedroom door! My wife drove to Chicago with my truck last weekend and bought a truckload of furniture from Ikea Most of the furniture she bought is for the bedroom so that will get assembled soon and the bedroom will be complete.

She went to the Bolingbrook store.

In other news, I stopped by my local lumber supplier and bought 130 board feed of red oak! It is safely home and stacked in my garage. Looks like I will be able to start column construction....if only I had a design figured out!