Quote:
Originally Posted by
bonjovi 
MississippiMan,
I'm at a bit of an impass. I want to make these 15" x 108(ish)" panels with the flockstar material on it. I was thinking about making a simple wood frame with cross bars every few feet and then covering that with some sort of thin board and then sticking the protostar material on there.
However, it just occured to me that to keep things as light as possible, do I really need that thin piece of wood? Do you think the protostar material is sticky enough to just attach to the frame (tightly). Or perhaps I can use ordinary poster board instead of wood and staple that to the wood and then put the protostar on top of that? I was shopping for thin (1/4") wood that I can cut neatly into panels but most of the stuff I found didn't look particularly straight and definitely would add a considerable amount of weight. Also I'd have to get it cut at the store because my table saw wouldn't be able to handle it. How sticky is that stuff? i haven't tried peeling it off yet. Do you think I can get away with just using the frame or perhaps some light poster board material?
I would pick up either a 4' x 10' or 5' x 10' sheet of the Sintra in 6MM (1/4"). It's expanded Foam Board, solid with no veneer. It's realy lightweight....lighter than in 1/4" wood...and forget wood anyway. Where can one find 10' long sheets of 1/4" Hardwood Plywood.
Your Local outlet can...and will rip specified widths/ lengths of the sheet...even trim the lengths to your measurements. Point of fact. Using the thin Sintra for such projects as masking panels allows the Panel to be flush-er
and the panel to be simply that....a Panel.
It's gonna be about the singularly most ideal material for you to get and use. The ProtoStar Flocking will stick to that better than any wood or drywall surface. The Sintra is light enough to be held in place with the more minimal Fastener systems. At 6mm, it's just stiff enough that it hangs straight and never warps, twists, or sags.
I hate frames. Your ideas are kinda a mix of getting there inventively, but also doing such in a manner that is problematical as to if it's really a effective solution.
Sometimes one has to face harsh realities Wrapping anything like Cloth...or even applying a Self Stick Flock over a Frame at... kust 15" x 9' x ...say, 1/2"? The Panel will have to be made of expensive, clear Kiln Dried Poplar in the least, (..or Maple will work well..) and every piece perfectly straight and true. Then you have to brace the thing perfect. Every one of your measurements dead on...Cuts, be they Miters or 90 Degrees have to be really
really precise. Even at that, the natural twist along a 9' length could only be helped by all those Struts, which add weight....more exacting measurements and cutting, and then one dies have to fasten those struts to the frame in such a manner.
With ProtoStar wrapped Sintra panels, if you kinda felt you just had to, you could get the same Sintra sheets in 1/8" (3mm) and attach that to a Frame.
That being possible if somehow you can manage to construct a "Ladder-like" 9' x 15" frame that doesn't have to weigh in at 20 lbs. I suppose you could hang the panels on side hooks if they extend out to the edge of the Screen Trim. Sounds like a pain. I hate pain...I do things easy yet with performance and looks in mind....and focus on things that come with Installer / End user friendly interactions.
The ProtoStar comes in a Roll. It curls out just "so-so"...because when your cutting it with even a razor sharp knife, and trying to brace down the Sheet as you go, the thin ProtoStar tends to shift and bunches "ahead of the cutting edge" if you don't stay ahead of things and stop before things get "crumple y". I used 10' lengths of my Mdf Base Trim as a Cutting board for slicing out length. It wasn't impossible...just not nearly as easy I would like it to be. to be able to get a good result.
In your Case, you have 30" of width with ProtoStar, and two 15" wide panels. Hmmmmm....no room for error there, in cutting or applying. Perk up. If you have two 108" lengths if 15" wide Sintra, you'll have two pieces that are each exactly 1/2 wide as your Flocking....also one nice 108" Straight edge, and also a 108" long cutting board. Just don't cut any harder than it takes to know you got cleanly through the ProtoStar.
......and if you do any of that...you have to be using 1/4" (6mm) Sintra.
Don't try to use the 3mm to cut on....unless it all the extra you'll have left over.
I forgot about that.
Gator Foam is another possibility, and just a tiny bit lighter per sq.ft than Sintra. But it does have Paper veneers, and can be subject to mild distortion over time
