The Plains Theater - Page 21

You guys make it tough to leave the credit card in my pocket

I'm really considering the nail gun. My only hangup is I almost never buy cheap tools. I try to buy professional quality (or pro-sumer quality) tools because you end up paying for it up front or later with cheap ones. However, I'm getting to the point where I don't see myself taking on many more big projects. I've had enough renovations projects for a lifetime! So I can't see spending $200 for a nice one (I like the Hitachi guns BTW ) that I will probably only use for finishing this one room in my basement. On the other hand, the $90 NuMax gun worries me that i"ll spend as much time clearing jams as I will driving nails........

Analysis paralysis sets in again

I wish that Husky set was still on sale, I'd probably pick one up. Looks like it's out of stock online and the framing nailer alone is $159 now.

I've started looking around on Craigslist, but nothing of interest locally. I'll stop by Amazon next, and see if anything looks interesting.

Mr. Logan, that picture reminds me of an incident I witnessed on a summer job in high school. A guy shot a nail through his thumb, or halfway at least since surgeon had to remove it. I distinctly remember that the expletive that guy used was not nearly as strong as what I'd have said Ah..... the good 'ol days.

Sadly, no updates. Between grad school, and the part time job I've had to pick up to pay for it, I've had very little time to work on the theater lately. Hopefully things will improve after the first of the year.

I have not tested the fan with a speed controller either. I'm planning to see how it works at full speed before I complicate the matter. However, if I understand the motor design correctly, I can't think of a reason it shouldn't work. Of course, you know what they say, "thinking just gets in the way of the job."

Thanks for all the kind words! We'll keep plugging away at it; It's just taking longer than I'd hoped. That's for both the theater and grad school

Tony, yes and no. Classes finished up last week, and don't start back until the second week of January (I think). But I've been finished with classes for a few semesters now. I'm working on research full time. Unfortunately, we've hit a bit of snag that's slowing things down We'll get it figured out sooner or later, though.

It's amazing how fast a month goes by, especially over Christmas break. I have ben able to get a tiny bit done, though. Mostly by working an hour here and there. I've managed to get all of my furring strips up on the ceiling. Thanks to all the pier pressure here, I picked up a framing nailer, and it went a LOT faster. I think I will still go back and add a screw in each joist just for good measure, but that will still be a lot faster than using screws exclusively! Without further ado!



And here's the beam that caused all of the trouble to begin with. Once I add clips and channel, my drywall should clear the bottom of that beam by 5/8". Ted recommended 1/2", so it's tough to get much better than that.



As you can see, I've also got all the of insulation up in the ceiling.

Next on the to-do list is blocking in all of the exterior walls followed by the rest of the insulation (I'll be glad to finish that up!). After that, it's rough in the door, and start with clips and channel.

Speaking of doors, the existing rough opening is much wider than I need, and the hardwood is run into the doorway. I've been planning to cut out enough of the hardwood to accommodate the additional framing for my door, but I'm not sure it's necessary. I think I could just nail my bottom plate straight down through the hardwoods. Any thoughts?

Time for another minor update. I've got most of the blocking finished, I just need to pick up a couple extra 2x's for the extra studs in the corners to give me a place to attach clips. I've also picked up my insulation for the walls (half faced for interior walls, and half unfaced for the exterior walls). I decided it was time for the obligatory blue tape screen. So here you go! Ignore the mess BTW, I need to pick up terribly.



To be honest, I was a little underwhelmed. That's 138" wide, and I sat my temporary theater seating at 1x width (that'd be the blue Lowes bucket in the picture). I realize it has a lot to do with all the empty space on either side. With that in mind, I started playing with some screen wall layouts. Here are the two that I like best at this point (the stage is the difference between the two).





I need to get this finalized so that I can add my extra clips for the soffit. Advice and opinions are much appreciated!

Thanks for the feedback guys! Much appreciated.

TMcG, I feel for you hanging that drywall! That is no fun, and I don't look forward to ever doing it again. The angles in the soffit do match the "columns." It's hard to find a way to rotate the image where everything is in perspective all at once Good point about the stage not providing anything visually.

Tim, I've allowed 30" behind the screen for my LCR and subs, but my layout from Dennis has my L/R pulled forward a bit, so I need to add the columns for that. Also, I felt like the columns would help make the screen look like it filled the front wall more.

How deep would a shadowbox need to be to be effective?

Thanks again, guys!

Good point, Tony. When I originally laid out the theater, I was planning to go with the same size screen that you have. After reading, and reading, and reading, I started to second guess that, and then I got my plans back from Dennis, and even asked that question, and he didn't like the idea of going larger. I think I need to revisit the idea, though.

In the mean time, here's a model with a 6" shadow box. I added a little color to help make everything a little easier to see.

If I keep the columns, I'm not sure that I can make them too much smaller. I still need space to get speakers at least partly in there and have them toed in. If i leave a 1" border between the columns and shadow box, I end up with a 152" wide screen. How would a shadow box look if I still use masking panels? From looking at this latest render, it's hard to think of a reason not to go with the larger scree for now. Assuming I can make masking panels that will look good with the shadowbox.



Fred, you may have made my decision about the size of the stage with that one comment! I'm already trying to figure out how to make that trip as short as possible between the truck and the stage!

Tony, why does this remind me of the little guy with horns on my shoulder, "Go ahead, get the big one. It won't hurt anything! You'll be fine!"

RT, with regard to the step, do you mean make the arc larger, or move the entire step forward?

As far as I can figure, the columns just let me pull the speakers forward into the room. With eyes at roughly 12.5' from the screen, I think that puts the speakers at about 7.5' from the centerline, or about 2.5' from the side wall. This just buys me a little space between the speakers and the walls. At least, I assume that's why the layout shows the speakers moved forward of the screen. Now that I think about it, that's probably not as important for a sealed L/R.