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Lighted Poster Boxes.... FINALLY!

post #1 of 29
12/1/11 at 8:41pm
Thread Starter 
Been quite a while since I've been on AVS..... Have nearly 4,000 hours on my projector and still enjoying the theater and basement. My entire build thread is in my link.

I originally put in a couple receptacles connected to a light switch for poster boxes. Well.... I finally got started on them a week or so ago. So here are some pics.

Here's the hall just outside of my theater. The 2 black receptacles are for the boxes...
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post #2 of 29
12/1/11 at 8:49pm
Thread Starter 
As for materials, here's a rough idea of what I bought at Lowe's

- qty 5 1x4 Poplar boards
- qty 5 case molding
- 2 dry erase boards (white on 1 side) 36" x 48"
- 2 - 48ft rope light
- 8 corner accent pieces
- 2 pieces of custom cut glass
- 4 2x4 diffusers

I think that's it.... A few pics of some of these pieces. Here's the white dry erase board. This was around $10 each and I figured it would be good since it's a white, shiny background. Should help light reflect towards the poster. I cut them to appro 28.5 x 42.5 or so.


The brand of lights....


The diffusers. I am going to give these a try. They're standard fluorescent light diffusers.
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post #3 of 29
12/1/11 at 8:55pm
Thread Starter 
I plan on using double sided posters, and it seems like most of them are either 27 x 40 or 27 x 41. Before cutting them, I stained the poplar 1x4's and molding. 2 coats of Minwax English Chestnut to match my theater and the rest of the basement. Here are 2 pictures of my theater with the stained bead board and molding so you can get an idea of the color.....






I planned for the larger size poster and cut the poplar boards so the inside dimension was roughly 27 x 41. Here's a pic of the rough frame....

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post #4 of 29
12/1/11 at 8:59pm
Thread Starter 
I called a local glass shop and had 2 pieces of glass cut with dimensions of 27 1/8 x 41 1/8. Cost around $70 for that... probably could of got it cheaper but it's a small little family business and I wanted to throw them some business.

My plan is to have the glass sit in a notch I'll cut with a table saw. Saw it in another thread. I plan on making 1 side of the frame removable then so I can slide the glass in.out along with the poster.

Here's the frame sitting on the back piece.


Started stringing the lights.


Have the lights finished.... but not secured except across the top of the frame.
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post #5 of 29
12/1/11 at 9:01pm
Thread Starter 
Worked quite a bit last night on getting the lights for the 1st box finished up. I used some scrap molding as supports for the rope and just liquid nailed it to the back piece. The rope lights came with screws and holders for the rope so it worked out nicely.



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post #6 of 29
12/1/11 at 9:04pm
Thread Starter 
Since I don't have a table saw, grabbed a neighbor last night to give me a hand. Notched all of the pieces for both boxes and then stained the inside of the groove. Here are a few pics.....



In this one, the glass will be towards the from of the frame.



This is the case molding I'll use on the front. It's around 2.5 inches wide so it will more than cover the face of the poplar and it will have some overlap inside and outside the frame.

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post #7 of 29
12/1/11 at 9:12pm
Thread Starter 
Bought a few posters on eBay a couple days ago. They arrived today!!!

Got these for the kids.





And got this one for me....
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post #8 of 29
12/1/11 at 9:15pm
Thread Starter 
Tonight, I very quickly grabbed the Smurfs poster and taped it to the glass and tried it out. Forgot to get a full pic...

I was hoping I wouldn't have to use the diffusers, but will have to. I did snap this 1 pic where you can see part of the poster..... The diffuser on the top of the pic and not on the bottom. You can see the poster looks better with diffuser than without....



You can make out the "lines' Of the rope..... so, I'll have to mount the diffusers inside. I thought about a second groove in the wood for them, but I'll just rig something up.

That's it for now. Hope to finish these up over the weekend......
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post #9 of 29
12/1/11 at 9:16pm
I had a look at the completion pictures in your build. Very nice! So many great theaters have come and gone on this thread...long before I even found the forum. It is unfortunate that no one has kept a running collection of the better ones. Great to hear that you are still enjoying your room. 4000 hours of payback and counting.
Good luck with the light boxes.
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post #10 of 29
12/1/11 at 9:22pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by DavidK442 View Post

I had a look at the completion pictures in your build. Very nice! So many great theaters have come and gone on this thread...long before I even found the forum. It is unfortunate that no one has kept a running collection of the better ones. Great to hear that you are still enjoying your room. 4000 hours of payback and counting.
Good luck with the light boxes.

Thanks, appreciate that. Quite a few hours slaving away in the basement....

There are a couple compilation threads around. Here's an old one that still gets some action in it. I'll have to check out your theater link
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post #11 of 29
12/1/11 at 10:02pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by jerrodshook View Post

I'll have to check out your theater link

Thanks, but its nothing compared to yours I'm afraid. More a family room with attitude.
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post #12 of 29
12/2/11 at 6:12am
Nice work. I made lightboxes with the LED rope lighting, which are very similar to yours. I found a couple of things.

First, I tried using those same clips that came with the rope light. They turned out to be cheap and weak. Over the course of a few months, they all cracked and let the rope light fall to the bottom of the box. I solved it by using cable clamps that were slightly larger in diameter than the rope. This allowed the lighting to adjust tension in use, but keeps it in place. This is what I used:


I have pretty much given up on glass for poster frames. It retains heat more than a good UV plexi and sooner or later you break it. Most of the good poster framing places recommend UV plexi. That said, I still have a half dozen glass frames, and I wouldn't just throw them away.
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post #13 of 29
12/2/11 at 6:36am
Nice work jerrodshook,

Looking foward to your progress.

jayn-j,

What's the cost range for the UV plexi in comparison to the glass? Thanks.
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post #14 of 29
12/2/11 at 1:02pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by oman321 View Post

Nice work jerrodshook,

Looking foward to your progress.

jayn-j,

What's the cost range for the UV plexi in comparison to the glass? Thanks.

It is never that simple, it seems.

Local shops will charge about a 30-40% premium for UV, and even more for non-glare.

I buy most of my frames these days from www.hollywoodposterframe.com. Sue is a long term supporter of the hobby and understands all this. I buy mine with the non-glare plexi and pay about $15 premium over regular uv plexi. Still, the prices are a lot lower than custom framers. Under $75 shipped for an economy 1 sheet with non-glare UV plexi.
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post #15 of 29
12/2/11 at 8:38pm
Thread Starter 
Got them done tonight! but have pics from along the way....

Got the rope light started on the second box.




The moved on to trim. I used this same case molding on my bar in the basement and decided to stick with the same look. Set it up to overlap equally on each side of the poplar.





Here it is with the trim done.... not the greatest of pictures so sorry for that.
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post #16 of 29
12/2/11 at 8:41pm
Thread Starter 
Next, I got the diffuser mounted. I nailed in a couple strips of wood to the top inside of the frame. I carefully drilled some hold in the diffuser and just screwed it to the wood pieces. The diffuser is acrylic so it's sort of delicate....

I used a utility knife to score the pieces and cut them to fit.




You can see some screws here holding the diffuser in place.

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post #17 of 29
12/2/11 at 8:46pm
Thread Starter 
After that, all I had to do was tape the poster to the glass. I used some very small strips of scotch tape across the top and bottom of the poster.

Once again, I made the side of each frame removable to slide the glass in and out. Here is a frame with the poster and glass installed, but the side piece not there yet.

BTW, my kids wanted the Smurfs poster.....


A closeup



Here's the Lord of the Rings poster I got. It's taped on the next piece of glass, ready to be installed.....
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post #18 of 29
12/2/11 at 8:53pm
Thread Starter 
OK, so here's the finished product. Once again, not the greatest pictures. They have some glare and reflections I just noticed. Will get some better ones tomorrow once I have them mounted on the wall.





Here they both are... side by side. The LOTR poster looks MUCH BETTER than the Smurfs... The white lights are reflections from Christmas lights around my garage.




You can faintly make out the rope lights in this one.... almost makes it look like rays of sun though. I'm not to worried about, and besides, my wife and neighbor didn't even notice it until I pointed it out.

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post #19 of 29
12/2/11 at 8:59pm
Looks good. Congratulations.

Did you build the boxes all the same? I wonder if the distance between the diffusor and the glass and poster might be different - or maybe the distance between the diffusor and the lights is more pertinent to minimizing the appearance of the rope.
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post #20 of 29
12/3/11 at 8:55am
Jerrod,

Excellent write up! Very timely for me - as I am currently experimenting with a poster size entrance marquee. I have been experimenting with that same troffer diffuser panel, and also a semi opaque white acrylic panel as a diffuser.

I will be using 12volt LED "tapes" for my illumination source.

I just subscribed, Thanks Again!
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post #21 of 29
12/3/11 at 10:36am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by HopefulFred View Post

Looks good. Congratulations.

Did you build the boxes all the same? I wonder if the distance between the diffusor and the glass and poster might be different - or maybe the distance between the diffusor and the lights is more pertinent to minimizing the appearance of the rope.

The distance definitely has an impact. If the diffusor is right up against the rope it doesn't do too much. The Smurfs box is the 1st one, second one came out better. Honestly, I doubt I'm gonna go back and change anything.... they're done!
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post #22 of 29
12/3/11 at 10:39am
Thread Starter 
Spent time today getting them up on the wall. Pretty straightforward. I would of liked to have mounted them on the wall differently, but this way works. I basically got some L brackets and put 2 on the bottom and 1 on the top to hold the boxes to the wall. Simple, and with the way I did the trim on the front, you can't see them unless you look underneath. Here's a pic of it...

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post #23 of 29
12/3/11 at 10:43am
Thread Starter 
Here are some finished pics.... When I change out the posters, I might add a piece along the bottom to make the inside look a bit more polished.... With the 27x40 posters, there's a small gap on the bottom and top vs what I'll have with the 41 inchers. I have an idea what to do. Also, both posters are curling on the bottom. I didn't roll them backwards long enough, or leave them lay flat long enough to get the "memory" out of them..... was too excited to get them on the wall!!!








Here's a pic from inside the theater looking out at the boxes on the wall.

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post #24 of 29
12/6/11 at 5:50am
Thread Starter 
Something odd happened with these..... left them on for 4-5 hours on Sunday and I had condensation on the inside of the glass. Can't imagine why.... it's not humid or anything....??? Anyone else have that problem?
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post #25 of 29
12/6/11 at 6:19am
Could be just enough dampness in the air. OR just enough water left in the wood. Did you seal the wood completely (all sides) before staining?
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post #26 of 29
12/6/11 at 7:35am
Quote:
Originally Posted by jayn_j View Post

It is never that simple, it seems.

Local shops will charge about a 30-40% premium for UV, and even more for non-glare.

I buy most of my frames these days from www.hollywoodposterframe.com. Sue is a long term supporter of the hobby and understands all this. I buy mine with the non-glare plexi and pay about $15 premium over regular uv plexi. Still, the prices are a lot lower than custom framers. Under $75 shipped for an economy 1 sheet with non-glare UV plexi.

Thanks for the info jayn_j.

jerrodshook, nice end result.

Can you show some pics of the detail of how you maintained the right side of the frames removable? I like your approach.
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post #27 of 29
12/6/11 at 7:48am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by tlogan6797 View Post

Could be just enough dampness in the air. OR just enough water left in the wood. Did you seal the wood completely (all sides) before staining?

I guess there could of been moisture left in the wood. I did poly all of the stained pieces, but none of the unstained areas. I had the wood at least a week... left in my garage and it was fairly dry. Kind of surprised me. I haven't turned them on again though to see if it keeps happening. I'm sure it will work itself out.
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post #28 of 29
12/6/11 at 8:43am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by oman321 View Post

Thanks for the info jayn_j.

jerrodshook, nice end result.

Can you show some pics of the detail of how you maintained the right side of the frames removable? I like your approach.

Thanks.

You can kind of see it in this picture.


Basically, I just made 1 side removable and made sure the corners and trim were attached to this removable piece. The back of the box holds it all together with the side removed.

I originally intended to do this on the wall when changing posters, but I'll probably just pull them down from the wall, lay them on their side to remove the piece. The glass just slides out then... works nice.
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post #29 of 29
12/6/11 at 9:59am
I see the dimples for the screw holes now. Thanks, that works.
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