The Merrimont trace Theater has begun - Page 5

Thank you ..... it is slow going but that is ok sometimes you have to just accept that doing it right takes time

thanks for the info ....been also looking at led strip like what was used in cinemar so that is also a option have you you ever used any of that for tray lights?

is that you used in your build that you can see in the first pic of your thread?

very nice btw

to be honest i have not completely nailed down exactly what receiver i will be using it will be a onkyo for sure i have always had great luck with them
the L/C/R's will be econowave speakers behind an acoustical screen , as far as the rest the speakers those will probably be axiom for the rear surround and a set up the in wall hsu for in the columns
oh the projector Panasonic aeu7000

i have decide which subs yet ...been so busy with building this whole almost completely on my own that i just have not had time to sit down and completely nail down the equipment

got a coat of paint on the ceiling and the soffit and finally finished boxing in the beam the runs across the room

you can the see ceiling still needs a second coat of paint


also got the one the outlet boxes for the soffit led lights

the other wire will be for the 3" can lights that will go around the perimeter of the room

i wanted to get the light trays done this weekend but got caught with family activities

a little grown and a some lights trays makes for a productive weekend

started the weekend with a mission and that was to finish the lights trays, my inspiration was combo of the bacon race and the ohio build, bacon race was the very first build i followed when i joined AVS, and Big was fist person i met here and have spent a small amount time getting to know and have loved each of builds, i have also drawn inspiration from cinimar, as i start to work on the columns and walls treatments that will be more obvious.

so we stated with putting up two inch crown molding two reasons it hides the screws in the soffit so less putty work, also it makes for nice accent when the led strips lights go in (preview of that later in the post)





crown will quickly let you know how straight your walls are luckily it went up fast so yo be the judge ..... i wanted to get primed crown but lowes was out, and as i walked into home depot there was a guy there that bought the last 100, pieces
so at this point i was tired of driving around to un primed i went with.


next we started the light trays these where made from 3/4 mdf cut at 6 inches, first we made the blocking to secure the front the trays to



i made a notch in to pass the wires through








Edited by snickers1 - 9/30/12 at 5:56pm

next came the 6 inch mdf i used 3/4 for the all the straight pieces and 1/2 inch mdf for the curve above the stage




next i just like the bacon race i cut 4 inch strips and 2 inch strips and then ran through the rotor to round the edges, took about 30 minutes to get the rotor table setup the way i wanted so the rounded edge was just right















ran into a trick part the light tray went out past the all by 3/4 inch so i did something that was boderline dangerous i took a piece of 1/2 mdf and ripped to thin it out this did not make the table saw happy at all

but the end result was good


Edited by snickers1 - 9/30/12 at 5:29pm

next will be installing the 3 inch lights into the trays and above the stage,




and the blue lights that i got from http://www.hitlights.com/led-strip-lights/indoor-led-strip-light.html




and of coarse i had to test just to get a slight preview i just tossed them up there to get idea and took a crappy pic with my iphone

when painting mdf should coat the whole thing in sand and sealer then primer then paint.... or just sand sealer the cut edges so it soak up the paint?

i read bacon race but this part was a little unclear

oh wow so put coat of sanding sealer on the whole tray then lightly sand then prime then paint

Cinemar was running special so i took the plunge and installed it and just started learning it

i had a few and i say few lightly questions and i must say Mario and his team have been great very fast response and when your stuck they even reach out and remote to your pc and walk you through the steps

so far with in just a few hours of playing with i have my movie library loaded and Mario helped with a small issue with getting the movies to play , i have the weather app working and now really starting to handle ho wit all works

i love it because i like to learn things on my own i don't like the idea of having a dealer come to my house and having a system in my house that is all locked down so that i have to pay some one to make little changes here and there


so my hats off cinemar and Mario and his team

thanks yes it is borrowed but i really like the work big did, his along with Mario's work has been very inspiring

i will either puddy the seams or do like some have done when making speaker boxes out mdf and that is user automotive bondo

i will defiantly as big recommended i tested and it does look much better that way

so far cinemari am getting the hang of the software .....being a man i of coarse jumped in with both feet then went back and read the directions
Edited by snickers1 - 10/2/12 at 7:45pm

its all about columns .... started the weekend out by making my weekly trip to lowe's to pick some more mdf and had them cut 6 pices at 15 1/2 wide... also picked up a new jig saw, kregg jig, and straight edge


pile of columns begging to be assembled




after laying out the design it was time to break out the new toys .... at this point i remembered the the drywall crew broke both my saw horses....

i was going to use my black and decker jig saw but i could not even get a straight a cut with the a straight edge... the new skill saw was is so much nicer and the laser line is accurate and works great




6 fronts cut

next came attaching the sides

next new tool ...kregg jig ....... i miss my saw horses!!!!!!




next came the molding for the fronts ..... i found something that seems to work and look nice at lowe's


test fitting the molding to make sure everything is nice and square









put 3 pieces of bracing in




one finished column


Edited by snickers1 - 10/15/12 at 6:29am

finished building the rest of the columns ...need to finish all the moldings still
















i think i found out why we build bars ............. to store our tools and materials LOL!!!

Thanks ... yes i really like the kregg jig ... works great ..... the light tray is pretty much the same as the one build in bacon race......
the only real different is i used crown molding above the light trays

i may need to rename my build ... something new ...... something blue....... "something borrowed"

thanks i don't' feel like i am making a lot of progress i only get to work on the basement on the weekends .... i have just taken a promotion thou at work and in a couple weeks will be switching to a new schedule sat sun mon 7pm to 7am then off tuesday thru sat so 3 days on 4 days off
so hoping i can work more often in the basement.
Edited by snickers1 - 10/8/12 at 5:16pm

thanks hopefully 12 hour shifts won't take to long to get used to ..... but during the other 4 days it will be nice to have time to work on the build and not feel like i have only limited weekend time
now i just need unlimited budget to go with the time

another weekend of columns ... got all the trim on them and in place











i secured them to the walls with 2x2's





to seal where the fronts meet the sides i was did one using car bondo just see how it would come out
it does seal the cracks up well but it a little harder to work with then just plane old wood filler ... it takes longer to cure ext... but it does work well


i also got them all wired up ...