Silver Fire mix - Page 10

So, where does everybody get their french cleats from? I need to mount my screen and don't have a table saw so won't be able to make my own....

So, how does everyone get their hands on french cleats?

Thanks so much for the help!

Cheers,
John H.

Courtesy of Clarence. French Cleat.

mech

i finally got some nice weather to paint my MDF board with the Silver Fire mix. I used the Wagner Control Spray, and after some practice did quite nicely for my first time. I did 3 coats of Kilz2 primer, and 6 coats of the Silver Fire.

It looks amazing, but there's just one blemish that's damn near impossible to see with the naked eye. Though it's noticeable with the projector shining on it, and I can't stop staring at it. I really don't want to have to spray another coat, since I live in an apartment and it was tough enough doing it this weekend. Any suggestions?

Thanks.

If your "blemish" is a "small" slightly darker area, you can touch up the spot with a Artist's Brush. It should be approx. 1/4" wide w/fine bristles. Be sure the paint is as thin as it was when spraying. Dip the leading edge into the paint about 1/4' and wipe once on each side. Then "Dab" lightly over the spot ONCE for each area. Get away and let it dry....DO NOT BRUSH!!!!.

No Brush but you "Gotta do it NOW" method.

I sometimes use a fingertip lightly coated with just enough paint to leave a "thin spot" that's just large enough to cover the offending spot, where it touches, and taking a clean fingertip I then touch the spot again and then GET AWAY until it dries.

I've "Edited out" Bug holes (left from "Bug removal") ditto with "Hair" lines and Dust bumps" when removing such left a depression or removed too much paint.

Either way will not leave enough of a "Ledge" around the perimeter to be noticable, and the thickness of a un brushed spot should cover the blemish with one application. If not....just hit it again.

Just don't overdo it. In case you do, have a wetted but wringed out Plush Cotton Wash Rag and use it to blot the overage off from around the edges of the spot, or the Spot itself if you "Dropped' instead pf "Dabbed".

But once again, do the corrective action ONCE and then GET AWAY and let it dry before considering any further attempts, if needed. Your coating the area "lightly" just like you were spraying, and if you put on too much at once and you'll have a "shiny spot." instead of a "Flat spot".

BTW, if you see a Dust particle or partially embedded hair, let the screen completely dry then brush the offending partical off. Often, it will "Break off".

Thanks MM. I think I'll try touching it up with a small artist's brush. If it doesn't look good, then I'll just spray another coat on, which would have been my alternative anyways.

Touch up didn't work out too well. Oh well, guess I'll be spraying another coat or two this weekend.

That didn't tell me much. Describe what you have. Spot sanding, combined with a abrasive 'wipe' can take care of any small uneveness.


Basically speaking, your new to this, so don't discount or count anything as being 'final'.

Give it up. (....info I mean... )

I finally tried out the originial Silver Fire formulation (I didn't use the behr matte poly) and I've gotta say, I'm not as 'wowed' as I originally hoped.

I guess my hopes were too high as I thought I would be getting something like this:

http://www.lumenlab.com/forums/lofiv...hp/t13897.html

I just didn't get the same results, or maybe my projector just doesn't have the ooomph to really make that much of a difference between the wall and the screen. Dark scenes are unwatchable with moderate-moderate high amounts of ambient light. Bright scenes are pretty nice. The screen is better at maintaining colors. Black is better though and I feel the contrast is better as well compared to the wall when there is moderate amounts of ambient light.

I painted on 3 coats of the UPW/minwax poly/water base at 1:.5:.5 mix. Then applied the silver fire mix (super lite) on three times with an HVLP sprayer on a compressor. So, the finish was nice and smooth for the most part.

I guess I just expected too much from the mix. I do like it though and will probably be using it later for my own screen (I made this screen for my parents). The projector that I'm using is not so great. It's a Infocus lp425z.

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

......and that is an easy and sure "fire" promise I make you.

The Infocus lp425z is a terribly "weak-in-the-knees" projector @ 400:1 CR and just 900 "non-Video Optimized" Lumens. But with all the things you related being taken into account, the SF-SL seems to have raised the performance under ideal viewing circumstances (Dark Room) to the point you did in fact notice an appreciable difference on several fronts.

Those sort of results are really what should be expected. The SF-SL mix is more suited for increasing CR levels at the screen's surface when using a low lumen PJ that it is for delivering true and significant increases in Ambient Light performance. My personal observations have been that all the SF-mixes really move to enrichen and deepen the color pallette as well as improve CR across the board.

But the darker varieties do need a correspondingly higher level of Lumens to both deliver a brilliant image with no attenuation of Whites, while providing ambient light viewing that makes one really notice a difference.

Once the SF-SL application is mated with a decent PJ, one with good CR specs and resolution (...the Infocus lp425z is only 800x600 ) and a respectable lumen output, it'll be "Drop yer drawers and Dump" time.

One last "straight poop".

With virtually any of the SF mixes, keeping the PJ set to "Standard" as far as the Bulb's output does not hurt CR performance at all due to the CR enhancing properties in the mix/application. It's great if one has enough spare lumens on hand to allow for a "low Power' setting to further increase CR, but more often that is not really necessary or advisable if maximum gain and "PoP" in an ambient light situation is desirable.

Many might lament the prospect of toasting out a Bulb in 2000 instead of 3000 hrs, but the answer to that is to buy your PJ from a location that offers a 3 year Bulb Warrantee (...up to 2 additional replacements over 3 years....) for an additional $150.00 or so. Use that to your advantage just once over 3 years and it's paid for itself more than 3x over.

PS.....,
What did you mean by "For the Most Part". ???

i am completely new to the DIY screen, i am on the verge of purchasing a Hitachi PJTX100, it has 1200 ANSI lumen's and will this mix allow me to view in rooms with ambient light, my home is very open and the room i am going to use has an opening the size of a somewhat large door, and that door leads to the for which has a 2 story glass wall and during both night and day there is ambient light, being the room it self has 4 sliding door which are composed of 80% glass, i want to be able to view during the night, rarely will i use this during the day but with this mix will i be able to view during the night comfortably?

do you have an idea of how big a screen you want? second, although you state that the projector has 1200 lumens that is the manufacturer's rating which is usually not even close to reality. you will need to do a little more research and find out what it puts out when properly setup for the type of viewing you wish to do. finally, do you think this will be ceiling mounted or will it set on a coffee table in front of you? all of these things are important to properly answer your question.

For the most part... oh well, I attempted to roll on the silver fire mix, but that was going to happen so used the HVLP sprayer with good success. I think I would only do it that way from now on...

I also forgot to mention. I couldn't find the Delta Pale Metallic Gold so I remember PBmaxx saying that you could substitute the Folkart's Champaigne Gold. I found the Folkart Champaigne metallic paint, but no champaigne gold. It looked like a pale gold to me though and assumed that was what Pbmaxx was referring to in his post. Am I correct in this assumption or did I get an inferior mix because I used the wrong paint.

Any help with these questions would be much appreciated!

Once I get my sanyo plv z5 (a couple of months in the future), I'll be trying it out on the silver fire screen I made and then I hope I'll really be 'wowed'!

MMan, do you think that using an acrylic mirror makes a huge difference in performance. Also, do you put on a base (UPW/minwax/water) over the acrylic mirror and then put on the silver fire mix over that or do you just throw on the silver fire mix over the mirror without a base?

Thanks alot!
John

Cheers,
John H.

no doubt it works better in ambient light than a standard matte white screen but at what screen size?

also if it's not retro-reflective then it would make more sense to ceiling mount to get the maximum benefit since these mica flake based paints get most of their gain boost from specular (mirror-like) reflectance. i do disagree and believe that there is a small amount of retro-reflectiveness in silver fire but not enough to get the best possible performance out of a table mount situation.

PB_maxx or MMan

I also forgot to mention. I couldn't find the Delta Pale Metallic Gold so I remember PBmaxx saying that you could substitute the Folkart's Champaigne Gold. I found the Folkart Champaigne metallic paint, but no champaigne gold. It looked like a pale gold to me though and assumed that was what Pbmaxx was referring to in his post. Am I correct in this assumption or did I get an inferior mix because I used the wrong paint.

Thanks!
John

Thanks Pbmaxxx,

I imagined as much, but I still like the screen and I do plan on using it for my own HT application. I'm glad that I did get the mix right though. What would you say is the low limit threshold for the lumens needed to really benefit from this application?

Once again, thanks to you and Mman for helping out with the answers!

Cheers,
John

OK, maybe my "blemish" was larger than I led you on to believe. It's tough to explain but it was about two quarters sized, and the paint wasn't very consistent in the region. After my botched touch up job, it was clear I needed to spray a few more coats and I'm glad I did.

However, in the process I had a bit of an accident. I had my MDF board leaning against my apartment's patio wall as I sprayed it. I left to get lunch, and found it had fallen flat on to the patio. I suppose the wind got it, and it came crashing on my paint sprayer. It left a nasty gash in the painted screen, but also cracked my sprayer in half! I was able to tape the sprayer in workable shape, and made every effort to fix my new gash. Coat after coat, sanding after sanding, I finally got it to look pretty damn good. It's nearly impossible to tell now with an image projected on it.

Obviously that was a setback, but I've learned some things along the way. I would highly recommend using a very thin mix if you're going to spray. I had to add much more water than was listed in the Silver Fire recipe. The goal is to get a nice fine, misty spray. If it's too thick, it will run, splatter more, and not dry very evenly. A nice, fine spray will require many more coats, but the nice thing is that it can dry in a matter of minutes on a nice sunny day. The end result will be a much smoother screen, with great consistency.

So how do I like the Silver Fire mix? I'm loving it. Compared to a bare wall, it's a big step up. My black-levels are really deep, and the colors are nice and rich. It definitely handles ambient light a lot better. However, people do need to realize that it's not going to do miracles. A dark scene with ambient light will always look muted. There's just no way around it. Does it look better than it would with a bare wall or white screen? Absolutely. Black is just the absence of light, so it will only be as dark as your screen with the ambient light. And in dark scenes, without the contrast of light colored or white objects, black can look pretty lame. With total light control, this pretty much becomes a non-issue. But this is one of the shortcomings that we've come to accept with a PJ. For me, the benefits well offset the negatives.

BTW, I'm using a ceiling-mounted Optoma HD70 (1280x720) PJ throwing a 90" screen at 10 feet away.

I finally painted my screen this week. And I agree with bennynihon, I had to add a lot of water to the paint I used for the final coat in order to get a fine spray. The mixture was too thick for my sprayer (Wagner HVLP control spray), when I added more water the mixture it gave me a fine spray that left a beautiful smooth surface.

Even though I have a weak projector (optoma ep716) I'm extremely happy with the image. The first time I used the painted screen I noticed that the image had better colors than my TV. Only after checking the color settings of my TV did I notice that the TV color settings were off. But even after calibrating the TV, the silver fire screen looks amazing.

I have an 8' x 4' screen, ceiling mounted projector from a distance of about 17'

Thank you for developing and sharing the paint mixture.

Jupiter

I am back to painting the screen (long story)....

recap: I have drywall screen, 3 coats kilz, sanded between each coat that was rolled using small foam rollers which worked well.

Using the formula and the sprayer, I have 5 coats now, the coat last having dryed overnight. I am keeping the paint very thin, otherwise I get the clogging, splattering. It took about twice the water the formula called for.

Seems I have some streaking and shiny spots. I assume I just need to keep adding coats?

Thanks in advance,
Ed.

Does anybody know where I could find mirrored acrylic in VA? I think I'd like to try this on a mirrored surface.

Cheers,
John

I use a squirrel cage mixer on a drill. There is absolutely no sign of anything in the mixing.

I think it must be my spraying technique. I have a HUGE screen - 14'. I had to build a scaffold to get to the top half, since it is 9 feet high. The scale of this thing makes it very challenging. For example, on the very first pass, I had a run because my extension cord hung on a piece of the scaffold as I was making a pass on the lower half of the screen. I was walking just in front of the scaffold, after I had made a pass while walking on the scaffold for the top half. It was easily fixed after I got the "fo" from this board. Another learning experience, I suppose.

My biggest challenge might also be lighting. I have lights everywhere to get enough to see what I'm applying.

Anyways, any suggestions on the shiny spots? I did another coat, and they are less noticable and fewer in number. I sanded again before prior to the coat.

I guess keep the coats coming?

Thanks in advance, Ed

Hi!

Traveling home from Louisville to Memphis this AM. I will respond at length this afternoon. Specific advice coming....hang on.

MMan

Thanks MMan,

If you could give me a little more info. on the mirrored acrylic, I would really appreciate it... I was disappointed that the commercial version is only available in a few states now, of course VA not being one of them.

Cheers,
John

Oops!

My post was for the "14 foot" Monster. but your next too!

dtebh,

What projector are you using on that monster?

Thanks MMan!

re: Projector - I have the Panny 900.

BTW, This mix is awesome. Just need to get the final coats completed, and take care of these spots. I think I will work on it today if I can get caught up. Lots of things going on.....

I have pics and one of these days I will post.

Unfortunately, I've been diverted on a few side projects...like an 8 foot bar, installing an inset microwave, inset beer fridge, inset shelves, etc.

Advance is good. But better late than never works too. Kinda like my responses....eh?

Dude, get rid of the yellow font, try red or something!

MMan,

Do you have an answer to my question?

Thanks!

Cheers,
John

I have finished the 6th coat. I will see how it looks in a few hours.

I suspect I will have to do another few coats to get that 'dusty' appearance back. I think have the technique down on carrying the cords after the initial set backs.

I will plan to buy another round of paint. I seem to only get about 1 1/2 coats on a batch of paint. I suppose it's just SO DAMN BIG! Maybe 2 rounds of paint will get an even 3 coats.

Is it possible to get too many coats? I just want to kill the shiny spots, which are getting fewer after each coat.

Thanks again,
Ed.

I use AVS Dark Theater mode, and in that mode, all text I 'originally' receive comes to me on my monitor in "yellow". When I "quote", the quoted text is white, so I use yellow to differentiate my text from the quoted text.

Your not the only person to have complained about the use of the lighter colors because you use AVS White. I'll try to remember to use RED from now on.



Contact with Plaskolite and GE Polmershapes has been made and the request (...via a telephone message...) for the nearest outlet in VA was presented. I'm waiting for a reply.