Building electric roll down screen, here's some parts - Page 8

Steve-
Very, very nice!

I finally got the parts from Somfy and so I've installed my motor into the roller.

This weekend I plan to paint the black borders on the screen and then tape it to the roller. So, I should be watching some flicks soon!

Steve

Somfy sent me a plastic shim so the LT60 crown will fit my LT50 motor. It works fine. You can see the ends of the black plastic shim protruding out from under the silver crown in this photo. I wrapped the shim with 2 or 3 layers of black electrical tape so it is very snug when slid inside the aluminum crown.




Here is the motor drive. I'm using 4 stainless steel screws to secure the drive to the screen roller. The screw heads are flat so they will be flush with the surface of the roller. I'll put a drop of Loctite on each screw to keep them from coming loose.



Here is a closeup of my roller with the holes for securing motor drive. I've tapered each hole so the screws will be flush.




After drilling the holes I vacuumed the interior of the screen roller to remove any metal shavings. I don't want the shavings working their way into the motor bearings.

I'm still deciding on the size of my screen. My fabric is 98" wide, which may be a bit too large for my seating distance. If necessary, I'll trim off 4 to 6 inches before I paint the black borders and hang the screen.

I have a 3 day weekend, so I'm hoping to finish by Sunday.

Steve

I spent the afternoon taping off my sheerweave screen so I can paint the black borders. It took me about 2 1/2 hours because I triangulated all the corners to insure the viewable area is perfectly rectangular.

I decided to trim 4" of fabric from the right side, so my final screen size is 101" (diag).
I used a rotary cutter as suggested by Chris Seymour who sold me the fabric. The rotary cutter is very sharp and cut through the fabric in the first pass and left a nice clean edge. Definitely worth the $20.

After dinner, I'll break out the spray paint and finish this up. Tomorrow, I should be ready to hang the screen.

I'm having reservations about this Camouflage paint. I've used 6 cans of paint but can not get an even coat. The borders look pretty good but the large upper half of the fabric is blotchy. Also, the Camo paint leaves a semi rough texture, similar to suede, and is very easily scuffed.

There is a powdery residue everywhere. Luckily, the plastic sheeting I hung is keeping the powder from blowing around in my garage. But, I fear it will spread onto my screen when I remove the masking from the fabric. Tomorrow, I'll try to vacuum the entire area before I remove the masking.

Has anyone used this paint before? I searched the forum and can not find posts related to painting Sheerweave.

I'll know better tomorrow if this screen is usable or if I need to order some new fabric.

Steve

I vacuumed my screen using a shop vac with a brush attachment. The vac removed much of the top layer of paint from my screen. I think overall, the screen looks less blotchy now. The screen has a definite sand paper feel. Very, very rough.

I believe the 3rd and 4th coats I applied on the 2nd day of painting did not bond at all. The manufacture says to recoat within 1 hour or after 24 hours, but I think you must recoat immediately. The paint dries to the touch very fast (within minutes) so just keep painting until you get an even coat.

I'm going to hang the screen now and post some photos later.

Bulldogger, you made the right choice in using black fabric on the upper half of your screen. Painting such a large area is too challenging for the DIYer.

Steve

The screen is looking much better now. The blotchy areas I saw yesterday were mostly shadows from the temporary flood lights I installed to improve the lighting.

I put 5 lengths of the 1/2" double-stick tape (made by Tapes 2) on my aluminum roller. I think 2 or 3 lengths should be sufficient, but I"m taking no chances at this point.

Next, I trimmed 1/4"of fabric off the top of my screen because the end was not square. If I had not done this, the screen would have hanged at a slight angle and probably caused all kinds of problems when I rolled it up.

Just waiting now for paint to dry where I had to do some touch-up. There must have been something sticky or oily on the fabric that caused the paint to loosen on 3 small spots.

Bulldogger, before you unroll your fabric, be sure to note where Chris had stuck masking tape to the fabric to secure it for shipping. There will be some residue left by the masking tape and the paint will probably not stick there. This happened on my fabric, but luckily it is at the top of the screen which will not show. I should have removed the masking tape as soon as the fabric arrived at my home... instead it has been sitting in my garage in the shipping container for 4 months while I waited for the parts from Somfy.

Bulldogger,
You really got the deluxe setup from Chris! I had to resort to a DIY pocket using the infamous double stick tape. I'll insert a 3/4" aluminum tube after I get the screen hung on the wall.

That double stick tape is really sticky stuff. I've been using it on other projects around the house where screws or glue are inappropriate. I love it.

I've got my screen on the roller now. I'd be watching a movie on it, but my friendly neighbor is out of town so, I have no one to help me mount the roller on the wall. Hopefully, tomorrow I can find someone.

It was actually very easy to mount the fabric on the roller. I marked a straight line on the roller by placing the roller on a flat surface (my workbench) then setting a 6 ft level parallel to the roller. The level is about 2" tall which is half the height of the roller. So, I just ran a line using a fine point marker along the top of the level where it hit the roller.

Next, I installed the motor and secured the drive using flat-head screws.

Then, I built a little jig that would allow me to rotate the roller while it was sitting on the floor of my garage.

For the motor side of the roller, I secured 2 rubber wheels to a piece of plywood. The wheels are spaced just a couple of inches apart. I place the jig on the floor with the wheels facing up in air. Then I put the motor end of the roller on top of the wheels.

For the idler end of the roller, I just stacked several blocks of wood under the idler axial and secured the axial to the blocks with a long screw. I stacked various thicknesses of wood so the roller was level with the floor.

Now the roller could be rotated freely with my hand.

I spread the screen fabric on the floor next to the roller, then lifted the top edge of the fabric so it was aligned with the lengthwise mark I made on the roller. I gently tacked the fabric to the double stick tape at several places and when I was happy with the alignment I pressed the fabric down tight. I was particularly careful not to stretch the fabric when I was mounting it to the pipe.

Next, I slowly rotated the roller and wound the screen up. I let the fabric be pulled by the roller only, no help from me. The fabric wound perfectly around the roller... no wrinkles or creeping at the edges.

Here's a photo with the screen about half way rolled up.

The screen is finally up. The motor works great. And the paint looks great too.

But, I have some serious vertical waves. From the shape of the waves, I'm guessing I stretched the fabric when I mounted it to the roller... or I bunched the fabric when I made the pouch at the bottom... or both. I tried to be very careful not to stretch the fabric. I don't think I could have done a better job mounting it to the roller.

I've removed the bottom pouch and double stick tape to see if that will improve things. So far I see no change. I'll leave the screen rolled up for 24 hours, maybe that will flatten it out.

I'm surprised at the size of the waves. They are huge.

Bulldogger, have you designed the tensioning system for your screen? I may have to consider adding tensioning.

After 1 hour, I unrolled the screen and the waves are much smaller now. So, it must be the bottom pouch that caused them.

I had some difficulty forming the pouch on Sunday. The fabric was a bit stiff (maybe because of the paint) so it was difficult to form a small radius bend to make the pouch. Bulldogger's idea to make a separate pouch using velvet is the way to go. But, it is too late for me to sew a pouch to my screen now. Hmmm, I can see myself carrying a 9 ft, 50 lb pipe into the seamstress shop....

I'm going to try tensioning just the bottom the screen using the bottom aluminum tube. I'll put a short piece of double stick tape on each end of the tube and then stretch the fabric just enough to remove any waves. Next, I'll fold the fabric over the tube to form the pouch.

Bulldogger, are you planning to use the 3M spray adhesive? That stuff is very sticky, but can be messy to spray. Have you tested it on some scraps of fabric? The double stick tape worked very well for me. When I was mounting the fabric to the pipe, I could easily pull the fabric off the tape if my alignment was not perfect. I wonder if the spray adhesive will allow you to make adjustments.

Steve

Bulldogger,
Thanks for the ideas. Tomorrow, I plan to reposition the fabric on the roller while it is hanging. If I can't remove the waves, then I'll definitely give Chris a call.

So, is the stiff black fabric that Chris added to the top of your screen not Sheerweave 4500? Is it still acoustically transparent?

Also, will you need to add some extra weight to your bottom tube for the tensioning system to work?

Sounds like you are nearly done.

Bulldogger, I just stumbled across your thread and looks like you and Steve have done a great job. It a very informative thread and answers a lot of questions for me (I am just starting to design my screen).

I have a question for you. I noticed that you switched from a Torqumaster motor to a Somfy because of noise issues. I was wondering how much your Somfy cost you? Also I have not been able to find any information on the Somfy website (www.somfy.com) about their motors or other parts. Can you point me to someplace onliine that I can look it up.

Thanks!

Has anyone added a motor to standard pull-down? (i.e. Da-Lite) Would it be feasible to buy a monoprice electric, pull the motorized end off and mate it with the Da-Lite roller?

Thanks Bulldogger, I just located it from one of your older posts. But the catalogue seems really old. Weird that they don't seem to have detailed information on their website. Looks like it is more for retail products.

Bulldogger, I noticed you and a few other used aluminium for the rollers and that it was pretty expensive. Is there any particular you didn't go with galvanized pipe? Is it because of the weight?

Thanks again Bulldogger.

Any one here build an IR unit to control your screen motors? The Da-Lite ones seem pretty expensive!

Steve Kinkead, Bulldogger any updates?

I've I eliminated most of the wrinkles in my screen by leveling the roller. One end of the roller was about 1/4" lower than the other. This put a torque on the fabric when the screen was fully extended.

The Somfy motor brackets have no leveling mechanism, so it is important that they are mounted perfectly level before the roller is installed. I had to play some games to get my roller leveled without disassembling everything.

When I have more free time I'd like to add a tensioning system.
Bulldogger, I'd be interested in seeing any photos of your tensioning system.

I can confirm that the double-stick tape Bulldogger found is more than sufficient for fastening the fabric to the roller. I've removed and reinstalled the fabric several times on my roller and the original tape is still holding.

In retrospect, this was the most complex do-it-yourself project I've undertaken and I could not have finished it without Bulldoggers expertise. Thanks Bulldogger! I owe you one if you are ever in San Diego.

Steve