AVS › AVS Forum › Display Devices › Screens › DIY Screen Section › Found "thicker" Wilson Art Laminate
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:

Found "thicker" Wilson Art Laminate

post #1 of 16
2/20/07 at 6:40am
Thread Starter 
Hi all. I've been reading alot on the forums here, and have decided on a Wilson Art screen. I looked at my local stores and found that Lowes carries a 4x8 formica brand laminate in a "bright white" with matte finish. Also HD has 4x8 wilson art laminate in "white" but it is a bit thicker (1/8") than the special order wilson art that many of you have. So, I called the local wilson art distributer (who HD actually orders it from) and they said that they need to order the vertical laminate "thin stuff" in any sizes larger than 4x8, and that it is $2.05 s.f. (but no $20 HD special order charge, so only actually $5 more than HD) So anyway he told me that the thicker stuff is the exact same material, and alot stronger than the thin vertical laminate. Well i want at least a 110" screen so i want a 5x10 piece. He told me they have the thick stuff in stock and in that size, but it runs $2.20 s.f. This actually sounds great as i won't have to make a frame if i secure the thicker stuff to the wall, and they have it in designer white...but it wont roll up so time to fire up the 'ole truck! Any way, has anyone tried this "thicker" laminate? Is it actually the same? I don't want to buy a $110 screen that doesn't look good. Thanks for this forum and any help!
Reply
Reply

AVS Top Picks

post #2 of 16
2/20/07 at 8:06am
I have 2 sheets now, 5x10, DW and FG.... was thinking of that but using dbl sided tape instead.... PERMANENTLY locking them together with contact cement with the slimmest possibility of building in a wave gets me nervous
Reply
Reply
post #3 of 16
2/20/07 at 8:19am
Thread Starter 
nice, are they the thick kind? if so how does it look?

Quote:
Originally Posted by jimwhite View Post

I have 2 sheets now, 5x10, DW and FG.... was thinking of that but using dbl sided tape instead.... PERMANENTLY locking them together with contact cement with the slimmest possibility of building in a wave gets me nervous
Reply
Reply
post #4 of 16
2/20/07 at 8:23am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Megacam View Post

Hi all. I've been reading alot on the forums here, and have decided on a Wilson Art screen. I looked at my local stores and found that Lowes carries a 4x8 formica brand laminate in a "bright white" with matte finish. Also HD has 4x8 wilson art laminate in "white" but it is a bit thicker (1/8") than the special order wilson art that many of you have. So, I called the local wilson art distributer (who HD actually orders it from) and they said that they need to order the vertical laminate "thin stuff" in any sizes larger than 4x8, and that it is $2.05 s.f. (but no $20 HD special order charge, so only actually $5 more than HD) So anyway he told me that the thicker stuff is the exact same material, and alot stronger than the thin vertical laminate. Well i want at least a 110" screen so i want a 5x10 piece. He told me they have the thick stuff in stock and in that size, but it runs $2.20 s.f. This actually sounds great as i won't have to make a frame if i secure the thicker stuff to the wall, and they have it in designer white...but it wont roll up so time to fire up the 'ole truck! Any way, has anyone tried this "thicker" laminate? Is it actually the same? I don't want to buy a $110 screen that doesn't look good. Thanks for this forum and any help!

Are you sure it's 1/8th inch thick? The thickest Solid colors in the Wilsonart® Laminate standard line are the general purpose laminates, type 107. The thickness is listed as 0.048 ± 0.005 (1.22mm ± 0.13mm). That's around 1/20th of an inch thick not 1/8th. Are you sure this is a Wilsonart product? I know they do sell a Solid Surface material, but that is more like faux stone/marble and nothing like the laminates that were identified and tested. It sounds more like you are talking about melamine board, which is a chip board or MDF backing with a laminate surface. Do-able is this type of material and comes in 1/4 thicknesses, but I haven't seen a Wilsonart laminate this thick before.

Formica has a color called Bright White, but Wilsonart does not have any color listed by that name. Formica Bright white is 225 237 247, Yxy is 83.241 .299 .318. I personally didn't think it was a very good looking color and it plots way out in the B gB region. It is closer to D75 than anything, but it is still a ways off from that reference point. In my opinion Formica Bright White isn't suitable as a screen material.

If you can get some product numbers I can confirm from Wilsonart or Formica if they are making something like this, but right now it doesn't sound like this is the same material as the other laminates.
Reply
Reply
post #5 of 16
2/20/07 at 9:28am
Thread Starter 
Wbassett, no I'm not sure of the thickness, but it was Definately Wilsonart laminate (that's what it was labeled as). They had many stone/marble colors and also a "white" and a "frosted white" color. It was too thick to roll up for sure, and had a pressboard looking rear. I'd say it is a bit thinner than a 4x8 sheet of cheap wood paneling...it would bend pretty good. Now that i think of it, it was alot more like 1/16ish maybe 2/16th.
Reply
Reply
post #6 of 16
2/20/07 at 9:53am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Megacam View Post

Wbassett, no I'm not sure of the thickness, but it was Definately Wilsonart laminate (that's what it was labeled as). They had many stone/marble colors and also a "white" and a "frosted white" color. It was too thick to roll up for sure, and had a pressboard looking rear. I'd say it is a bit thinner than a 4x8 sheet of cheap wood paneling...it would bend pretty good. Now that i think of it, it was alot more like 1/16ish maybe 2/16th.

1/16 does sound closer to their specs and what I listed above.

As far as Bright White though, was that the color name or what you were referring to it as? The only whites Wilsonart make are Frosty White (bad screen color, it looked dingy and a bit yellow to me when compared to the other whites), White- which was tested to be 226 221 241, Designer White- tested to be 239 233 246, and then White Suede, which I have no idea what the color break down and composition is. I stuck with the matte finish for all my testing.

Even the general purpose should be able to be rolled, but it will be a larger roll (not as tight as they can get vertical grade) See if you can get a product number and I can tell you exactly what it is. Tell me what screen size you're looking to make and I can even tell you how much the laminate will weigh.
Reply
Reply
post #7 of 16
2/20/07 at 10:04am
Quote:


originally posted by tiddler

Interesting find!

I just had a thought for those who want a daytime and nighttime screen. If you used contact cement to stick a white laminate to the back of a gray laminate it would be quite rigid and would only need a slotted frame around it. You could design a mounting system that folded the screen up against the ceiling and when lowered you could flip it to the white or gray side.

Of course it would be a bit more expensive, approaching a couple hundred dollars or so.


Another thought on the two-faced screen . . .

http://www.bellcomb.com/

They are willing to make custom honeycomb sizes with a variety of materials, and I almost took the plunge because they'll laminate WilsonArt materials directly on the honeycomb block for you. Cost will probably be 2x the DIY version, but you'll get extreme stiffness and flatness for little weight. I could see a 120 inch diagonal with DW one side and FG on the other, weighing in at about 50 pounds (35 for two sheets of laminate, plus the honeycomb center) on a polypropylene honeycomb. They can insert little mounting bits on the perimeter or corners as well.
Reply
Reply
post #8 of 16
2/20/07 at 10:41am
Thread Starter 
Ok, just to update...I called the distributer back, told him I want a 5x10 piece of Wilsonart laminate, designer white. He said, yeah we have it, and we'll roll it into about 1 ft. across and put in in a box. So i'm gonna start with a 100-110" screen and might want to go up to 120" maybe. My screen wall is 7.5' tall, 12' wide. So, i figured a 5x10 will give me room to grow (and 'cause this stuff is expensive). I plan to mask the screen I'm not using with Felt or the like. Does this sound correct?
Reply
Reply
post #9 of 16
2/20/07 at 10:45am
Make sure they order the General purpose grade and not the vertical grade...
Reply
Reply
post #10 of 16
2/20/07 at 10:56am
Thread Starter 
cool, I already asked and it is the countertop "thick" stuff. It's close so I'm off to get it! Now how to hang it until I get my dedicated theater finished...hmmm...anyone try thick double sided foam tape?(btw this would work perfect to connect 2 pieces, wouldn't it?)
Reply
Reply
post #11 of 16
2/21/07 at 7:11am
Thread Starter 
Holy Moly...this thing is h-u-g-e!
Reply
Reply
post #12 of 16
2/21/07 at 1:51pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by tiddler View Post

Interesting find!

I just had a thought for those who want a daytime and nighttime screen. If you used contact cement to stick a white laminate to the back of a gray laminate it would be quite rigid and would only need a slotted frame around it. You could design a mounting system that folded the screen up against the ceiling and when lowered you could flip it to the white or gray side.

Of course it would be a bit more expensive, approaching a couple hundred dollars or so.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...&&#post8774108

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...&&#post8602809

You don't say! Ha Ha

GL
Reply
Reply
post #13 of 16
2/22/07 at 5:08am
I've been trying to determine if I got the proper laminate... in the first post there are some numbers given for the two different grades (thicknesses), but mine doesn't have either of these numbers... also I saw:

mine measures 0.043" thick with a vernier caliper, that would be about 1.1mm....

does that measure up with what others have ??



PS... from the back:
724667078560 0381-107-60 NSF-35 Assembled in USA 30 W323SA-U68 126
724667075200 0354-107-60 NSF-35 Assembled in USA 30 W3035A-U68 67
Reply
Reply
post #14 of 16
2/22/07 at 6:43am
Quote:
Originally Posted by jimwhite View Post

I've been trying to determine if I got the proper laminate... in the first post there are some numbers given for the two different grades (thicknesses), but mine doesn't have either of these numbers... also I saw:

mine measures 0.043" thick with a vernier caliper, that would be about 1.1mm....

does that measure up with what others have ??



PS... from the back:
724667078560 0381-107-60 NSF-35 Assembled in USA 30 W323SA-U68 126
724667075200 0354-107-60 NSF-35 Assembled in USA 30 W3035A-U68 67

A very similar question was answered here:
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...&&#post9845338
Reply
Reply
post #15 of 16
2/22/07 at 7:40am
Thread Starter 
yeah, if your not sure of the code...the thick stuff is "general grade", the thin stuff is "vertical grade". Both should be listed accordingly, but I'd still double check the ID code
Reply
Reply
post #16 of 16
2/22/07 at 8:02am
Quote:


A very similar question was answered here:

Yes, and THANKS

I posted here before the answers popped up in the other thread.... pardon my impatience

Reply
Reply
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:
  Return Home
  Back to Forum: DIY Screen Section

AVS Top Picks

AVS › AVS Forum › Display Devices › Screens › DIY Screen Section › Found "thicker" Wilson Art Laminate