[Jeff Meininger]

I learned two valuable lessons this morning...

1. MDF is heavy.
2. I'm a wimp.

Somewhere between the two 50# bags of sand and going through a stack of MDF sheets, I managed to really, really mess up my back. Really. Holy crapola. Ouch.

[Hank Frankenberg]

So, caterpillar, welcome to the rugged manly world of DIY, which requires muscles. Try Hank's universal cure: tequila. Quality tequila. Not the stuff in the plastic bottle on the bottom shelf. You'll be better in no time.

If you really need some help with cutting your MDF, let me know. Don't mess up your back further. I've got a 2-piece aluminum straight edge. Do you have a circular saw?

[Brian Bunge]

Jeff,

Welcome to the wonderful world of DIY! BTW, since I'm quitting my day job soon, I'm getting back on my workout program. But building subs and lifting MDF (I know, that's redundant) is a great for simulating deadlifts! Your back and hamstrings will be sore for days! It's called building "functional strength"!

Brian

[Hank Frankenberg]

Brian, these young guys are soft these days. Next thing you know, they'll ask me to pick up their MDF at Lowes/Home Depot as well as cut their cabinet pieces for them. Hmmm...another income possibility.

[mike_decock]

Speaking of MDF and sand, one of the things I'm really interested in building is a "sandbox". You know, a sand-filled box for resting components on, not something for your children or your cats .

Would any more people be interested in doing something like that at one of our meets?

-Mike...

[Jeff Meininger]

I have a tiny car, so I had the Home Depot guys cut the MDF sheet into four 2x4 foot panels so I could get it home. After that point, they became quite easy to handle.

I'll get the sonotube today, too. Then I'll have all of the supplies I need except for the terminal cup. I'll probably just try to find one of those at Radio Shack or tinkertronics.

Hank: I still hope to take you up on your offer to loan me a router / circle jig / jig saw. I promise to take good care of them. I'll only need the jigsaw for as long as it will take me to cut the tube to length.

I bought a 1-1/18" dowel that I want to cut into three equal-length "legs". The jigsaw might work for that, too... but I imagine a tablesaw or radial saw might produce superior results.

Again, Hank, any leftover 20" sonotube (~9 feet) or 3/4" MDF (16 square feet, unless I mess up and need to use extra) is all yours if you want it. I'll even store it for you until you need it, though I'll have to cut the 9-footer into two pieces for it to fit in my garage.

[Hank Frankenberg]

Jeff, I think we have a deal. Paul posted above that he is interested in a piece of sonotube. I don't need 9 ft of it, so why don't you send him an e-mail and ask what length he would want and then cut it for him when you get my sabre saw? You can pick up the tools any time - I'll be building a new little sub cube and a couple of monitor cabinets this weekend, but you can borrow my portable router that doesn't have the Jasper jig attached, as well as the masonite large circle jig and the sabre saw. Or, if you want, I could bring the tools to you and help you cut the tube and MDF.

[Jeff Meininger]

Hank: once the tube is delivered (anytime now), I'll give you a call.

[Jeff Meininger]

First day of sub-building went very well. I got the endcaps to fit in the tube fairly well using the "measure twice, cut as many times as necessary" method. The endcap/plug layers are glued, drying overnight under sandbags. I noticed that there is a gap between the plug and cap on one of them. Just a tiny tiny gap, but it bothers me since I don't know what could be keeping them apart. I noticed too late to do anything about it. Oh well, that cap will have no driver/port holes in it anyway. I might try to peel them apart tomorrow morning. If I succeed, then obviously the bond was weak and I can reglue. If I can't, I'll be satisfied enough after sneaking some glue into the gap with a sheet of paper.

Once I had all of the pieces cut, I did a dry-fit with the cut-to-length tube to see what the finished product would look like. It's gonna be great!!

Tomorrow will be consumed by:

1. Plug/cap gap damage control (above).
2. Routing driver and port holes in bottom endcap.
3. Returning tools (thanks Hank!!).
4. Sanding, priming, and painting.
5. Installing batting.
6. Installing top endcap. (I won't install bottom endcap until I order the driver.)
7. Assembling my base-plate/legs.
8. Trying to find ribbing material (sono sock). Struck out at Hancock and Hobby Lobby. Will try JoAnn tomorrow.

[JeffTodd]

Good to hear things are coming together for you. I went through this same process last weekend. I am still waiting for the driver to be delivered. I have yet to prime and paint the caps or install the port. I have it set up in the living room now to see how it fits. It took the place of a small table and it fits the role great! Now I just have to find a way to power it (I guess I got a little gung-ho).

I made a trip to Home Depot today and bought most of the stuff I need to build a movie screen. I thought DIY was supposed to be cheap ... I spent over $150 on materials needed to build the screen. (The edge moldings were fully a third of the cost here. The rest was MDF, paint, and some supplies I needed to control the paint mess.)

Hank: You've got mail...

Everyone: Here is the plan.

I bought a 49"x97" sheet of MDF, along with a 15.5"x97" and a 12"x64.5" section.

These three sections will be joined to form a large rectangle of dimensions 109x64.5.

Along with the MDF, I bought fluted trim moldings (similar to those seen around the inside of Nils Luehrmann's front door):

4 pieces: 3 1/8" x 48 7/8"
2 pieces: 3 1/8" x 57"
6 rosettes 3 3/4" x 3 3/4" (4 in the corners, one at the top center point, one at the bottom center point).

The trim moldings will take up 3.75" space at all edges, yielding a viewable area of 101.5x57 (a 116.4" diagonal screen in a 1.78:1 aspect ratio).

Tomorrow, I will do a "test fit" to make sure my meticulously calculated and measured dimensions really do work. A quick 'n' dirty trial fit of the MDF pieces is promising. Then I will begin to prime and paint the trim, so there will be no black paint splashed onto the screen material.

Oh, and it's about time for me to lay the Parkland sheet flat to prepare it for going onto the MDF...

---

Any suggestions for mounting hardware? I don't want to attach this screen to the wall permanently, but rather use some sort of hook system to hang it in place. The completed screen will probably weigh >100 lbs., so the wall-mounted hooks will need to go into studs. The screen-mounted pieces need to grip the MDF well without penetrating the wood for >1/2" (to avoid puncturing through decorative moldings or screen material).

I may return to the Depot tomorrow to get sandpaper and contact cement, and see what my mounting options are...

I may also get some more MDF cut to create a masking system. I've got plenty of extra black paint that I can use on the additional MDF, so I can matte for 2.35:1 and 1.33:1. (Probably won't bother with other aspect ratios, which are rare.)

A quick set of calculations shows I need:

2 boards of 6 7/8" x 101.5" for the 2.35:1 mattes. (I will probably get 4 boards of 6 7/8" x 50 3/4" so I can carry them home, and then splice them together with the biscuit joiner during the rest of the screen construction.) Result: a viewing area of 43.25"H x 101.5"W for 2.35:1 material.

2 boards of 12 7/8" x 57" for the 1.33:1 mattes. Result: a viewing area of 75 3/4" x 57" for 1.33:1 material.

Any recommendations for finishing MDF directly? I will put the same eggshell black paint on the mattes as I use on the trim. I know that's not quite as light-absorptive as a flat black, but I've got plenty of extra eggshell black paint to use. Do I need to sand the MDF before I prime and paint? If so, who has a power sander and can bring it to the meet???

[Hank Frankenberg]

Colin, compare what you spent to a new DaLite or worse, a new Stewart screen. Yes, DIY is VERY inexpensive
BTW, I just answered your e-mail.