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Author
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Topic: Homemade Screen Project Done
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Claus Harding
Phenomenal Film Handler
Posts: 1149
From: Washington DC
Registered: Oct 2006
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posted February 11, 2011 10:05 PM
Since I got my ST-1200 back to life about 5 years ago, I have wanted a real screen again.
I have been lucky that my little apartment has a nice-sized end wall to roll my 8 and 16mm films on, but the notion of "sacriledge" kept raising its voice when I ran the films; something had to be done ![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
With that in mind, enter an old 'find' of mine.
20-some years ago I worked as an A/V technician, and one of the little perks of the job was when the company did inventory. Any 'odd' or misplaced items basically got thrown out. As in: you could take them home.
I wound up with a Da-Lite 9.5-by-12ft. screen surface which got put away for....well, future use of some kind (I tend to do that...)
It sat in an old road case with rotting foam, in my mother's (humid) basement all this time. I pulled it out. It was badly packed. Wrinkled. A bit dirty. But it was in one piece, and, miraculously, all the serious dirt was on the backside. I decided to give it a shot.
To start, some vacuuming and a bit of Windex:
For the frame, after measuring, I went to my local wonderful hardware store. They cut pine wood for me (one-by-three is what the frame is made of) with a slimmer piece for the center support.
Here's the left leg with the half-frame:
I am by no means a "natural-born carpenter", but I can drive screws in with a power gun, so with angle braces, this is how the frame came together:
Doing this alone in a small space meant that the best way was to build the frame in two halves, put the halves against the wall and then join them in the middle:
The fabric was "fun".
Even after I had turned it on its end (the 9.5ft side) and roughly cut it down to size, holding it in place without getting tears in it and using an industrial staple gun to fasten it to the frame was...work. But up it went.
Then followed 3 days of letting the fabric stretch and get comfy, with removal of staples, tightening the fabric, and re-stapeling. My humidifier helped on the more stubborn wrinkles:
Since only two sides of the fabric had the original re-inforced edges after I cut it, I put Gaffer tape around the edges to prevent the staples from tearing the material. Finally, I also put more tape for an even masking of the frame:
The width is 9ft; the height is 5-3/4ft which comes to an aspect ratio of 1:1.56. I didn't go for a set aspect ratio, rather I wanted as big an "academy" frame as I could get, and also a nice wide surface for 'scope.
Sound is the next consideration; I have a smaller set of speakers I intend to place permanently by the screen, with an amp over by my stereo where the projectors sit when in use.
All told (because I had the screen fabric) I spent about $70 in materials and wood cutting to build this. I could have gotten a Da-Lite frame kit with fabric, but that would be a somewhat different price range.
I am happy with the results of trying this.
Claus.
[ February 12, 2011, 01:35 PM: Message edited by: Claus Harding ]
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"Why are there shots of deserts in a scene that's supposed to take place in Belgium during the winter?" (Review of 'Battle of the Bulge'.)
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