I made a thing!

[Stan4dSteph]

I'm writing the MousePlanet newsletter. It comes out once a week on Thursdays and includes summaries of the week's articles as well as other little news bits, eye spies, or whatever I feel like including. You can sign up in the upper right corner of MousePlanet.com.

[RStar]

No, laying the egg was the easy part.

Thanks, Steph. I look forward to the newsletter, I'm already signed up.

[Moonliner]

Does "I'm working on making a thing" Count?

I'm finally getting around to building a screen wall to hold my movie screen and at long last finish off the MoonCave.


I struggled for some time on how to build a screen wall on which to mount an acoustically transparent screen. In the end I went with the "Keep It Simple Stupid" game plan.

It's a low room (around 7') so I'm flush mounting the screen border with the ceiling. With the screen centered left-to-right on the wall I will have a space of 16 1/2" on each side between the wall and the edge of the screen. So the plan runs something like this:

1. Cut one 18" strip of speaker cloth for each side. (the screen frame is ~3" wide)
2. Staple gun the cloth to 2x2 board
3. Screw the 2x2's into the ceiling letting the cloth hang down on each side.
4. Screw a 1x6 board into 2x2 so it hangs vertically at the mid point of the room
5. Attach the screen to the 1x6
6. Cut a strip of speaker cloth to cover from the bottom of the screen to the floor.

I started building over the weekend, and completed the left side panel. Last night I installed the cross board. Tonight I hope to finish things off, but I doubt I'll get that far.

The left section 2x2 painted black


Measuring and cutting the speaker cloth panels.


Staple gun the fabric to the 2x2


Screw the assembly to the ceiling


Last night I made a bit more progress. I finished installing the side panels to the ceiling, and mounted the cross board on which the mounting bracket and screen hang. Amazingly it all came out straight and level (after a bit of shimming).

The left side panel. In time I will add some weight to the bottom to make it hang straight and tight.


Close-up of the cross board (yes, I still need to paint it black)


Photo from the back of the room with the top rail of the screen in place.


A behind the scene shot of the cross board showing the shims I hammered in to make the cross board hang straight vertically.

[CoasterMatt]

Nice. I forgot, Moonliner- what speakers did you go with?

[Moonliner]

Originally Posted by CoasterMatt

Nice. I forgot, Moonliner- what speakers did you go with?

Axiom Audio and an SVS sub.

Left/Right/Center - M22's
Surrounds (L/R/LR/RR) - QS8's
Subwoofer - SVS PC12-Plus

[CoasterMatt]

Excellent choices, man!

[Moonliner]

Originally Posted by CoasterMatt

Excellent choices, man!

I value your opinion, so thanks.

I get a lot of static from people about using "bookshelf" speakers for my mains until they come down to the MoonCave for a demo. Then they want the link to the website....

With the small room they provide more than enough sound, and on the low side the sub picks up nicely where they leave off.

[Moonliner]

I finished mounting the screen tonight. It's vastly superior to the gray wall at the back of the room that was serving as my temporary screen.

Next up I need to mount the projector to the ceiling and align it with the screen then figure out how to raise the speakers about four feet off the ground to match the position of the screen.

[BarTopDancer]

Hey Moonie? What happened to your treadmill desk?

[Moonliner]

Originally Posted by BarTopDancer

Hey Moonie? What happened to your treadmill desk?

It's at the office. Only did 2.4 miles today.