I've made a little more progress the last couple of days, but have really stepped down activity due to burnout. I got to the point where I couldn't think straight about it and decided I needed to step back a bit lest I screw things up.

Still, I painted the inside of the box with 1200 deg spray on furnace paint, built half a lid, and nearly finished my lcd/fresnel sled. Not bad for a work stoppage.

Plus, Redwolf came by and graciously wired my big box for me.

I'm still an electrical illiterate and would be afraid to even try this. I need to go in there and afix the wires to the wall of the box, and it'll be ready for the projector.

Here's the painted inside and sled

Finally, the front half of the lid.


Still to do:

Keystoning mount for front fresnel. Currently the plywood of the frame is w/in a mm of where the front fresnel goes. So, I may mount a top swing to the lcd sled.

Mounting the pro lens

mounting the eballast & light bulb

wiring the box

finishing the lid

&

I think that will be it.

As far as mounting the pro reflector, I plan on using a 120mm fan grill dremeled to size. The only problem I see with this method is heat, I dont know how hot the pro reflector gets. Obviously if it gets too hot, I cant really glue it to the fan grill.

Good luck, I will be following your plog to see how you do it.

Nick

Real life sucks!

Been a busy couple of weeks, but not as far as the projector is concerned.

I have done some minor work. I'm almost through with the lid, and I've remeasured everything inside the box and it all looks accurate.

Next week is spring break and I'll be home watching the kids a lot. So, hopefully, I can plow through this thing and finish. I want to watch some movies!

Good luck this week. Can't wait to see your results and more importantly...your reaction to them. Remember too, if a measure is off or you have to modify something you already built, roll with it and don't rush it. You will get in trouble if you get impatient!!
Bluto

Thanks for the words of encouragement. I have to admit this project is a little more worrisome than the last. If I'd screwed up the vertical, then I'd only wasted my time. With this one, I've altered the house. Yikes!

I have made a bit more progress over that last week or so. Working on the frame, painting the lid, etc.

First off, though, a question. Should this debris be inside the bulb?

Adjusting the frame. I needed to take off one layer of the plywood.

I redid the interior measurements afte painting the box. And, they all came out nicely - thank God! I'd been sweating this part. Most of these measurements were done independently of each other prior to being assembled.

Here's how the frame fits in vertically. I've highlighted the lines on the black surface for clarity-

Here's how the bulb works out -

Here's an odd coincidence -

I found this right angle in a drawer the other day. I've had it since I was a kid. The hypotenuse is the same length as the internal height of the box.

Here's what I'm planning on doing with the monitor guts.

Are most people mounting them or laying them directly on the wood or do they use the metal from the frame?

And for grins - another project

A kitty escape hatch to the washroom for when my loyal border collie assistants - Chihiro and Diamond - get a bit over zealous in their cat herding duties.

That was last week.

This week I'm putting in 380 1sq foot cement block behind my garage in order to make a mud free dog run.

Highly recommend mounting them with nylon standoffs to raise the bottom of the circuit board off of the wood. This prevents damage to the bottom side. In some circuit boards there can be some components mounted on the bottom. They are fragile and will render your controller board useless if damaged.

The nylon standoffs are in different lengths and diameters in the hardware "drawers" at HD or Lowes.

Normal.

Here's my pro reflector mount. Nothing particularly fancy required. Similar to what others have done.

Glad to hear it - re the bulb.

I bought a fan grill for the reflector yesterday. So, I'm glad to see your design.

But, where does everyone get those springs? I can't find them.

It is very disconcerting to see that gunk in the lamp at first glance.

My springs were out of my rather extensive hellbox. (A box of junk I've collected over my lifetime. Also called a culch box by some and a variety of other names.)

Lowe's or Home Depot or any good hardware store will have a good selection of springs.

Here's what I figure I have left to do:

Add air slit to Lid
Paint Lid
Finish LCD Frame
Cut Lexan
Mount Mogul
Mount Reflector
Mount LCD on Frame
Mount LCD Guts in box
Run exterior cables into box
Mount fans
Wire Box
Mount Front Fresnel
Mount Lens on Focus Mechanism
Fire it up

Dude - that's a LOT of "mounting"!

Ha

I just want this thing to be done!

I had mine laying on the wood for a while, then went with the nylon spacers someone else mentioned. I have new controller boards on the way from possible damage.......so my recommendation, be careful with them and protect them somehow!!

The list is reduced by 3

I finished the lcd frame.
Finished the lid save for a flap to minimize light leakage between the two halves; &
Cut the lexan.

Clamping the lid

Here's sort of what it will look like

And, now the other side -

It looks pretty good in the pictures and should look good 7 feet above your head and hidden in the big box, but truth be told, it's not nearly as good a finish as my first box. Still, it's a much more complicated box. So, I guess that evens it out.

Really the only hard stuff left as I see it is running power and video into the box so that it doesn't block the light path

I haven't mounted my reflector, yet, but I've been given the go ahead to use the round sandwich cutter my wife and Redwolf's got from Pampered Chef.

Everything else seems pretty doable.

I can see light at the end of the tunnel. Hopefully, it's not a freight train heading my way.

Added a flap to the lid in order to reduce light leakage and cut a hole for the lcd cords. I'll plug that hole later.

And, added the fans. If I can't keep this thing cool with 2 120volt fans, nothing will.

Close up of the flap. It's adhesized with Gorilla Glue.

And, finally - which of these is the power input? The blues or the red/black?

I think that Sears Hardware has a better supply of springs than does Home depot. I have'nt tried Lowe's, too far for quick trips.

I installed that same cat door!!

So, I'm messing with wiring, today. My two 120v mega fans are pushing next to no air. I don't understand it.

Any thoughts?

Never Mind - fixed it.

On happier note, I figured out my reflector mount.

I found a 5 inch bolt at Sears Hardware and will screw it into the back of the box at the appropriate height. Since it will protrude from the back, I'll be able to adust its distance from the bulb if need be.

A close up of the rigging. I'll need to trim the hooks back a bit, but otherwise, I'm happy with it.

Here's what's left to do: (I think)

Mount Mogul on steel disc
Wire Box
Mount Front Fresnel

Fire it up

That is one cool looking mount

What the bloody heck is that thing holding the reflector?????

It's the cutting part of a Pampered Chef Sandwich Cutter. My daughter used to use it to make round BPJ's. Redwolf turned me on to the idea and I modified it.

Did the wiring -

Screwed the bulb in (Should I be worried about the placement of the bar behind the filament?)

Got the necessaries ready - just in case!

And, turned it on -

It didn't blow up - which I feel is a good sign. So, I decided to test the cooling. I'm still not thrilled with how these fans are working. I remember them really putting out a breeze. Now, it's so-so.

So, first I put in a single piece of lexan and set the thermometer in front of it.

Too hot. Temp rose to over a 100 deg in about half an hour.

Then, I realized this wasnt a good test for a number of reasons, but primarily because there're several air gaps between the lexan and the lcd. So, I put a fresnel in and simulated the air tunnels created by the lcd and the fresnel (I'm streaming air between the lcd and fresnel as well as streaming it between the fresnel and the lexan. This will give me two cool air channels.)

Much better -

Here's a crap picture of what it looks like in my garage

And, I thought this was cool -

Got a question -

You guys with the ultra-thin lids in the Haas-style projectors - How hot does the lid get and is this a cause for concern?

Mine got to over 130 deg on the outside. The rest of the box felt ok, though.

Make the lid out of nonstick and you could cook lunch while watching the PJ or even popcorn. That temp does not sound right as others were getting internal temps of 80 +/-

This is directly over the bulb. It's also only 1/4" birch plywood. I think I'm going to add a couple of sheets to the outside of the lid for extra insulation.