Anyone try sanding lexan with a random orbit sander to make a rear projection panel?

I tried it on a small piece 8X10 with 120 grit sand paper and it seems to work ok.. My wife tried taking a picture but the results from my digital camera were nothing like what the human eye saw. The room wasn't nearly as dark as the camera shows.... next time I take the picture ;-)

Granted I didn't take a lot of time on this more of a trial of concept... so I had some swirls...

My only picture source is a old-old 1/4vga projector that has a bad case of the screens. Can't wait to get enought $$ set aside to start building...

I'm thinking ambliant light would be the only problem as sanded lexan is quite white.

After a bit of playing around there is definately a hot spot... a bad one... (attachment 1)

Just for informative purposes here a picture of my retireing projector with the sanded lexan sitting next to it.. pictures where taken with the panel 36" from the projector.

Oh well. Anyone know where I can find a decent fabric/vinal screen for a RPTV?

I wonder if putting some wax paper or a thin shower curtain behind the lexan would help,probably not.

After digging around the RPTV section a bit more this weekend... this had already been tried. I didn't read quite far enough.

I'm going to keep an eye out for a dead 60" projection to get the screen and primary mirror from if possible, until then I'm going to concentrate on building the projector itself.

There also is the possiblity of buying some screen materials, however being specialty items they are on the tad expensive side. Check out the other plogs and you will find them.

You could try putting an add in your local online/paper for an old/broken RPTV for cash

I have an RPTV at the moment and when it dies I will try the DIY LCD retrofit, certainly the RPTV screen looks good head on.

Go to a local TV repair shop. A lot of the time they will have a carcasse or two of TV's that the folks didnt want to put the cash into. Most of the time they are happy to let you cart it away cause it saves them disposal fees.

SJ

You can always check http://roanoke.craigslist.org/ for old RPTV's that people are getting rid of for xx$

At least thats what I did!

i've got a 52" screen and accompanying mirror that you can have for free. I'm not super close to you, but within driving distance up in D.C. Was planning on doing RPTV, but have moved and now have a basement that is conducive to standard projection. PM me with your contact info and we can set up a date and time for you to pick them up if you are interested.

PPL dump off RPTVs on me all the time, ive been collecting the frnel (i spell that right?) lens, the fogged plastic over it and the special aluminum surfaced mirrors, if anyone wants a piece of the mirros leme know, if you use a normal mirror, itl kinds cause a small ghoting image because its reflecting twice, off the `glass and aluminum coating, but when you do it off a coated surface, no ghosting, + the combonation of the lens and fogged laminat, eliminates the hotspots. What I like about the RP system like this is that it requires a whole lot less light to cast a useable image. Go to your dump, i got a 60" TV for 5$ in gas, it was a dumpy Magnetbox that has the Tube clouding trouble. Ide love to get my hands on of those projectors you fabracate.. You take payments?
(one time i simple modded out a` 5" CRT tv into one of these cabinets, and it was a watchable image... Had to be dark yes, but you can read text and play videogames.

Make a list of what you have for sale and post it in the Trading Post. I am sure people will be interested in what you've got (myself included)

-J

good idea, now i need to plan a trip to storage