I am really serious about putting together a DIY projector and luckily stumbled upon this site.

Aside from the LCD and box materials, I was wondering if buying the mega projector kit from the store includes everything needed to build the 15" LL projector.

I also noticed that the kit comes with a free premium LL membership. So, would I be better off buying the membership first and going from there? Or is the kit actually a good deal for the novice DIYer? Would I be saving money buying the premium membership alone and parts seperately?

Sorry for the noobness

Well, I'm a little biased but the megakit is a good deal. It doesn't come with the LCD panel, the wood and various bits like screws, you'll have to get those yourself.

Fork over the 20.00 it is money well spent. If your doing a diy projector there is no better place to be doing it at. Lots of help inside the forums and good deals. Members are very helpful to answer your questions and concerns. I joined last Dec.04 and got my projector up and running last month. totally awesome. I got some very good deals in the trading post section.
I am just a customer too. just my 2 cents.

I'll be buying the membership, no doubt.

I guess I was just wondering if I should take advantage of the free membership you get along with the mega kit.

That is, I could hold on to the kit while I studied the private forums till I felt content enough to start getting my hands dirty.

Ahh, guess I'm just getting anxious. I've always dreamt of having a home theatre.

The mega kit *is* a good deal. It's a much better price than I paid for all the same components. And the bonus membership is a nice touch.

I though the bonus membership with the Mega kit was a little strange. I wouldn't want to spend the money on parts until I fully understood what is involved in making a PJ, which I would do by reading the premium forums, but if I had already bought forum access ti figure out if the mega kit is right for me then I wouldn't need it. (Bit of a Catch-22)

Actually, the megakit was made to enhance the new open source guide. In that context it makes sense.

OK, I guess it does make sense then.

Hi, just a quick question. Does the tempered glass come with the mega project kit?

Unfortunately no. The tempered glass is something that you would need to source yourself. It's not difficult, though.

thx anyway, thinking of maybe buying a mega kit, but i am in denmark and i dont even know what tempered glass is called in danish . Guess i'll have to wait a bit :-)

I'm based in India and I was wondering the same thing. But I guess we can use a regular glass pane that's used in windows as long as it's absolutely clear and is of sufficient thickness. Is that correct or will it crack?

Btw, according to Wikipedia tempered (or toughened) glass is "a type of safety glass that has increased strength and a tendency to shatter in small, square pieces when broken. It is typically used in unframed assemblies such as frameless doors and in structurally loaded applications. Using toughened glass could pose a security risk in some situations due to the tendency the glass has to shatter utterly upon edge impact."

That sounds like it's even more risky than a regular glass though only if it breaks. But if it does break during operation, it'll probably take the bulb as well as the LCD with it. I'm sure this has never happened so far but it sounds like a hazzard. Any alternatives of tempered glass?

PS: Wikipedia also says that "Due to the balanced stresses in the glass, any damage to the glass edges will result in the glass shattering into thumbnail sized pieces. Because of this, the glass must be cut to size before toughening and cannot be re-worked once toughened." complete article Is that so? How do we get custom sizes then?

Oven doors are made of tempered glass. Regular window glass will break from thermal stress. You can use Lexan though...

another kind of tempered glass is the one found in old refrigerators.. or in new ones if they have glass shelfs.

Orange: You go to a glass shop and you tell them what size you want for tempered glass.

They will take the regular glass, cut it to size, and then put it through the tempering process. This results in (hopefully) the size that you want.

When I ordered my piece of tempered glass, they gave me one where of 4 corners, only one was square. The other 3 were all off square :angry: I ended up switching to Lexan.

Thanks for the info everyone. Lexan is bulletproof glass!!?? Sounds expensive and tough to source locally.

Lexan and tempered glass really aren't that expensive, and I'm hoping you won't have too much trouble finding it. Like Supra said, call up a glass shop for tempered, or you can check your local hardware stores for Lexan. Worst case scenario, you can always request someone find a piece and ship it to you (use the Trading Post forum).

Don't let yourself get overcharged. Some people have paid up to $60 plus for tempered glass, which is a rip off. I found a glass store that sold and cut mine for $20. Keep in mind with tempered you'll want to add a UV filter to protect the LCD's colors. Good luck!

Thanks Dweezilkid.

I'm not seeing how this mega kit is a good deal.

The light kit is 170
The lens kit is 65
The wiring kit is 25

170 + 65 + 25 = 260...but we are being charged 280 for it?

Plus the PCAC fan($14), AC adapter ($10) and UV filter($8)

So that's $292 in product for $280.

!!! + $20 membership = $312 worth for $280

thanks supra!

hmm..well i already paid for membership...do i get it for 260? .


ahhh..a boy can dream. I needed to get access to the forums and find out more about what I need before making any purchases so this is best for me anyways.

I purchased a 500W halogen floodlight for $10.00 and it came with a UV coated tempered glass (Home Depot). The glass is large enough to be used on the front of the light engine.

For those in the UK, Lexan is known as Macrolon (a little piece of trivia: It's the protective plastic shielding used on the Robot Wars set).

The biggest bonus for using tempered glass over regular glass (a projector with sufficient cooling shouldn't get hot enough or cycle regularly enough to shatter regular glass. Don't hold me to this though) is that if it does break, it will break into evenly sized glass cubes with smoothed edges. Normal glass will shattter into variable sized glass shards (large pieces down to small slivers) all with very sharp edges. If you break a sheet of tempered glass, you're unlikely to injure yourself unless you drop it onto your head. If you break a sheet of ordinary glass, you'd need some thick gloves and a vacuum cleaner with a disposable filter (glass can chew up ordinary filters. The 'cyclone' bagless vacs don't have as much of a problem though), and you'd probably get a few lacerations anyway.

sounds like a good cheap way to get tempered glass! Or you could go to a junkyard and rip it off an oven or something...you'll still have to get it cut though.

I wish the halogen bulb would work too...unfortunately they lose way too much energy as heat.

An oven would be a good source.

You cannot cut tempered glass. If you try, it will shatter. Tempered glass is the shape that it is..

The glass in a flat-bed scanner is tempered glass and it does not have a "bug" or mark on the corner. I have a pane in my son's PJ and he runs it continuously. It's a great IR (heat) shield and helps keep the LCD cool. A local surplus computer parts place sold a broken scanner for $5.