Over Christmas break my mother offered to buy my projector from me. I agreed because it would allow me to make an even better projector, not that the old one was bad. This time I am going to try to make the hass style box because I got tired of looking at the mdf and the square box design. Even though I could have painted it.

Things I have:
Lumenlab: lens kit, pulse strike light kit, fans
Newegg.com: CMV 522A
Lowe’s: project pine, dowels, furniture bolts, shower drain pvc and switches

Things I need: miscellaneous wires, top and bottom paneling

Ordered: Lumenlab pro lens reflector that is on backorder

I am working on the side panels as of now an am going to use a router trammel to cut out the rounded sides and possibly the grooves. Here are some starting pics if i can rember how to post them.

Here is the pine that I purchased for Lowe's, and my first projector in the background.
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Here is the sacrifical Lcd that I purchased from Newegg for $170.00 that has one dead pixel in the lower left hand corner which kinda made me mad, but ough well. The lcd loks great though, as you can see.
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I don't see any dead pixel

You proabbly didn't see the desktop icons or even the girls face did you???

Face?

That wallpaper came with the dell...

Must be Michael Dell's wife.
Being rich with access to silcon(e) has its benifits.

here are some pics of last nights work:
The router Trammel used to cut the arc
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The sides put together
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switches, bolts ect.
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The router guide I will be using to cut the top and bottom slots.
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Do you think it would be easier to use the side panels to guide the router (clamp the side panels together with an offset) or use the router guide?

I gaven't figured that out yet and was wondering if anyone could comment...

The trammel must produce the perfect arc... did you produce the first panel and use a pattern bit for the second or were they cut using the trammel

Looking nice - I'm exactly at the same place as you are... I've been working on the panel sled for a week now (well I've been thinking about it)

Dave

The problem is that when using the other panel as a guide, the resulting circle is bigger and the groove won't align with its side. By attaching the guide to the router (like idor84 did and like I did ) you're sure to have the same distance between the groove and the side all the way.

I'm not sure I was clear enough... I can draw something up if you need.

Nope - know exactly what you mean... did you answers Idor's question in your PLOG? Router bit and material...

Dave

Best way to do the lip is to use the guide with the router. make a few practice cuts on some spare pieces first, the best bit for this is an up sprial bit, kinda expensive but worth every penny.

Will answer as soon as I get home tonight.

Thanks Tescorp

I have a few spirals - but I think the smallest one I have is 1/4" I'm having a hard time sourcing anything smaller - what size bit do you use on your cases for the slots?

Dave

Dave

I made both arcs at the same time. I used the holes that were going to be for the dowels and screwed the pieces together. Then made the arcs, though the cut wasn't all the way through the bottom piece I used a jig saw to finish both pieces and then sanded.

I used the offset method with a clamp on mine and I can say that it isn't the best method. It produced acceptable results for me. But I don't demand perfection. I would say the guide is better to use.

Does anyone know long the wait is up to on backordered pro lense reflectors? Just wondering, not that I am anywhere close to needing it.
Thanks

Dave:

1/4" up spiral bit is the smallest I use. I use it for all the grooves AND the main cut with a plunge router and a master template. I can make a completed side in about half an hour.

More Pics:
I cut the ends with a 15 degree angle to match the arcs
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Furniture hardware used to hold my box together
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Box put together
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Here are the slots created using the guide, which is really nice.
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The Back
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The Front
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Rounded edges
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awesome - now you're ahead of me

Considering that we are building the same style with near the same guts I'm very interested in your PLOG - right down to the knock-down furniture hardware.

What method did you use to center the holes in your dowels?

My plan is to build the LCD sled this weekeed. And hopefully get a few pics up in my PLOG

Keep up great work!

Dave

Dave,

I didn't have any special way of centering my dowel holes, just my eyes. Though I could have borrowed a center locator from work. If that is what it is called. It looks like a movable square but instead of a 90 it has a V shape that a circle sits in. The hardest part was holding them so I could use the drill press. I did split 2 of the dowels so I will be buying another one. Although when a dowel is split and you tighten the bolt it does fit better in the counterbore.

I too have been watching all the Hass style plogs.. but where are your pics?

Idor

I know exactly what tool you are talking about - was considering buying one... Did you use a drill press? I was planning on turning the table vertically and securing it with a clamp

I should have some pics up over the weekend.

I had originally planned on using the shower drain as a focus mechanism - but upon further reading I found this and am now reconcidering my focus mech...

Dave

Brain is getting 400 of them in the next few days.

A few days seems good to me.

Just checking but with the pulse strikebulb you can make the Hass box the the original width, am I corect?

yes

Nice work on the enclosure!

So I was showing my uncle some of my projector stuff yesterday when I noticed that there was a problem with the bulb. I think it has been used because there is a burn mark in the center and some small pieces that look like glass. here are the pics.
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I am hoping that Lumenlab will send me another bulb.
Has anyone else had this issue with their bulb, if so what happend?

I opened up my LCD last night also and here are some pics. I have to say that it was really easy to strip and probably took me about 30 minutes.
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Thats the metal halides that get vapourized to make the arc.
A little glass isn't uncommon.

thats fine if it works. But why is there a burn spot on one of the ends?

Can you edit one of the pictures so that I can see what you are talking about?
That the problem with taking pictures of glass object, you can see reflections and other things thru the glass so it hard to see the glass.

I'm not sure what you are refering to but I can only guess that what looks like a burn maybe a metal halide deposit i.e. after the bulb gets turned off the metals that made up the arc cool and turn back into a solid and form a dark film on the glass.

Pagercam,

Here are some edited pictures that will hopefully help out. I have circled the burn mark in red. I also circled a precipitate on the bulb which you said would be fine and the pieces that look like glass on the bottom.

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Here are some pictures of last nights work. I Cut the width of my box down to 14.5" from 16" becasue I have the pulse strike bulb. I also made the top and bottom out of whiteboard material that I had from this past semester at school. I also watched 2 hours of the awsomest sport ever "UFC" which kinda put a dent in the time I had to work.

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Those all look like the metal deposits that happen when the bulb cools, they get vapourized with the heat from starting and redeposit after the bulb is turned off and starts to cool this is how the bulb works this isn't a problem.

Those all look like the metal deposits that happen when the bulb cools, they get vapourized with the heat from starting and redeposit after the bulb is turned off and starts to cool this is how the bulb works this isn't a problem. This is part of the reason that these bulbs need to warm up for 5 minutes and can't be turned on immediately after being turned off the metals need to collect and then be revapourized each time the bulb is started. And shutting down the bulb too early casued the deposits to form in places (like on electrodes) that deminish bulb life.

ok. I understand the metal deposits now but am still wondering why there is a burn spot. ough well. I just wanted to see if anyone else had had this. I guess it is time to try it out.

A question for people that use thermostats. What is a good, cheap thermostat that will work well with a hass enclosure and where can I find it?

Thanks

I installed my focus drain and fans last night.
Focus Drain:
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If my triplet lens focuses inside my box this may be an option. but I think the ID of the drain is too small and long if the lens is in backwards. I will find out soon:
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Routered Holes with fans pressed in:
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Finished projector: (minus the lcd sled, lexan, stand and all the wiring )
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Now my box is ready for internal hardware and 2 slide grips which will keep the whiteboard from bending.

Back Panel:
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Box:
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Here is the back panel with the top and bottom on. I have to figure out how to keep it from bowing. hopefully the grips will help.
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Quick update

I didn't get any work done on the projector this weekend because I went home for my dad’s birthday. Though I did manage to see Underworld Evolution, which was awesome. I will definitely be buying it when it comes out.

I also got my reflector in the mail Friday here at work and it sat there until I found it this morning. Lazy secretary. Thankfully nobody stole it.

Things to do: build LCD tray, wire up the box, watch movies

Last night I made my lens holder thanks to some inspiration from MRZs' great pictures, and that fact that I am getting anxious. I also made the legs for my make shift stand.

Front and Back comparison:
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Lens holder with my test fit lens & LCD. I still need to make the shims for the lcd:
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Lens holder out of the box & without the top to stabilize it:
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Inside the box:
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Here is the pic of the base:
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Getting closer to being done!

Front lens holder and keystone adjustment.

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This weekend I wired my projector which took forever. The dpst switch schematic that I printed out was blured and I was wiring it wrong for about 1 hour. :angry: . After I brought the laptop downstairs and saw the mistake I wired it correctly and it worked great.

I also volunteered at ford field this weekend and It was prety cool. My uncle is in charge of general operations and got me inwith a day pass. We set up the media room and then set up 2000+ chairs around the stadium for seating, which sucked. anyway here are some of the shots from inside the stadium. If you look around the stadium there are red lines and those are the chairs that we set up.

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The green shows the chairs we set up. Though it was cool when we got it all done.
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So I finally have my first images from my projector . all I have left is to paint the inside, make a reflector holder and get a new fan which calls for a new back panel and wiring . But I have one question, when you use a 120mm fan is the amount of light it lets out very large?

Thanks
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Here is the light mogul holder I came up with.
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Here are the initial results when I turned the projector on.
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Some tweaking:
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A little more:
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More:
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