Newbie from Utah

**tbadger** · **11-08-08, 11:20 AM**

Hi all,

Am I glad I found this forum! (And so is my patient loving wife). We recently purchased a low end projector that fit within our budget - but then what to do about a screen?

After researching commercial paints and screens, I stumbled onto this forum. After reading through the different DIY discussions on paint, I decided to go with Cream and Sugar. SW is readily available in our area as is Michael's.

Yesterday I took the day off from my day job (I am an Interaction/Interface designer for a local software company), and I am a home hobbyist with a wood/metal shop. I enjoy building cabinets and furniture when I can find the time.

When I bought the projector, I searched far and wide for a reasonably priced projector mount. Most of what I found didn't meet my requirements and were not real 'good looking'. So, having some metal working equipment, and lots of aluminum hanging around, I machined my own.

A picture of the mount is attached - it is a bit dark and temporarily mounted. It is fully adjustable on all axis, plus has fine tuning on the three mount points to the projector.

When I get time, I need to paint it (have considered power coating, annodizing, etc., but that takes my cost from nearly nothing to something more than I want to spend.) I'll post good clear pictures of the mount when I take it down to paint, and provide some info on how I did it if any one is interested.

Our 'screen' is designed for both 4:3 and 16:9 - we like to watch our old movies, new movies, and HD TV on the projector.

Since our wall is an existing wall and has orange peel texture, I decided to smooth the wall for the screen. To start, I bought some spackling at Home Depot - the kind that goes on pink, and dries white. I first sanded the wall area that I had marked off, and then applied the first coat and let it dry. After drying, I sanded that coat, and then applied a second coat. The second coat was sanded with a fine sandpaper for a pretty good smooth finish. I then primed with Kilz2 primer. That dried and was sanded. I looked for any spots that needed touch up (holes, bad spots in spackling) and filled them. Right now, that is where I'm at. I'm waiting for the pink spots to dry, after which I'll put on a second coat of Kilz2 primer. I plan on letting the wall dry for a few days before tackling the screen painting. I haven't decided on rolling or spraying yet. I have the SW paint and the Metalic silver, and will mix them prior to painting. I have a HPLV sprayer (Campbell Hausfeld HV2500), which I generally use for furniture refinishing, but have never used for latex. Good time to try?

We also decided to paint the surrounding wall a chocolate brown color - a color called 'Breakfast Blend' (Behr 280F-7). The other walls in the room are painted 'Solomon Sand', a Behr paint color in satin finish.

I haven't decided how to do the border yet - considering both paint, Flox, or some other easy method of bordering. I'm looking for good recommendations for an inexpensive, but effective solution.

Well, I'm off to more work.

Thanks for all the great info on the forum, and to those who have spent a considerable amount of time providing information for the rest of us to use, and hopefully contribute too.

-Trent