Home Movies and Home Talkies (Jun 1932-May 1933)

HOME MOVIES & HOME TALKIES 19 MAKING YOUR OWN SCREEN By R. W. HALLOWS THERE are heaps of useful things that, the home-mo'sae or hometalkie enthusiast can make for himself even though his outfit of tools is of Fig. 1. An easily-made folding screen. the simplest and his workshop bench is nothing more ambitious than the kitchen table. The only tools, in fact, actually needed for most of the jobs that I shall describe in these notes are .a hammer, a screwdriver, a bradawl :and a pair of scissors. If you want to cut out wood for yourself you wOl ■need also a satsquare, a stiff-backed •or tenon saw and a handsaw. Any •carpenter, though, if you buj= your wood from liim, will plane it, square ■it and cut it for you for a very small ■charge. You can thus manage cjuite well without the setsquare and the ■saw if you do not happen to possess them already. Toolbox Hints •Just one or two hints on the selection of those essential tools — the screwdriver, the hammer, and the bradawl. The most useful all-roi.md screw 'river lor doing small jobs in the home is one with a blade a quarter of an inch in -width. The handle should be round, ;and I strongly recommend you to •purchase a long screwdriver, for this is ■much easier to use than a short one ■once you have got used to it. About 11 inches over all is a good length. JBuy a good Sheffield made screwdriver and it ■will last indefinitely. 'The screws that you ■will make most use of are the sizes between No. 4 and INo. 6. WTien buying your bradawl •ask for one suitable for these screws. And now for the hammer. I recommend quite a light one — not more than irom 4 to 6 ounces. A most conveixient pattern is that kno^wn as the ■cross-pane, which you can obtain from any ironmonger. Making a Screen An essential part of the outfit of :any home-ino"vie entihusiast is a screen. One that is very easily made is illustrated in Fig. 1. The actual size will depend upon the apparatus that you use and the "throw" obtainable between projector and screen. The dimensions therefore can be adapted to suit any case. The actual screen is stretched over a light wooden frame supported by means of a hinged wooden prop at either end. To keep the props steady when the screen is in use a piece of flat perforated meccano strip is used as sho-wia in the dra^wing. One end of this is attached to the frame by means of a No. 4 screw passed through one of the holes. In the edge of the prop there is a No. 2 screw, over whose head the holes can be slipped In this way the prop is adjustable and can be made to tilt the screen as required. The Frame The frame is made from soft wood (which should be as free as possible from knots), l-J inches in width by 1 inch in thickness. Figs. 2 and 3 Screw Moles / Fig. 2. Tlie " halved-in " joint at the corners of the frame. show an easy and very effective way of making the joints at the corners. This is known as the ' ' halving-in ' ' method. If you are unable to cut the joints yourself the carpenter will do the work for you. From both ends of the uprights and horizontals cut away a piece \\ inches iii length by \ inch in depth, as sho-wn in Fig. 2. The countersunk screw holes are made in the horizontals only and they should be at what is going to be the back of the frame. Fix your joints tightly together -with No. 6 f inch or | inch screws. They ■will be still stronger if you glue them before screwing down. The props may be made of wood of the same ■width and thicknesj as that used for the frame. Each is attached to the back of the frame by means of a small brass hinge. The "foot" of each prop should be sloped away so that it lies evenly on the table. Screen Material The next business is to cover the frame ^Tith the material that is going to be used for the .screen. There are several choices here. Personally I am rather in favour of three-ply wood, the outer surface of which should be rubbed down -with sandpaper. The surface may then be treated -with a thin glue known as size, which forms the foundation for the final covering -with paint. Sizing is not absolutelj' necessary if the wood has been well rubbed do'wn, but it makes for a better surface and means that you need less paint. You can, if you like, finish off with ordinary white lead paint (the " undercoat " for enamel is good), but you will obtain far better illumination if instead you use akiminium paint. This is quite cheap and you can obtain it from any iromnonger. "Wliite distemper, or one of the ceiling preparations, is also useful but, of course, is not so bright as aluminium paint. Other Screen Materials Another material which serves well for screens is stout white linen which is fixed to the edges of the frame by means of tintacks, the greatest care being taken to stret.h it tightly. A third alternative for the screen is thinnish American cloth, whose surface takes aluminiiun paint admirably. The kind of American cloth I mean is that which is often used for co\-ering the tops of kitchen tables or for protecting walls from splashes. A Loud Speaker and Screen Tip "\ATiether you show talkies or silent films j^ou will want to make use of the radiogramophone at your entertainments. It adds greatly to the reaUsm of silent films if incidental music is supplied, and the best effects are obtained when this appears to come from the screen itself. This is quite easily accomplished by making the combined baffteboard and screen illustrated in Fig. 3. One great advantage of the scheme is that the baffieboard is equally useful whether you are showing films or using the ■ivireless set or radiogramophone, since the screen when not required rolls up out of the way. The baffleboartl it.self Angle B/i'\CH£T Fig. 3. Combined baffle-board and screen. {Continued on page 35)