OK. I haven't posted an update in a while. Things are progressing slowly. I had to send off for some more printed fabric samples. I am trying two different types of fabric and getting 8"x8" samples showing 16 different potential color matches for the artwork. They still having shipped those yet, so they will probably not get here until next week. I am out traveling to Los Angeles and Denver next week.

As you see above, my OC703 is here.

Well, here are some pictures of the frames I built.

I used 1"x4" material (actual dimensions are .75" x 3.5") for the side wall frames and then 1"x6" material (actual dimensions of .75" x 5.5") to make the rear frame. This leaves a 1.5" gap between the OC703 and the wall, which enhances its performance quite a bit actually for the lower frequencies.

Frame for 2" OC703:


Frame for 4" OC703:


I ended up building 7 frames total. Three for each wall that are about 24"x48"x3.5" which will have 2" thick OC703 material and then the rear one is 24"x48"x5.5" for the 4" thick OC703 material.


I built the frames, glued and nailed the corners, glued and nailed a center brace, and then added 90 degree corner brackets for good measure.

Stack of frames:


Then I beveled the front edge all the way around.

This is a side shot of one of the frames showing the bezel on the top:


After that I added some cheap muslin fabric to the back to help hold in any insulation fibers/particles from coming out the back and into the room. This stuff is pretty dense and rigid, but no need to not take some precautions. I got 10 yard of the stuff for $15 tax included at a local fabric store using a 50% off coupon. Yeah, I went to a fabric store.

Here is one of the panels with the muslin stapled in place. It isn't pretty, but it won't be seen:


That brought me up to tonight where I needed to put the OC703 in. I knew that building the frames using lumber that was in 4 foot and 8 foot lengths, cutting this and making a frame would make one of the dimensions a touch short for the OC703 (2' and 4' lengths were cut, but that would give either an interior frame size of 22.5" x 48" or 24" x 46.5". Going with the second option meant less waste and more OC703 in use, so I did that.

So tonight I grabbed the trusty electric "turkey carving knife" and cut off the end of each OC703 sheet to get it to fit inside the panel.

You can see the right side over-hanging the top:


Then trimmed and set into place:


Here are the scraps (I know that there isn't any point of reference for size besides the electric knife):



So I have a good jump on the art for the panels, but I want to get the colors right as they print on the specific fabric before I go any further, so that piece is on hold. Tomorrow night I hope to get the panels hung on the wall for now. They will be removable so that wrapping the art printed on fabric fronts won't be a problem.

PS. My next project is a media server and then HTPC. Parts are already in route for the media server with its 18TB of hard disk space. Fun stuff for another time. HTPC will be in a couple of months once I actually have media ripped on to the server.


Farewell - June 4, 2020