Hey guys! Welcome back to Maker Break, where we share our favorite maker videos of the week, and challenge ourselves to build a project of our own! After making that awesome hammock stand last week, I was inspired to add more reason to be outside, and ended up making an outdoor movie theater screen! And here’s how I did it:
This Week’s Project
The hammock stand we made last week gave me a new appreciation for the outdoors. But while I was laying out in the peace and quiet, I thought. You know what nature needs? Star Wars.
So I jumped into Sketchup to design an outdoor movie theater screen, and this is what I came up with I wanted something that would be modular so I could easily take it down, and decided to use our rather sturdy railing as a support system.
After I worked out my cut list, I headed down to the shop. I was able to design it with only a hand full of 2x4s and 2x6s. The lateral beams are 2x6s, while the two towers are actually c-channel posts I made with a 2×6, with 2 2x4s for the sides.
I then notched them out with my jigsaw, so they would fit flush with the railing.
Now the lateral beams, I wanted to be strong, but also wanted it to be as easy as possible to take apart. So I decided to cut a bevel into each end, and use a simple french cleat for them to slot into. Cutting the beveled edge into the tower was easy using the miter saw, but the beams needed to be cut with the circular saw.
I get nervous cutting with the circular saw at 45 degrees, but I don’t know why. The job was a piece of cake. I cut as far as I could then finished it off with a hand saw. After some sanding, they were exactly what I had envisioned. Besides being functional, I really like how this looks when it’s assembled.
I then assembled the C channel towers using pocket screws. Finally, I cut out a few 20” long feet, and notched out the ends so they would tuck under the lower part of the railing.
For the screen, we ordered a 120in outdoor screen from Amazon for only $30. But when it arrived, it was 150 inches, and I don’t have room for that, or time to return it. So Instead of suspending the screen between the large frame, I decided to take some 1x4s and make a frame that we could wrap the screen around. I held it all together with pocket screws.
I was going to staple the material to it, but I realized we could just run a rope through the eyelets, and pull it tight, that way I can re-use the screen if I change my mind about how to mount it. You can see the rope through the screen in the daylight, but as soon as we put an image on it, the ropes disappear.
And here it is! The posts notch into the railing and feel really solid. For extra stability we’ll be tying or strapping the posts to the railing when we use it, but it’s pretty sturdy on it’s own.
Due to weather, we haven’t had our first movie night just yet, but I can tell you now that the whole family is anxiously waiting for opening night!
So yeah, the family loves it. It’s looks incredible! We still need to paint it all white to match the railing but it’s been raining 3 days straight here. I’ll post a finish photo on Instagram.
Our Favorite Maker Videos of the Week!
Moving on to our favorite videos, our first one comes from Eric Sorensen. Eric already has a custom router table, but this week he shows us how to make a MINI version, for compact routers. I’m super pumped about this because my only router is the Milwaukee M18 version, so I plan to give this a shot.
Next we stop over at Matt Cremona’s shop, where he’s made a router bit cabinet thats WAY too nice to put actual router bits inside. Besides the through miter dovetails, the back of this thing is a custom panel made with a natural slab and epoxy. Way too nice.
Last week we built a hammock stand based on a design from the wood brew duo, who this week, got engaged! To properly pop the question, Dylan spent months secretly learning to make an engagement ring, just so he could surprise molly at the top of a mountain. I’m not crying, you’re crying. It’s so beautiful.
Let’s focus on something hilarious to keep from crying, like this giant lawn chair! Old Town Fabrications and Design, shared this awesome build video for a lawn chair that looks to be about 8 ft tall. I don’t know why, but yup. I need this.
Alright gang that’s all we’ve got. If you saw a Maker Video that should have been mentioned, do us a favor and link it in the comments below. If you link it, I promise Rob will watch it. Because he just cares that much!
Thanks to HART for sponsoring this episode and reminding us that we can build anything we can imagine, if we Do It With Hart!
We have a ton of fun content coming up this week, including a chance to win something, you’ll really want to win. So be sure to like and subscribe so you don’t miss a thing! Alright break’s over! Let’s make something!