Building Your Own Facade

[jazzyj]

I met a great fellow DJ friend here on DJF and seeing his setups (phenomenal) has made me decide that I want a facade - probably white spandex type with uplighting in the back.

Has anyone here ever built their own facade? Any experience doing such a thing with tips to share? I hear they're easy to build, but I'm wondering if building your own vs. purchasing built is cost effective.

[iammongo]

Building your own can be extremely cost effective. especially if you use wood and spandex. You could get all the materials and do it yourself for under 100 bucks.

I'm going to make one for myself in the near future using aluminum extrusions from a company called 80/20 and put sheets of white plexiglass inside....i costed that out at around 300 bucks. Still cost effective over what you buy commercially.

There used to be alot of step by step guides on these boards in the DIY section....not sure if the members have reposted them yet....it's worth it to search around though.

[DJ Scotch]

Here you go Jazzy ;-)


http://youtu.be/ajaL4Wo9X2E

[jazzyj]

+1 Scotch ...

But I wonder if you don't have all those tools - is it still cost effective? I don't think I have a skill saw - not even sure I have a lot of clamps. I do think I have a sander though.

[DJ Scotch]

+1 Scotch ...

But I wonder if you don't have all those tools - is it still cost effective? I don't think I have a skill saw - not even sure I have a lot of clamps. I do think I have a sander though.

You can rent them for $25-$30 a day. clamps shouldn't cost you more than $30 for 4. Very cost effective. 4 section Facade will cost you $400.

[neonpachyderm]

I did a pipe-and-drape facade for the keyboard and drum setup at church; total cost less than $60. It was supposed to be for my DJ setup, but 4 feet is too tall...i felt way too separated from the audience. I used the side pieces as uprights, and at 2 feet high it's perfect for around the keyboard and drums.

I'm going to build another one, probably pipe and drape again, but with a different fabric; I used heavy black canvas last time and it's kind of difficult to work with.

[CQE DJs]

I've made one with PVC Pipe and felt. All you need is PVC pipe, PVC corners, black felt and a hot glue gun and black zip ties. I made it for about $60 total after buying everything. And I really overestimated on the felt so i have enough extra to probably make another one. Ill see if I can get a pic up sometime. I use this for my smaller gigs. For big parties, weddings I use my plexiglass led board.

[DYM]

Building your own can be extremely cost effective. especially if you use wood and spandex. You could get all the materials and do it yourself for under 100 bucks.

I'm going to make one for myself in the near future using aluminum extrusions from a company called 80/20 and put sheets of white plexiglass inside....i costed that out at around 300 bucks. Still cost effective over what you buy commercially.

There used to be alot of step by step guides on these boards in the DIY section....not sure if the members have reposted them yet....it's worth it to search around though.

I think that would be awesome... go for the frosted plexiglass, keep us posted! What if you put some LED tape around the edges of the inside frame instead of a wash strip?

Edit: Is there a DMX LED tape out there??

[jazzyj]

I'm definitely going to try this :) Thanks everyone for the info :)

[mems]

Made my own out of 1x3 inch straping from home depot that I painted with black rustoleum and white spandex material from AC Moore when they had a 50% off coupon. Id say total cost was $50. 4 sections, 3'x4' tall. Sandwiched and stretched the material in between two sets of 3x4' strapping per section. Accordioned them together with two hinges in between each section top and bottom.

[a-mart]

Made mine with some 2x6's painted them black and stapled spandex to it. Mine's too tall though I think it's like 4 or 4.5 feet tall. I didn't expect it to be tall I'm pretty sure I messed up somewhere haha.

[I love music]

i made a stand a while ago, with a 3ftx5ft piece of plywood, that sits on top of two wooden stands (the ones that painters use) which are set vertical to the top part, so its nice and steady. the top part (that your decks will be placed on) is totally covered with black speaker-fabric. And my wife made a "skirt" for the whole thing with similar (thick) black fabric that falls nicelly around the stand (the skirt straps on velcro).

"Inside" the stand, i put a plank (that sits on the lower part of the wooden stands) and on top of that i put the amp. All electrical and speaker cables are hidden inside the stand, so u dont see anything.

If u r interested i ll take some pics so u get a better idea of how its contructed.

[mems]

^ I'm guessing your talking about saw horses as the stands?

[I love music]

^ I'm guessing your talking about saw horses as the stands?

yep!!

[DYM]

i made a stand a while ago, with a 3ftx5ft piece of plywood, that sits on top of two wooden stands (the ones that painters use) which are set vertical to the top part, so its nice and steady. the top part (that your decks will be placed on) is totally covered with black speaker-fabric. And my wife made a "skirt" for the whole thing with similar (thick) black fabric that falls nicelly around the stand (the skirt straps on velcro).

"Inside" the stand, i put a plank (that sits on the lower part of the wooden stands) and on top of that i put the amp. All electrical and speaker cables are hidden inside the stand, so u dont see anything.

If u r interested i ll take some pics so u get a better idea of how its contructed.

Picture please!

[Synaxis]

Building your own can be extremely cost effective. especially if you use wood and spandex. You could get all the materials and do it yourself for under 100 bucks.

I'm going to make one for myself in the near future using aluminum extrusions from a company called 80/20 and put sheets of white plexiglass inside....i costed that out at around 300 bucks. Still cost effective over what you buy commercially.

There used to be alot of step by step guides on these boards in the DIY section....not sure if the members have reposted them yet....it's worth it to search around though.

Where are you getting your white plexiglass from? I'm looking to make a facade too, but everywhere I look, I can only find bulk plexiglass for hundreds of dollars.

I would need a 44" x 32" sheet, for a 4' x 3' facade in the front, then two 44" x 14 sheets for two 1 1/2' sides.


I was thinking about using spandex, but It can rip and would probably need to be washed over time, which we be a problem if I stapled it too the frame.

[iammongo]

Where are you getting your white plexiglass from? I'm looking to make a facade too, but everywhere I look, I can only find bulk plexiglass for hundreds of dollars.

I would need a 44" x 32" sheet, for a 4' x 3' facade in the front, then two 44" x 14 sheets for two 1 1/2' sides.


I was thinking about using spandex, but It can rip and would probably need to be washed over time, which we be a problem if I stapled it too the frame.

I'm sourcing mine locally.....I work in manufacturing and we buy plastics all the time, i contacted our supplier and had him cost out the sheets.
It is a much more expensive route that the spandex but i think it looks a little better.

[Synaxis]

It is a much more expensive route that the spandex but i think it looks a little better.

I agree with you there.

Thanks, I'll try to see if maybe I can get some locally as well.

[RodneyL]

bump for my subscriptions

[DJ Donnie Lewis]

dragonfrontboards.com

369$ + 60$ shipping for a plain 4 panel facade with lycra and you dont have to build it.

I would only try to build one if it were less the 50% of the retail. Otherwise Im not going to bother with the hassle. I have a 6 panel with a custom 6 foot wide front panel that I purchased from dragon with a canvas carry case for under 800

[rocket's ass]

Thanks for all the info guys. They look great! I would think the Lycra/spandex version would be more troublesome in the long run because of dirt and them possibly tearing? With the plexi, itd be much sturdier and with cleaning, just run some windex across it no? Do the plexi versions really look that much worse?

[DJ Donnie Lewis]

No they just don't absorb the light as much. Plexi is about 150$ more but it's worth it

[DJRockinRob]

I bought my facade from this one guy. Sorry guys I can't say. Its a secret :)

God Bless!

[DYM]

I bought my facade from this one guy. Sorry guys I can't say. Its a secret :)

God Bless!

Are you trolling... in just about every thread?

[kipperj]

I'm thinking about building my own facade. Any thoughts on running rope lights around the inside of the "frames?" Besides this being a less convenient way to light it up, what are everyone's thoughts on this? How do you think it would look?

[rocket's ass]

I don't think it would look as elegant as the uplighting. It would probably just highlight the edges. It would still look nice IMO though.

[ampnation]

If I were making one, I'd see if I couldn't size it to, in the future, accommodate one of these...
http://www.midweststereo.com/Chauvet-MotionFacade-LED-Drape-Skirt-p/chauvet-motionfacade.htm

[rocket's ass]

Cool for parties...not for weddings I would think.

[DJ SCOTTY FATS]

Here's a link to mine I just built. It cost me 125. And 2 days to complete.




http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=3129753435769&set=a.1824100875271.2098471.1022718451&type=1&ref=nf

[pertytown]

If I were making one, I'd see if I couldn't size it to, in the future, accommodate one of these...
http://www.midweststereo.com/Chauvet-MotionFacade-LED-Drape-Skirt-p/chauvet-motionfacade.htm

I already bought the motion facade and drape, built the frame for the facade out of pvc pipe and painted it black. I give my clients the choice of backdrop and facade, either backlit lycra, the chauvet motion one, or black facade with a regular star drape

Perty Town Music

[Brom]

I just went with a basic PVC one and then draped black crushed velvet around it. I only do weddings/corporate events and prefer to blend into the background rather than try to call attention to myself. A pic is attached.

With that, being the handy guy that he is my dad built it for me for about $50 or so. I'm 6'4" so I had him build it pretty tall as I prefer to hide my gear behind it. It ended up around 50" high, or thereabouts. I can set it up for a 6' or an 8' table as he built it with two different length connections.

This was the email I sent him.

Here's the video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pdu3qITsTI8

Materials:

1" PVC Pipe (4 each 4 ft. long, 4 each 2 ft. long)

3 each 1/2" iron bar (debating on whether to be 48", 54", or 60". Depends on how high I want the facade to be and how much it blocks what can be seen.)

Various joints

Velcro pieces

Crushed velvet skirting

Then he*sprayed both the PVC and the iron pipe with Rustoleum Plastic Textured paint. The texture gives the pipes a little grip for the back crushed velvet material as well as helping to assemble and take apart.

someone in the comments suggested this:

=In place of iron pipe you can get plastic threaded with the same NPT thread, it's a dark grey pipe and 1/2 the cost and weight of the iron pipe. I use 1.5x1.5x1.5 unthreaded ("slip fit") side outs on mine but had to go to a wholesale plumbing supply for those as HD and Lowes didnt carry them. 1" PVC was too flimsy for my desires. Mine is 8 ft across so I used tees on top and bottom rails on the front with support between to support every 4 ft.

The guy in this video did everything out of PVC pipe and has a lot more description on his with close-ups. He used 50' of PVC pipe and just cut it down to spec.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ybgpJkO0EnQ

[rotoitiman]

http://youtu.be/dC5mkYD_F4sI built one and use it at EVERY wedding I do. Only use lighting when near the dance floor, or else it just draws too much attention from the dance floor. Seriously the best addition I ever made to my setup. Looks nice, good eye candy and tidies up the MOUNTAIN of wiring I have under my table. I can sit down behind my table during speeches and eat/drink without looking rude/lazy etc I have ran into a few problems though, people always leaning on it, kids running up and putting their fingers through it, adults falling into it, mud kicked into it etc etc all fun and games in the mobile DJ world lol I would love to build a black one when I have time for weddings where lighting is not required.

[Sween]

I bought my facade from this one guy. Sorry guys I can't say. Its a secret :)

God Bless!

Here we go...

[Synaxis]

I just went with a basic PVC one and then draped black crushed velvet around it. I only do weddings/corporate events and prefer to blend into the background rather than try to call attention to myself. A pic is attached.


I thought about making one out of PVC but decided it would be too much of a hassle having to connect all the pipes and fittings together for every event, and it felt too cheap for me.

Personally, I'm probably just going to make my out out of wood and some lycra. It will take up some more space, but it's easier to just fold it out.

[RodneyL]

Here we go...

HAVE A NICE DAY!

lmao

[blancnoir]

make sure you also get some sort of bag or cover for the facade, from experience the lycra gets dirty REAL quick or can get snagged in a number of ways. I chose to go the pro route and though very expensive my facade is bitchin ;]

[DJ Boom Bap]

I was just brain storming on this as I'm gonna be building one within the month. I've been looking for an easy to clean/easy to replace sections/ and cost effective way to build one. My idea was that if I made a smaller "frame" on the back, I could sandwich the sheets in between the two frames, making them easy to replace.

What I have come up with are two alternate materials other than cloth and regular acrylic sheets:
1 - A white cracked glass florescent light fixture sheet (2x4) Less than $9 a sheet. This stuff is pretty flexible also
2 - Corrugated white plastic cardboard (48"x96") $110 for 10 sheets (quick online search), but it might be a little harder for light to pass through it. But, the cost is very effective and it would be easy to replace because you could just staple it to the frame.

Both can be found a Home Depot/Lowes

I was wanting some opinions on which you think would look nicer.

Thoughts?

[DJ-NVY]

here's a really simple guide:
http://www.iamclosetgeek.com/2011/08/builders-corner-how-to-build-dj-facade.html

i'm doing this myself next week

[RodneyL]

here's a really simple guide:
http://www.iamclosetgeek.com/2011/08/builders-corner-how-to-build-dj-facade.html

i'm doing this myself next week

I will make one of these soon too. Not sure if i like how this one does not connect in the center though. It's basically 2 section pushed together.

[DJ-NVY]

Yea if you use a basic hinge fold it'll leave a gap. I'm going to add a layer of black gorilla tape and leave enough room for the 2 layers to fold over. then staple the tape in (don't want flaring corners), and probably spray it down