DIY Facade (clean up the staples)

[Dj DussT]

I'm in the middle of building my own facade, you know the black frame with white spandex. Every DIY facade I've seen looks really messy from the DJ side, ie. staples and ragged cloth everywhere. Is there a way to hide this or make it look better. I don't have a table router so that's out of question.
Thanks

[Dix]

I am assuming you're speaking of the loose ends & staples etc on the backside of the facade? If so, once you stretch your material over the frame & staple it to your frame, just get some 1/2' or 3/4" (whatever the thickness of the wood you frame is made of) trim, like screen door molding etc. fold up the excess material, place your molding over it & tack it in 3 or 4 places along the length of the facade. That will hide the loose ends of the material & all the staples etc behind the molding.

[Dj DussT]

Yes. So you're saying just put another piece of wood on top of it? The only problem with that is when I fold it together for transport, it will be even thicker.

[DJ_Apex]

I'm not fully familiar with the design parameters here, but I've done quite a bit of woodworking in my day, so here goes. You can get very thin veneers (1/8") that you can cut into strips to cover just the spaces you've stapled, or leave it in sheets to cover the whole back side. Use finish nails so they're pretty much invisible from a distance. For an even cheaper solution, use subflooring which is only a few bucks for a 4x8 sheet. You can also make a router table for surprisingly cheap if you know what you're doing. Buy a used plunge router (cheap ones can be had for $10-$20) and use the router itself, plus a hole saw to cut into a piece of particle board and then bolt the router in from underneath. Mount it on some saw horses and you've got a redneck router table. You can get as simple or as complex as you'd like, but that's the concept.

[electricsmooth]

Does it really matter though? Nobody should he back there other than you. Unless of course, it just bugs you

[Windows 95]

Yes. So you're saying just put another piece of wood on top of it? The only problem with that is when I fold it together for transport, it will be even thicker.No, he's saying build smaller frames that fit inside the facade's frames.

[Dj DussT]

Ok I've got 3 of 5 built and painted. I think I get what you're talking about with veneers covering the frame from the back. I think I'll try that route.

Electricsmooth - I know, if I was always against a wall and didn't have people coming back, I wouldn't care. But sometimes I have an open back or am outside and I still want to look good.

[Dj DussT]

Wow, painting these by hand takes forever. I've painted and sanded twice, I think I'm going to try some semi-gloss spray paint on one of these and see if it comes out well.

[Synaxis]

Well the entire point of a facade is so that people don't see the mess behind it, haha.

You could try gluing the fabric? Cutting it nice and straight and then folding it over. I'm not sure exactly how long that would hold.

[Johnnotestine]

I'm in the middle of building my own facade, you know the black frame with white spandex. Every DIY facade I've seen looks really messy from the DJ side, ie. staples and ragged cloth everywhere. Is there a way to hide this or make it look better. I don't have a table router so that's out of question.
Thanks

Cut 3/4" grooves with a table saw and use wood strips. My facade has no staples holding the fabric. You can then easily remove the strips and fabric for cleaning.