Jeff Abbott from Ada Bible Church in Grand Rapids, MI brings us these warped boards on his back wall. (Originally posted December 2012)
He wanted to give the impression that arcs of wood were floating against the walls of the stage. So he bought 4×8 sheets of 1/4″ underlayment (about $10 each) and ripped them into 8″ strips. Then they cut them to length. They used five colors of stain to stain the fronts of each underlayment and get some texture in the design. Then they added those onto a frame made from 1x4x8 firing strips cut to length with a 1/2″ deep x 1/2″ wide Dado cut on each end.
They painted the back wall black to let it disappear.
They screwed the back boards to the walls and nailed arcs into the dado cuts (2 small nails each end). There was a center line through the form of Jeff’s design. All back boards were either centered or shifted 6″ or 12″ up or down. Across the stage the form was symmetrical left to right, but the colors were not.
Now that is a cool design! Nice work.
What is that material?
Jeff,
Amazing work! I love the dynamics of this set. This is a set that would even look good without formal lighting. Great job.
,Steven
Solidworks?
I know you can do a lot with lighting already, but have you played with any of the water based color stains? They offer a wide range of color.
I would love to know the 5 colors of stain you used. Thanks!
Stains by Mixwax:
Red Chestnut 232, Golden Pecan 245, Provincial 211, Driftwood 2126, Sedona Red 222
Thanks Jeff!!!!!
Great job on this one guys! It really is one of the best this whole year. Great look. Simple enough to do. Not too expensive.
That is an awesome design. Thank you so much for the very detailed construction information. That is most helpful.
Great Job! Love the plan drawings. Makes it so easy to understand how to implament.
Awesome design
I think we will use this element for out event
Hey Jeff, great job on the design looking to use this for our easter set! How did you do your lighting?
To get full coverage on the Arcs, we lit them from above and up-lit fromt the floor.
All with LEDs.
Hey Jeff, what fixtures did you use to light up the arcs? Led Parcans or Led bars.
Hi Jeff… Love the design! Do you have a SketchUp of the completed panels?
Thanks!
Luan (underlayment)
Hey im apart of Abundant Living Family Church and we are attempting to build a floating arc similiar to yours for our Cross Culture services on Sundays.. I was wondering what kind of wood you guys used? If possible, could you send me an email with more information about the process you guys used to build your arcs.
Thanks in advance!
The material is Luan, purchased from Home Depot, cut into 8 inch strips.
http://www.homedepot.com/p/1-4-in-x-4-ft-x-8-ft-Moisture-Resistant-Plywood-Underlayment-431178/203183010#.Uc2CoD7704w
Please email me with specific questions, most of the construction was outlined in the post above.