Closing Thoughts

Whew!

In the early part of 2000, I realized that I could successfully design and construct a backlit, poster lightbox to accentuate my home theater. I enjoy movie theaters for their lush, relaxing atmospheres and larger-than-life presentations, and I wanted to bring some of that magic home with me. Mind you, I’m extremely lucky to live near a top-notch theater. It is the unfortunate reality, however, that most theaters could be classified as “dives”. I’m certainly not referencing them. But there’s just something exhilarating about the experience.

When I started the pre-production phase of the lightbox, I found that I was consistently tweaking its design. Dimensions. Materials. Methods of display. I tossed it around endlessly, and I feel that the results were worthy of all the aches and pains. Consequently, how could I keep all of that excitement to myself? I sincerely hope that you experience the same level of excitement as you work toward constructing your own. Your home theater will surely appreciate your hard work, and guests will be impressed by your ability to create an exquisitely looking extension of home theater decor.

As the finishing touches on this how-to guide wind down, it’s now been over two years since I first embarked on the poster lightbox project. I’ve constructed two units thus far. The prototype hangs proudly on my viewing room wall, and the other now belongs to a friend of mine who is also a home theater nut. Changes were made to the prototype’s design en route to the second lightbox, and I’m sure there will be more manipulations should I decide to craft additional units. Just the same, as readers of this guide construct their own lightboxes, I’m certain that they will administer their own set of design changes. Over the last year, I’ve received tons of e-mail urging me to complete this documentary, and I’ve discovered that there is an unbelievable passion for recreating the theater experience at home. That fervor will surely manifest itself in solutions that will improve my design. Personally, I can’t wait to see what changes are proposed and implemented.

So if you decide to make changes to this design, please let me know about them. I’ll be sure to post your solution as an addendum to these pages and credit your hard work and insight. And besides — I have a strong feeling that I’ll be building more lightboxes in the future. I’d love to infuse my design with the input of other enthusiastic home theater buffs.

In closing, I would be remiss if I didn’t make one final disclaimer. It’s sad that I have to do this again, but the human race can be an ignorant lot. So for those of you who are squeamish about risk-taking, I urge you to take note of the following disclaimer.

DISCLAIMER:

This poster lightbox project is intended as a leisure exercise for home theater enthusiasts wanting to take the decor of their viewing room to another level. I do not declare myself to be a licensed electrician, carpenter or any other professional tradesman.

By using the information and instructions on this and related pages, you acknowledge that you do so via your own freewill and willingly relinquish Ed Weiland from any liability associated with the construction of the lightbox depicted herein.

Please know that this unit is electrical in nature and is NOT UL-APPROVED and has not been tested by professionals. There is a possibility that the construction and subsequent use of this unit could void applicable homeowner insurance policies.

Please seriously consider the text above. You have been warned.

Many thanks to everyone that waited patiently for me to put this tome together as I juggled other numerous web projects, hockey-playing, hockey-watching and management of an intense, on-line fantasy hockey league (insert advert for The Ohioville Fantasy Hockey League here…) Please feel free to send comments and/or design-change suggestions to me at the e-mail address below. And finally, many kudos go to those who helped me throughout this project and kept my wheels churning. Thanks to Ed F. Weiland (Dad), Joe Lesniak and Gary Sprowls.
Now go and have some fun!

Ed Weiland
2001