Although Lumenlab has greatly simplified the LCD projector project with its ready-made parts, it´s still not a job for the DIY newbie. You´ll need carpentry skills to create an enclosure and wiring skills to connect all the parts without electrocuting yourself or burning down your projector. And then there´s the LCD panel stripping-even PopSci photographer John Carnett, a lifetime DIY guy, killed the first LCD TV we sent him.
Lumenlab offers a PDF instruction manual (download here), but it´s more of an overview than a step-by-step guide. The best advice: just comb through the forums at lumenlab.com. You´ll find hundreds of threads discussing the basics, as well as advanced tips and tricks others have learned along the way. To hear Carnett discuss building the PopSci projector-a task that took him more than a week-download our photo podcast (coming soon).
You´re excited. Slow down. Remember that the panel is the heart and soul of your project-kill it, and no matter how great your woodwork, you got no picture. My mistake was a simple sticker. A Lumenlab forum thread said that the part of the panel that involved high voltage was not required. So when I saw that â€high voltage†sticker, I ripped out the part. It turned out that the sticker was on the wrong area; I had ripped off something I really needed. In two seconds of frantic excitement I killed my panel. Take it slow, please. The panel you save could be your own.John B. Carnett
