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I've Been Framed!

A project log for megaPanel: A Monochrome LED Matrix Display Panel

The megaPanel: (16) monochrome LED matrix panels, 8 bits, 120Hz

george-gardnerGeorge Gardner 11/15/2019 at 01:470 Comments

My original thought was to use a piece of plywood, but I opted for a frame for the following reasons: 

I did a quick sketchup model of the frame, just to verify dimensions. 

I opted for poplar, because the pine at my local home improvement store was too warped and knotty. I purchased a couple 1x6x6' poplar boards, and ripped them down to 2.25" on the table saw, so I could get 2 rips out of one board. 

After cutting the boards to length, I used a mini Kreg pocket jig to assemble the frame, while putting a dab of wood glue between each joint. 

And the completed frame...

The frame ended up being extremely light and straight, and will still allow access to the backs of each LED matrix. You can see a couple of the Matrix panels in the background, which I was using for testing. 

Next step is to mount the panels to the frame. For that I needed to order some M4x.7x25mm screws. 25mm allows each of the screws to stick out of the frame ~1/4", since the 1x boards were 3/4" 

Each of the panels has (4) threaded receivers for screws. Rather than measure for each hole and risk having gaps in the panels or the screw holes not lining up correctly, I opted to create a template of the panel with the screw holes shown below. 

In this way I could mount the upper left panel on the corner, then butt the template up to the mounted panel, and finally drill for the next panel. Below you can see the assembly after mounting the first 6 panels. 

Unfotunatley, I'll have to wait to complete the install of the LED panels, as I'm waiting for more screws to arrive in the mail. The local hardware stores only sell the metric screws by the single, so at 64 screws, the cost would have been too great to purchase locally. 

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