Here are my DIY "frameless" acoustic panels (photo thread)

[Mr. Varaldo]

First of all, I'd like to thank you all for providing so much good information in this forum. After much reading here, I decided today to try to build acoustic panels for my home recording studio.

In another thread here I was curious to see if a wooden frame around the fiberglass were really needed - it turns out it wasn't, but it's mainly to add to the visual impact and overall sturdiness of the panels.

But in my case I wanted to simplify as much as possible, and make the panels as light as possible - Budget was an important factor as well (isn't it always?.

So here's my first attempt:

I bought a case of twelve 2" Owens Corning 703 panels at a store that was mentioned in this thread here (thank you, Christopherus!), and upon carrying it home I promptly realized I made my first mistake: I had bought the "unfaced" model, while I think I could/should have bought the "FSK" model instead (I think it already provides a brown-paper type backing on one side)





but hey - I said to myself - at least this is the right material for the job...

Now I needed to cover one of the faces with something. A trip to Walmart and I picked up three rolls of that brown paper used to pack and ship stuff



and since I was at Walmart, I also got the fabric to cover the panels: the proven and economical "burlap":



Then I cut twelve 12"x48" pieces of brown paper using one as template and cutting the others on top of it



plopped one of the OC703 panels on a table...



... and glued the brown paper to one side of the OC703 panel

[Mr. Varaldo]

(actually my wife helped with her "glue gun"...)



Et voilà... it's glued in place.. take that, FSK!!



Moving operations inside due to the wind:

Cut the burlap in pieces of 32" x 56" and as with the brown paper, used the first one as template for all the others - then, put it on a table, and placed the fiberglass on top of it;



Very much improvising as I went... I cut the corners of the burlap ...



and then my wife's glue gun stopped working :|

Another trip at the home depot (common event, I'm sure, for all here) and I got this 3M spray adhesive - it turned out to be a good move: it is much faster to apply than the glue gun! (and just as gluey).



a little bit of nip & tuck...



and my very first acoustic panel is ready:



Ta-daaah!!! I know... it's not as handsome as some other panels on the market are... but I like it Eventually I'll get rid of the slight creases as well... perhaps lightly ironing... perhaps that spray they sell to get rid of creases... it's good enough for me.



I made two more and called it the day... I'll make the other nine tomorrow. Here is how they look... NOTE: they are simply sitting on top of the keyboards... this is just to show how they look. I'll take more pictures when I mount them to the walls (and they are so light, probably I'll use sticky&velcro)



Stay tuned for my next project... the "superchunks" in the corners...

and thanks to all again for the great info on this forum -

[RScott]

Hooray for DIY!! I really like your cheap n nasty traps.

May want to forgo velcro to wall, so that you can space them from the wall itself. Or make some kind of spacer unit that you attach to the wall and velcro them to it.

Questions for the pros:
Is FRK for the first-reflection absorbers or only for the bass traps?

Question for the OP:
How much was your 703 per 2 inch sheet? I need some soon. ^.^

[sesshin]

This is great, love the simplicity. Please post more pictures if you can!

[Mr. Varaldo]

Originally Posted by RScott

Hooray for DIY!! I really like your cheap n nasty traps.

May want to forgo velcro to wall, so that you can space them from the wall itself. Or make some kind of spacer unit that you attach to the wall and velcro them to it.

Questions for the pros:
Is FRK for the first-reflection absorbers or only for the bass traps?

Question for the OP:
How much was your 703 per 2 inch sheet? I need some soon. ^.^

Thank you - however, I don't think I'll add any spacer - yes, I know you're supposed to leave an air gap between the panel and the wall... but like you say... simplicity is the key and this just for my home studio, not Ocean Way or something.. I don't think it would add a whole lot to the sound and would be an additional headache to build.

The 2" 703 was $1 per square foot = $96 (plus tax) for a box of 12 = $8 per panel.

Originally Posted by sesshin

This is great, love the simplicity. Please post more pictures if you can!

Thank you - I will - today I build all the others, when I place them in the studio, I'll post more pics.

I'm tackling the "superchunks" for the corners next week and I'll post pics of that as well.

[SaSi_SiDi]

Nice pictorial. Perhaps you could iron the burlap before glueing it to the panels. That way creases would not show up.

Also, from the pictures, it appears you have attached burlap to the "back" of the panels, leaving the craft paper "exposed". But then, when they are shown against the wall, it appears that the craft paper is facing the wall.

If so, bear in mind that the craft paper should face the front side. It must be there to "reflect" the mid-high frequencies, especially if you add a lot of panels in the room, so that you get absorbtion in the low frequencies but not deaden the highs.

[Glenn Kuras]

You really do not want the paper on the back.

[thebaron]

Since the paper is to be on the front, would it mess up it's reflectivity too much to lightly spray paint the paper? I just thought, when I make mine, that it would be nice to have a color other than brown paper bag. I would think a heavy coat of paint would be too thick and soak in but a light dusting of spray paint on the paper might be ok? What do you think?

So, since the burlap is on the back, is that mainly to dress up the sides of the panels? It seems, if the paper is on the front and if you framed it like a lot of people in wood, there would be no need for the burlap at all.

[Mr. Varaldo]

Originally Posted by SaSi_SiDi

Nice pictorial. Perhaps you could iron the burlap before glueing it to the panels. That way creases would not show up..

Thanks and YEP... in fact, yesterday I ironed the burlap before attaching it - for the other 9 panels. So now three look a bit goofy, and the other nine look really good

Originally Posted by SaSi_SiDi

Also, from the pictures, it appears you have attached burlap to the "back" of the panels, leaving the craft paper "exposed". But then, when they are shown against the wall, it appears that the craft paper is facing the wall.

If so, bear in mind that the craft paper should face the front side. It must be there to "reflect" the mid-high frequencies, especially if you add a lot of panels in the room, so that you get absorbtion in the low frequencies but not deaden the highs.

I just didn't know how else to cover the back... didn't want to expose the bare 703 to the wall, but perhaps I should?

Originally Posted by Glenn Kuras

You really do not want the paper on the back.

Thank you Glenn... HELP.... :

Originally Posted by thebaron

Since the paper is to be on the front, would it mess up it's reflectivity too much to lightly spray paint the paper? I just thought, when I make mine, that it would be nice to have a color other than brown paper bag. I would think a heavy coat of paint would be too thick and soak in but a light dusting of spray paint on the paper might be ok? What do you think?

So, since the burlap is on the back, is that mainly to dress up the sides of the panels? It seems, if the paper is on the front and if you framed it like a lot of people in wood, there would be no need for the burlap at all.

yes, it's to "dress" the back of the panels so the exposed 703 doesn't touch the wall... but it appears as I've done a mistake by doing that...

I'll post more pics of the other panels, but basically, I've got the brown paper touching the wall, and the burlap in the front absorbing the sound.

Thank you all for the useful comments!

[PaulP]

Originally Posted by Mr. Varaldo

I'll post more pics of the other panels, but basically, I've got the brown paper touching the wall, and the burlap in the front absorbing the sound.

If the paper is up against the wall I can't see it doing any harm. If there
were an air gap it would probably be a different matter.

Paul P

[Glenn Kuras]

Originally Posted by PaulP

If the paper is up against the wall I can't see it doing any harm. If there
were an air gap it would probably be a different matter.

Paul P

Yea that is true

[bitman]

Excellent diary thank you.

[Mr. Varaldo]

Originally Posted by PaulP

If the paper is up against the wall I can't see it doing any harm. If there
were an air gap it would probably be a different matter.

Paul P

Oh, I see what you are saying.... If I had a frame (with relative air gap) the sound would have one more "chamber" to get into, then bounce on the wall and get back in (basically being "eaten" twice by the fiberglass), but since I built these frameless, without any air gap, having the brown paper makes no difference, right? thanks

Originally Posted by Glenn Kuras

Yea that is true

Cool whew....thanks Glenn

Originally Posted by bitman

Excellent diary thank you.

You're very welcome

__________________________________

So at this point I'm torn.... do I or do I not go the extra mile and put a light frame on the back of these panels? Would it make a huge difference having the cavity between the fiberglass and the walls?

Keeping in mind that I don't play very loudly.... and I have a lot of panels (12 to start, I might build more if needed) in a room that measures 12'x24'

Thanks guys!

[ohmicide]

im planning on making mine similar to these but with a thin wooden frame on the back to hold the fabric

[Weasel9992]

Your wife should probably be wearing something on her hands...unless she likes itchy, red hands.

Frank

[ensemble]

very usefull! Thanks!

[Christopherus]

Hey! No problem man!

Congrats on the new panels

You've beaten me to the punch.. my 703 has been sitting in my garage for a week. I just moved though so I've been busy doing other house work.

Question:

I was wondering if anyone has ever dyed burlap, or has an effective way of coloring it without blocking its breathability?

I am still planning to run by Jo-Ann Fabrics and see if they have any ideas or alternatives so I can cover these bad boys with red fabric.

Thanks in advance

[PaulP]

Originally Posted by Christopherus

I was wondering if anyone has ever dyed burlap, or has an effective
way of coloring it without blocking its breathability?

If you're going to dye burlap you might as well make it flame ******ant
in the process :

How to Make Clothing Flame ******ant | eHow.com

Paul P

[Weasel9992]

Originally Posted by PaulP

If you're going to dye burlap you might as well make it flame ******ant
in the process :

How to Make Clothing Flame ******ant | eHow.com

Paul P

Great idea!

Frank

[Christopherus]

Thanks Paul,

Jo-Ann has burlap in many different colors. I can skip the dying process but I'm still planning on making my fabric flame ******ant.

[camerondye]

So what are the results? Are they easy to hang? What would you do different next time?
Thanks,
cam