I have a project to make a few solar screens for the house. The size
is roughly 6' x 3' and frame will be 1/2" x 5/16" aluminum (the stuff
that Home Depot sells)

Last week I made some that were smaller and, with my girlfriend's help,
was able to get the fabric reasonably taut and they looked good. Later
I tried a couple by myself and it was quite a struggle and didn't turn
out quite as well as I would have liked.

If someone would like to share some tips for keeping the fabric taut,
while getting the spline in all by yourself, I would really appreciate
it.

Lewis.

******

In article . com,
wrote:
I have a project to make a few solar screens for the house. The size
is roughly 6' x 3' and frame will be 1/2" x 5/16" aluminum (the stuff
that Home Depot sells)

Last week I made some that were smaller and, with my girlfriend's help,
was able to get the fabric reasonably taut and they looked good. Later
I tried a couple by myself and it was quite a struggle and didn't turn
out quite as well as I would have liked.

If someone would like to share some tips for keeping the fabric taut,
while getting the spline in all by yourself, I would really appreciate
it.

Lewis.

******


I've tried different methods of bowing the frame slightly before
installing the screen, so that when the frame straightens out it pulls
the screen taut. But I've found that what works best for me is to just
use 6 or 8 spring clamps to hold the screen tight across the frame
while installing the spline.

BTW, it's tough to use the frame material you mentioned to make a 6' X
3' screen with straight sides and reasonably tight screening. The
thin aluminum 6' pieces will be bowed inward by the pull of the screen
unless you include a cross bar of some sort.

--

Larry Wasserman Baltimore, Maryland