blindguarden

I was just wondering what's your thoughs about the GP Magnet building boad system. Should I get it or should I not? Price does not matter to me.

thanks in advance,
Blindguarden

rajul

My Feedback: (58)

You might find this article from Cafeenman useful http://airfieldmodels.com/informatio...oard/index.htm

RCKen

My Feedback: (9)

NOT NOT NOT NOT NOT. Too much money for not enough board. Build your own. You'll have a better system for less money. Cafeenman has written an excellent how-to on his website.

[link]http://www.airfieldmodels.com/information_source/how_to_articles_for_model_builders/tools/magnetic_building_board/index.htm[/link]

I have one that I'm working on putting together (still need about another 100 magnets) and I can't possibly imagine every building without it.

Hope this helps

prossa

I agree with the other posters. Airfieldmodels.com has done a great job in laying out how to build a magnetic building board. For the cost of the GP's building board, and thanks to airfieldmodels, I now have a 7' x3' magnetic building surface mounted on 3x3's. It's super! Now all I have to do is complete building the jig fixtures.....

CCRC1

My Feedback: (13)

I agree with the other posts above. I have been using a magnet board for years and wouldn't part with it. As the other posts indicate, the Tower Hobbies board is to small. I made one 30"x60" and I am considering a bigger one! My building table is made from 2 unfinished cabinets I got for next to nothing at a clearance sale. These serve as the base. Layed across the top of both of the cabinets is a solid core door that I have attached a piece of 1/8" steel plate. The cabinets each have several drawers that I use to store the magnets and other essential stuff. Once you try a magnet board you will be hooked!

saramos

After finding CafeenMan's website, I put together a 2' x 4' buildboard. I built 2 planes in the 60" range on it and found the board was still a bit too small for some tasks. I would imagine that I would have found the size of the GP board to be very limiting. I am now converting my garage into a workshop and have build a new island benchtop. The last task on the benchtop is to purchase a 4' x 8' sheet of steel.

Scott

kqutob

Blindguaden
The GP board is adequate for planes up to size 60, and you might need to order some additional magnets & fixtures. For larger kits you may require a larger board which you can easily find anywhere.
Anyway if you are rushed for time and money is not a concern go for it .

blindguarden

thanks guys for the web sight on Cafeenmans building boad!! Great thing he has there. I am going to go that route for a magnet building board ....

Thanks again,
Blindguarden

pt19 flyer

My Feedback: (1)

hi

I have one of the originals before GP bought it and it works great. Think you would like it. Also there is a source of additional magnets cheap from magnet source in florida, they have a web site. you have to assemble the metal plates on with CA thin but it is no problem. be sure to order magnets with holes.

happy flying
pt19 flyer

davidm

My Feedback: (18)

I have 2 of the boards for sell, they were pre GP, the Lind company.
[email protected]

saramos

Here's a photo of my just completed benchtop. The construction is similar to a hollow core door. It's 3" thick with a sheet of 3/4" MDF on top, and 1/2" MDF on bottom, with an internal frame structure made from 1" x 2"s, and is banded by 1" x 4"s. This is dropped over a 1/2" MDF top, mounted on 4, half height, Gorilla rack shelving units. The benchtop is surfaced with a 4' x 8' sheet of 16 guage cold rolled steel. My next step will be to fill and paint the woodwork, scribe a reference grid and apply some car wax to the steel.

Scott

BusyBear

Couple of Questions??? Whats a good source for the steel top? How do you keep it flat? How is it attached?

Thanks!!

CAPtain232

My Feedback: (40)

Hey guys,

Cafeenman has some pictures of my particular building table on his site as well. I am not going to try to convince you that it is the PERFECT TABLE, but there are a few things I would like to share with you.

If you view Cafeenman's site and look at the article he has on my table...link [link=http://www.airfieldmodels.com/information_source/how_to_articles_for_model_builders/tools/magnetic_building_board/jeff_cottrell.htm]magnetic building table[/link].... you can see what my table looks like. He has quoted some things that I wrote to him "The table is also a key component. All magnets create a magnetic field which extends past the surface of the magnet. The stronger the magnet, the further away this field projects."

"This is the reason why the thickness of the steel plate that is used in conjunction with the magnets is so important. The table that I have fabricated is 2 ft x 8 ft and has a 1/4" thick plate for the top."

As a comparison, you could think of it as either using long screws or short screws to fasten something down. the longer the screw, the more "BITE" you have into the piece of wood. Well if you look at the sketch below, the drawings depict the effect of using thicker steel with a magnet. In the first drawing, the magnetic field extends past the bottom surface of the steel plate (in red). The second picture shows a steel plate that is thick enough to allow the magnetic field to "BITE" more. You could take just about any magnet (for best results, use a hefty one) and stick it on your refrigerator and then pull it off to get an idea of what the magnetic pulling force is on thin metal. Then take the same magnet and stick it to the frame of your car and you will realize a stronger magnetic pulling force. Using the 1/4" thick plate on my table, several of the larger magnets have to be PRYED off of the table with a prybar.

When building with magnets, this can be very important to the success of the building table. If you make the top plate out of thin metal, your magnets may not have the force to hold your pieces in place. Unfortunately, thicker metal is more expensive as steel is sold by the pound. To give you an idea, the table in the link cost about $250 just in materials. This includes the necessary shims to LEVEL the table. In picture #3 from the link, you can see a shim sticking out from under the top plate. On this 2ft by 8ft table, I have 27 bolts used to fasten the top plate to the frame. Between the frame and the top plate at every bolt location, I have the appropriate sizes of shims slipped in there to make the table as close to perfectly flat as possible.

Again, this is the expensive route, but if your building skills are good, you can build nearly perfectly straight wings on this thing.

saramos

Hi BusyBear

The sheet on my table lays on top of a 4' x 8' x 3/4" sheet of MDF which is the top skin of a 4' x 8' x 3" box. I framed the outside of the box with 1" x 4" clear pine. I positioned the frame to be 1/16" higher than the MDF and the steel sits in the inset.

Scott

BusyBear

Thanks, that helps me. Is the metal plate glued to the table to hold it flat? Your table looks exactly like what I'm wanting to build!!!

saramos

I am not using anything to anchor the steel. The fit is tight enough, and the sheet is heavy enough that it will not move. As for the source of the metal, I live in the Los Angeles area, and there are plenty of metal shops near by. The one I went to sold the steel in 4' x 10' sheets. For a small charge, they cut it to size. In total, the sheet and cutting cost $103. Look in the yellow pages in your area under metal retail or sheet metal.

As far as construction goes, I bolted the 4 shelving units together. They are just under 4' long and 18" wide. The legs of the units are L irons and extend 1/2" above the top shelf. I cut a 4 x 8 x 1/2" sheet of MDF into 4 pieces and notched them so they would fit over the legs and fill the space, and screwed them into the wood of the top shelf.

I used a 16 guage brad nailer to assemble the internal 1 x 2 framework. I then used exterior drywall screws to attach a full sheet of 1/2 MDF to one side of the internal frame, flipped it over and screwed the sheet of 3/4 MDF to the other side. All screw holes were drilled and counter sunk. After attaching the MDF, I went over the sheets with my largest sanding bar with 80 grit.

I then set the assembly on top of the shelving units and shimmed it till I got a flat surface. I used an 8' aluminum straight edge and a strong backlight for this. Once flat, I attached the 1 x 4 frame with screws with the frame extended 1/16" above the MDF. The last step was to add the sheet metal. I loosened the screws on the frame, dropped the sheet in on top, and re-tightened the frame.

I originally planned on building a custom cabinet base for my building bench. But I also wanted to get up and running quickly. I already had the shelving units, and since the top can be removed and placed on top of a new base at some future date, this seemed like a good way to go. Total cost in wood and metal was about $225. The shelving units originally cost me a total of $200 too.

If you have welding skills, an all metal structure would be more stable and durable, but if like me, you don't have welding skills, the results is a flat and stable surface that will serve me for a long time.

Scott

blw

My Feedback: (3)

I got the GP board as a birthday present. The biggest help so far is using the grids to align the fuselage for building, and later to align the stabs and wings. Getting some of those orange triangles with a base side from Lowe's for a few bucks is also something good to have with the board.

BusyBear

Saramos:

Thanks again for your information and help, I'm getting kind of excited about this project.

I checked out some local suppliers and found some Hot rolled steel, grey in color 4x8 sheet, little bit of surface rust, but not bad, would work well if I could paint it. Still have to find a place to cut it.

Is your table top 4x8 looks narrower in the pictures. Trying to figure out what size I want 3' X 6'? 4x8 seems to take up alot of space, tough to reach from one side to the other. Still trying to figure out what to use as a base.

Did you have to do any prep to your steel sheet?, your looks like a shinny finish?, did you or are you planning on painting it? I'll post some pictures if I go ahead with this.

Tim

saramos

I hope your build goes well. I set mine up as an island in the middle of the garage floorspace. This gives me access from all sides. I too had questioned if it would be too big, but I figured as an island, it would give me flexability, and it also ment less cutting. The steel I got came finished as shown in the photo. I plan on scribing a 1" grid and then waxing it. I worry that the magnets would just end up scratching a painted serface.
My last board, a 2' x 4' sheet, I scribed a 1/4" grid. I found this to be overkill. The best part of the 1/4" grid was that it was perfect for truing up the edges of balsa sheets.

Scott