AviationNut

I bought one of the Great Planes building boards a while back and stuck it in the garage till the next balsa plane build. Well, now that I'm going to be building again, I see that the board is warped. I tried wetting it and putting weights on it on my flat building table, but it just warps again once it dries out. Any advise on how to get this thing straight again would be greatly appreciated.

Rudolph Hart

Yes i can help..thoroughly sand the top of your work bench and the bottom of your great planes building board,lot's of epoxy and and back on with the weights,hey presto!..sorry just kidding.I imagine it's driving you nuts.My dad is a retired carpenter/woodworker and he say's throw the thing away.A sheet of that white plastic they cut up for kitchen carving boards is very flat and stable.You could epoxy a 6mm/1/4 inch sheet of your favourite building board on top if you want to tho i think t pins stick to it.Failing that..a good piece of marine ply.

woodbutcher

I'm assuming that your flat building table is something you don't want to fasten anything to otherwise a few screws is what I'd do.

It's difficult to imagine this board would remain flat under any condition. Wood moves no matter what specie and way joined together. You could try overwarping in the opposite direction but it's so hit and miss it's probably a waste of time. Even if you get it to straighten out I can't imagine it staying flat once you put it down on a surface and only one side is exposed to air.

I use double sided carpet tape in the shop for a lot of temporary holding situations. Under the right conditions and amounts this fastening is incredibly strong. If the pressure it takes to flatten the board isn't too great the tape should work without having to use a lot. Experiment with as little as it takes . It can really stick to some surfaces that are smooth and sealed , like a table top, laminate etc. It probably won't stick as well to the balsa your board is made from. If you have trouble getting the tape off hit it with the heat gun and putty knife. Clean up the residue with denatured alcohol.


Good luck

Gray Beard

My Feedback: (-1)

This question has been posted all over RCU over the years and it comes around to the same answer, no!! Once it is warped that's pretty much it unless you want to screw on cross frames under it but that doesn't seem to last either.
Most builders make there own boards from A number of materials, mine is soft pine with cross bracing screwed under it to keep it level. After 10 years I still haven't had to run it through an over head sander again. Cheap, easy and pins will stick in it and stay.

AviationNut

Thanks for the input folks. It's pretty warped, so I guess I'll just chuck it - too bad I didn't get any use from it. Instead, I'm going to try some 3/32" cork glued to a ceiling tile - the tile doesn't hold pins worth a hoot itself. Thanks again.

Gray Beard

My Feedback: (-1)

How well do you think the 3/32 cork will hold pins. When you see people using cork it is usually over something like A hollow core door or even A solid door.
If you do A search on RCU there have been countless people asking about building boards and some great ideas shared. I was surprised at how many people just used the hollow core doors alone over saw horses.

Rudolph Hart

Good idea AN,thicker cork? it's a stable composite nowadays.

AviationNut

I'll let you all know how it works out - I'll be starting the build this week. I can always add another layer of cork if it's not enough, though it seems like it will be good off-hand.

AviationNut

The board I made is working well. I've built the horizontal and vertical stabs for my Elder 40 kit so far, and it worked out fine. The pins hold much better than they did with just plain ceiling tile. I guess I could add another layer of cork to make the pins hold even better, but so far it's worked out fine as is. We'll see how the 1st wing panel goes before I decide.