Flatten Rolled Drawings
 

How can you flatten the tightly rolled drawings so they can be used for building on? I tried to roll them backwards on a cardboard roll but they still curl up tightly in the original direction. The sheet is quite large, about 3' by 4'.

Tape the corners and middle edges to your building board, smoothing out the plans as you go. Use masking tape.

If the plans have been rolled and stored for say 10 years, then after rerolling them in the opposite direction you must store them for another 10 years rolled that way for them to be flat.:rolleyes: Or you could just pin, tape, and thumbtack them to your building board and get on with the build.

I'd try ironing them. Start with a low temperature, and work your way up. I'd only try steam as a last resort, but it might just be the ticket to success. Good luck, and let us know if it worked.

I may have been lucky with mine but I've used a light water spray on the back side and then ran a heat gun (my wife's hair dryer, actually) over them. Worked just fine.

I'm looking at storing my rolled plans flat between two inward-facing sheets of hardboard panel boards from Home Depot, the stuff with a smooth white finish and acrylic coating.Maybe create "voids" so the pages can breathe, not mildew. Short term, maye very lightly misting then ironing as mentioned.

That's what I do. Just iron them and it usually takes a fairly high temp. They flatten right out with little effort. I've done that many times. No water or steam was ever necessary.

Just about every kit I build is over 20 years old. You're right. I just lay the plans out, secure the corners, and build from them.

Hmm. So every few years, I should take out the drawings, roll them backwards and put them back in the box until the next re-rolling?:p My oldest kit, partially built, I bought in 1962.

Just lay you plans out and use them. That's what most of us do.

Hopefully the Kaos will start that trend!

Backrolling them got them to the point where I could get then scanned and copied as I did not want to hack up the originals. Time to get building. :)