Guillows Workboards

maninthestreet · Post by **maninthestreet** » Thu Aug 24, 2006 4:37 am

I want to purchase one of the Guillow 36 inch workboards, but Guillow Customer Services say this item is too big to ship internationally - what ever courier they use will not ship items that big.
Can anyone help me here? Perhaps I could use paypal to pay someone in the US to buy and ship it to me, assuming they can find a shipper willing to accept an an item that big.

maninthestreet · Post by **maninthestreet** » Thu Aug 24, 2006 4:38 am

Sorry, forgot to say I am based in the UK.

Madman Stephan · Post by **Madman Stephan** » Thu Aug 24, 2006 7:58 am

Have you thought of using a plain old "cork" board? The type they use for posting messages on with thumb tacks. You can find them in all office supply stores for around half the price, or less, of what you would pay for a workboard. I've used one for years and have no complaints.

maninthestreet · Post by **maninthestreet** » Thu Aug 24, 2006 9:08 am

I looked at those, the cork seems a little thin though, only about 6mm (quarter inch).

Madman Stephan · Post by **Madman Stephan** » Thu Aug 24, 2006 9:22 am

Oh okay, the one I use is about twice that thickness. You could glue a piece of plywood underneath for added rigidity? Or, you could use some rigid insulation styrofoam that can be bought from a home improvement centre? Just options...

maninthestreet · Post by **maninthestreet** » Thu Aug 24, 2006 9:49 am

Styrofoam underneath is a thought; plywood would probably be too tough to push pins into.

supercruiser · Post by **supercruiser** » Thu Aug 24, 2006 10:59 am

How about a magnetic board, see easybuiltmodels.com ?

flightboi122 · Post by **flightboi122** » Fri Aug 25, 2006 1:23 am

the best i would say is the cork board mone is prolly thicker which you can find probofly at an arts of craft store. mines really nice you can hang it and its wrapped in wood.

FranktheTank · Post by **FranktheTank** » Mon Sep 18, 2006 10:03 pm

Hello new to this forum and balsa model world, but found this topic and thought I could add my first 2 cents. I am building the Guillow 500 series Hellcat and have been using an old dart board to pin the plans on, and it has worked great as pins have no problem sticking.

Xanadu · Post by **Xanadu** » Wed Sep 27, 2006 9:53 pm

Best thing I have ever used is a 24"x 36" ceiling tile that is from a suspended ceiling setup. They are 3/4" thick, and great for pinning, etc.
Get one for under $5 at any home store.

Madman Stephan · Post by **Madman Stephan** » Mon Oct 02, 2006 7:52 am

Xanadu, great idea! I hadn't thought of that one! Just make sure you get the "industrial" tiles, not the "residential" ones. The latter are made of fiberglass insulation and are pretty flimsy while the "industrial" ones are more like really stiff cardboard.

fychan · Post by **fychan** » Sat Oct 14, 2006 4:53 am

I thought the ceiling tile was genius too - so I went down to the local hardware store yesterday (Homebase, another UK'er here

) but the only things they had were for home use - polystyrene tiles about 8" square - and only sold in packs of 20 - totally useless and made worse by the fact that they were heavily stippled...

But what they did sell was a polystyrene lining paper for insulation about 3mm thick, in a roll 30ft long for half the price of the ceiling tiles. So I bought a large piece of plywood (large enough for a workboard anyway!) and a roll of this, and have been sticking the two together with PVA glue - it's working like a dream, and it's going to give me about 3/4" polystyrene surface ontop of plywood. Ideal

Thanks for the inspiration Xanadu...

fychan · Post by **fychan** » Sat Oct 14, 2006 5:03 pm

Having finished the construction of the board, and tried it out tonight, I can tell you that it does the job... But - (as I think Xanadu said) the polystrene is very loose - it doesn't hold the pins particularly well. The plywood is too hard to get the pins into on the base - perhaps LDF board would be a better base, but heavier. That may not be such a bad thing, as although the plywood is light (which is why I chose it in the first place) it means it flexes quite easily too - which also pulls the pins out.

But, on the bright side, it's better than a flat packed cardboard box (which was my previous work surface)

Xanadu · Post by **Xanadu** » Sat Oct 14, 2006 5:53 pm

The ceiling tiles I was talking about arre the same found in commercial buildings. Maybe ask a local contractor if he can get you one or at least point where to get one from. Most buildings that also have these, also have a few they keep as spares, just keep and eye out and ask around.
Just because the local home shop has none, try and not let that stop you.
I

fychan · Post by **fychan** » Fri Oct 20, 2006 10:37 am

I knew the tiles you were on about Xanadu - they're almost like plasterboard in consistency - in fact, if I look up now I get an eye-full of them - but as ever - I was impatient to get on with things

The polystyrene board is improving with age however - as the PVA glue is drying out through all the layers, the whole thing is becoming firmer, and the pins are sticking better into it. I'm more and more pleased with the results.

As an additional point however, I had pinned my plans to the board, then covered the plans with a thin sheet of polythene to stop the parts sticking to it... Unfortunately, I had only waited 24 hours before doing so - and I've found 1 week on that the solvents for the glue have seeped upwards and then been caught by the polythene, leaving my plans damp, and stained... And somewhat pungeant!

Drying it off with a hairdryer seems to have solved most of the problems this morning tho - I shall take the hairdryer to the board before re-attaching the plans this weekend