A friend saw some of the laminated cutting boards I recently made for a charity auction and asked me to make him a writing board. This is a board that he puts across his lap while sitting in his recliner to hold a book or write. He’s currently using an old table top of some sort.
The cutting boards that I have made were an inch thick and no wider than 12″. He would like his board to be 30″ x 15″. If I made this board an inch thick, it would be too heavy. I would like to make this board relatively thin, but not so thin that it warps over time or even while he uses it.
I have thought of making my own piece of hardwood plywood. Maybe three layers of 3/16″ thick wood. Maple layers on the outside and the inner layer cherry or walnut. Does this make sense? Could I go even thinner, say 1/8″ and still end up with a strong stable board? Would I laminate the inner layer with the grain running across the grain of the two outer layers for strength? Or would that just come apart as the wood moves? Would I laminate the board with the grain all running in the same direction, just alternating the ‘cupped’ sides of the board?
There will be some more intricate laminate that I will want to add as decoration, like my cutting boards. Attached is a picture of the cutting boards for reference.
Edited 6/21/2008 11:28 am ET by handymom
Replies
That's a fancy cutting board - almost too nice to use.
Regarding the writing board, are you familiar with torsion boxes? Basically, it's a hollow box with a honeycomb inside. It results in a very ridgid board that weight very little.
Chris @ www.flairwoodwork.spaces.live.com
- Success is not the key to happines. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful. - Albert Schweitzer
I had thought of creating a board that was mostly hollow inside with some structural supports. I didn't know the name for it. Any idea how thin I could make the outer layer?
If you have a BS you could resaw to the height it allows, on mine that is 12". Or if you have 15" thickness planer, you could create your torsion box with thick heavy sides, and then reduce it evenly on both sides. They would be 1/4" thick with a 1/4" spacers.
I would love to have a writting table that looks as nice as your cutting boards. You might router in a pencil holder and/or a clip mech to hold the writting table/book. AZMO
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Sounds like 1/4" is an adequate thickness for stability. I like the clip idea - Thanks.
30"X 15" is not THAT big. You could make it 3/4" thick and it would not be too heavy. You could even shave it down to 5/8". If you go the torsion box route make it 1 1/4" with 3/4" spacers.
Another way would be to create a SIP style panel with a foam core and then lay up a nice hardwood edging on it.
I once made some smaller cutting boards for a restaurant that were only about 3/8" thick and they were about 8" X 14". I kept one for myself and used it for about fifteen years until the wife popped it into the dishwasher one day. It held up fine (but the dishwasher did it in).
Unfortunately, my thickness planer is 12 1/2" so I will be doing some hand planing on this one. I will probably create a torsion box but keep it to 3/4". I'm still curious about gluing up layers of hardwood.
Make it in two halves and then edge glue it. Then you can just scrape and sand the joint. I've nothing against hand planing but it's problematic on this type of laminate and offers no incentives (like plane marks on flooring would).
I'd do the planing before splitting the laminates to final thickness though and scrape and sand only after assembly... because the planer might suck the thin panels up between the torsion box web parts and damage or destroy it.
Edited 6/21/2008 3:39 pm ET by bigfootnampa
Even plywood warps; at least the stuff sitting around my shop does. Maybe it started out that way, but I don't think so. What about a lighter, more stable species of solid wood? Just an idea.
Brian
Handy,
There is a great company called Levenger who makes neat stuff for readers and writers. They actually sell writing boards/lap desks. You might want to look at their site for some design ideas.
http://www.levenger.com
Good luck with the project.
Thanks for the website information. I like some of the design ideas that they have incorporated into their lap desks. I didn't know that there really was such a product.
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