I am one of those obnoxious fellows that gets to walk around the office all day with a clipboard, reading glasses positioned towards the tip of my nose, asking the ‘real’ workers how things are progressing and reminding them of scheduling commitments.
I know, tough job – but somebody has to do it.
For some time now I’ve been thinking about showing off my woodworking by making my own clipboard. Something fancy, perhaps several types of wood.
Here’s my question – clip boards are generally made from 1/8″ hardboard. The wood(s) I choose must be relatively light, but very stiff to function well at 1/8″ thickness.
Any suggestions? Examples?
Regard it as just as desirable to build a chicken house as to build a cathedral.
Frank Lloyd Wright
Edited 7/25/2006 9:47 am by Rennie
Replies
when I was a kid I made a clipboard out of maple and walnut that was about 1/2" thick. had to be thick because the screws that screw down clip had to bite in the wood. With 1/8" thick wood you would probably have to rivet the clip to the board.
Plywood, with a fancy veneer job.
I have made hoops and thin brackets from laminating veneer to arrive at 1/8th thickness. two 1/16ths laminations either side of thin steel sheet would give you the option of using a metal propelling pencil which you could magnetize as a bonus. This way you might come up with some interesting veneer patterns on the visible layers.
I have a really old one picked up at someone's estate years ago. It's not fancy -- just a big slab of mahogany -- but it's 3/8" thick with the top and side edges bevelled on the back so that it's effectively thinner and easier to hold. The clip is stout and manly, a good match for the mahogany.
I would perhaps laminate some different woods, make the board 3/8" and bevel like this one. If you want to get real fancy, run an inlay around the top edge. Find some really nice hardware for it.
forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
Rennie,
You need a hard dense smooth surface for writing on; like masonite; veneer is too thin for ballpoint pens; they'll tear it up; I have several clipboards made out of aircraft aluminum; take rivets well; very light; very strong.
How about aluminum with wood accent border??
Pasa bon tarde.
Excellent ideas, everyone. I'm leaning towards making it a little thicker and staying with all wood. Perhaps edge gluing several species into a stripped pattern. I like the tapered perimeter idea.
I don't do a lot of writing on the board, just notes on a preprinted schedule, but I'll watch my choice of woods none the less.
More ideas? All are welcome.Regard it as just as desirable to build a chicken house as to build a cathedral. Frank Lloyd Wright
Rennie,
I would really consider fiberglassing the top surface.
Now before people pull out their flame throwers, what I am suggesting is a very light fiberglass cloth - available at airplane model shops, covered with a thin coating of resin. This will give a hard flat surface that will stand up to writing implements.
The other idea would be to inlay the top with a writing surface such as leather and trimming the perimeter with veneers. This would appeal to the traditionalists.
Be sure and post some pics of the clipboard when you are done, sounds like a really neat project.
Mike
Re: the writing surface. Personally, I don't like to have a rock-hard (or glass-hard, whatever) surface underneath a piece of paper when I'm writing. I like to have.....another piece of paper, or 2 or 3! Varies from person to person I'm sure.forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
"...veneer is too thin for ballpoint pens"
I made a very nice clipboard for a friend by veneering both sides of a thin piece of Baltic birch, and it had help up very well to over 20 years of abuse the last time I saw it. I filled the pores by wet-sanding. IIRC, the finish was Behlen's Rock Hard Tabletop varnish.
-Jazzdogg-
"Don't ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive, and go do that, because what the world needs is people who have come alive." Gil Bailie
Jazz,
I must lean too heavily on the pen.
Pasa bon dia.
Henk.
Rennie,
For a good hard writing surface, use titanium. Very hard. Very light. You could edge it with some nice bubinga, and put a bubinga clip on it. I can't wait to see the Knots thread on how to machine titanium, and how to attach the bubinga to it.
Enjoy.
Mel
Measure your output in smiles per board foot.
At a hundred bucks a pound the titanium and bubinga are in the same price range too. I would suggest gold rivets for attachment, lesser materials might seem cheesy.
Since the house is on fire let us warm ourselves. ~Italian Proverb
I have made a bunch of them. I just glue up scrap off-cuts into panels, run them through the planner and they look like 1/4" thick cutting boards. It is a great way to use up those long edge rippings that are just to good to throw away. You can get the clips at Rockler I think, I attached them with small machine screw and nuts.
Good advice. Thanks.
Would you recommend the less expensive nickle standard clips, or the brass low profile?
I'm leaning towards the more pricey brass. Something different/special.Regard it as just as desirable to build a chicken house as to build a cathedral. Frank Lloyd Wright
I have used both, I think the low profile ones look nicer. Also, it the strips you are using are long enough, you can get three boards from each glue-up. I saves planning time.
Would you post a few pictures of the boards you've made? It might be a great help.Regard it as just as desirable to build a chicken house as to build a cathedral. Frank Lloyd Wright
As soon as my daughter shows me how to use that digital camera!
In my experience any thing under 1/4" will warp too much to be usefull at the width you need. Really even 1/2" will warp noticibly.
Pardon my spelling,
Mike
Make sure that your next project is beyond your skill and requires tools you don't have. You won't regret it.
Depends on yer wood too... 1/4" curly maple warps like crazy, but I bet a 1/4" purpleheart board will be hard and flat for some time.My goal is for my work to outlast me. Expect my joinery to get simpler as time goes by.
No it will not. I have many of these that are 20+ years old and are as flat as the day they came out of the planer, and I have made well over 200 of them. They are about 10" wide and have at least 12 laminated strips.
When you say "laminated" do you mean edge jointed and glued up as a panel, or numerous thin veneers laminated togather to creat the thickness?
MikePardon my spelling,
Mike
Make sure that your next project is beyond your skill and requires tools you don't have. You won't regret it.
Narrow strips edged glued, more are better. I also turn a lot of platters that start out the same way, just thicker, so I built simple glue-up jig that uses wedges for clamps. It makes managing all those thin pieces a lot easier. I have also cross cut the panels at an angle and glued them back together with a strip in the cut, it looks like a contrasting slash across the board, it is cross grain but has never caused a problem. Or, cut it apart on the bandsaw in a curve and re-glue with a strip of veneer. I use polyurethane glue for all these.
Why not just laminate 1" or 2" thick blocks, then bandsaw out a half dozen clipboards in one go? Sand, finish and ship. Seems like most of the work is in the assembly and glue-up, which would be at least as easy working with thicker stock anyway.My goal is for my work to outlast me. Expect my joinery to get simpler as time goes by.
You would still have to plane them after resawing, My bandsaw is in fine tune but you wouldn't want to try to sand out the saw marks. Most ripping off cuts are less than 1"x 1", but are at least a couple feet long.
I do use much thicker stock for the platters I turn, but most of that is not scrap.
Has your daughter showed you how to work that camera yet? ;o)Regard it as just as desirable to build a chicken house as to build a cathedral. Frank Lloyd Wright
You're right of course. I always plane off the BS when resawing, it's just faster than sanding. I just wanted to get the idea out there...My goal is for my work to outlast me. Expect my joinery to get simpler as time goes by.
Sorry, mud, have to disagree. Looking at the hardware and the width of board on this old one I have, it's probably 60 years old or more. One solid piece of mahogany, flat as can be. Probably was out of a nice, slow-growing tree and cut properly.forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
You can see a few I've made with maple/blackwalnut/mahogony/white oak (the mahogony is a bit soft)
follow the link to my woodworking blog below (dustmaker)...
Mark
Mark it with Chalk,
Cut it with an Ax.
Visit my woodworking blog Dust Maker
Mark,
This is exactly what I want to do. From whom did you buy the hardware?Regard it as just as desirable to build a chicken house as to build a cathedral. Frank Lloyd Wright
I'm pretty sure I bought them through Woodcraft.Mark
Measure it with a Micrometer,
Mark it with Chalk,
Cut it with an Ax.
Visit my woodworking blog Dust Maker
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