Template Paper

[50 F1]

I wasn't having any luck finding the correct thickness paper or poster board for making templates for making brackets, patch panels, interior panels etc. I was using poster board from Walmart but it was to thin and to expensive.

Found this stuff at Home Depot. It is called Trimaco X Board. It is used to protect new flooring at  construction sites.

It is a roll, 35" x 100' (more than I will use in a lifetime). It was $32

It is the perfect thickness for making templates.

It wants to keep the curve in itself when you cut a piece off the roll but I found if I hit it with a heat gun for a few seconds it flattens out.

I have made a couple templates the last couple days and I really like it.

Mike

[sirstude]

I use that stuff to cover my hoist when I painted the bottom of the Olds.  I also pick up the stuff that Costco puts between the paper towel stacks and other paper products.  John told me about the latter.

[Charlie Chops 1940]

I use tablet backs, tissue and cereal boxes and the like. I found something called contractors paper at Lowe's...sort of a cross between butcher paper and tissue/cereal box material

[Crosley.In.AZ]

Most of the patterns I need to make are smaller. In rebuild kits for transmissions..  there is a chip board backer board.  It works well and they are phree

if a slightly larger pattern is needed,  I tape the chip board  pieces together.

[idrivejunk]

(At work) I use posterboard, which I can't imagine being cost prohibitive. But, we ran out last week and it seemed like it took me twenty minutes taping scraps together for a two foot part, which does affect cost. I don't think I would want anything that held a curl from being on a roll nor would I want to heat it to flatten. But pro and hobby are night and day different, though. Never hurts to know of alternatives, and if a guy needed a real long pattern the stuff on a roll wins I reckon. What I did the other day might make sense if a guy finds himself with more than a lifetime supply... boss brought five sheets posterboard, I kept two and doled out the rest to those who come to my stall asking for it.

[papastoyss]

i collect used dept. store gift boxes at Christmas & save them, they're a good thickness & easily cut w/ scissors