Concave

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Sam Ferguson on June 4, 2013 at 19:42

I use a rail press and 3mm ply. It is simple and cheap if you have some wood laying around

Premium MemberPermalink Reply by Deeks63 on June 5, 2013 at 11:54

spot on Sam - you can make a rail press for about $35 and use it again and again.

Permalink Reply by Sam Ferguson on June 5, 2013 at 18:51

Cheers deeks that's how I make most of decks, it good cause you can modify it slighty and do kicktails aswell

Premium MemberPermalink Reply by Deeks63 on June 5, 2013 at 20:01

NP Sam - Charlie, here's one I made when I first started out board making - bit more up-market - cost me $45...

 

Permalink Reply by charliefisher on June 6, 2013 at 13:29

Can you like tell me all the parts you need to make this

Premium MemberPermalink Reply by Deeks63 on June 6, 2013 at 14:37

Sure!

• 1200x300mm melamine baseboard (the melamine coating stops the deck from being glued to the base board) - that's the white board in the photo
• 5.6 m of 70x35 pine - any hardware store will cut it to length for you - you want 8 x 400mm and 2 x 1200mm
• 4 pieces of 3/8" threaded rod - 1 metre long (you need to cut these in half to give you 8 pieces 500mm long)
• 24 x 3/8" nuts, 24 x 3/8" washers
• 2 "strips" of timber 1200mm long (I cut a piece of decking down the middle) - these are the red pieces of timber on the outside and how your concave is bent - the decking is 22mm thick.
• the little metal 90 degree brackets just make it easier to ensure the rail doing all the pressing is centered and it's easy to lift up and drop down

Other than that - a couple of spanners, a drill, a 3/8" drill bit, a few screws, and a steady hand!  take your time to ensure the whole lot is lined up squarely - once you've got it all assembled, label each end (A and B or however you like) because if you don't you'll soon understand why when it wont go back together the first time you pull it apart!

I used to press 2 sheets of 6mmm ply together at a time rather than stuff around with multiple sheets of 3mm or 4mm and the results were pretty good.