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Cutting Use a fresh #11 blade for intricate cuts and a utility knife for fast cuts. Use temporary mounting spray to attach paper print-outs of desired shapes to guide cutting. Optimal laser cutting and etching results depend on machine settings. Sanding Edges can be easily sanded. Sand off laser edge burn. Sand to correct misaligned joints, jagged edges or cutting mistakes. Sand to remove excess glue. Sanding the surface, sanding when wet and sanding hot glue residue should be avoided. Moistening & Forming Taskboard stays rigid and flat when dry yet becomes pliable when moistened. Then it can easily be formed into curved 3D shapes. Once dry again, it returns to being rigid and keeps its new shape. Use a water spray bottle to lightly wet both sides of the board. Give time to absorb then work the sheet with fingers or against any round object such as a dowel while pre-forming. Apply even pressure gently to avoid cracking. Taskboard forms into tighter curves in the direction in which it flexes more easily. 1/32” boards form to the tightest curves; 1/16” white board forms to tight curves; 1/16” and 3/32” basswood-tone to loose curves. 1/8” boards cannot be formed. Thicker boards and some shapes need more moistening: To learn how much moistness will result in best forming needs experimentation. Too little or too much water will result in surface cracking but minute surface blemishes vanish on drying. Any swelling when wet subsides to the original thickness when dry. Holding & Drying Hold your shape with straight pins, rubber bands, loops of paper, mini clamps and other holds. Everyday objects can serve as support structures. Taskboard itself is a good material for making support structures round which to hold the shape being formed. Avoid excessive pressure. Use damp pieces of taskboard between holds and your shape to buffer and avoid pressure marks. Small marks left in the dried shape may be removed by wetting just that area, then re-drying. A convection oven set to 180ºF dries most shapes within 10 minutes. Drying at room temperature takes about three hours. Room fans significantly reduce drying time. Tap with a fingernail to test if the board is dry. A high, crisp sound means it is dry. A low, dull sound means it is still moist. Laminating To make a non-flexing board, laminate two or more sheets together with the preferred flex directions of each sheet rotated at 90º to the next. Even laminates of up to ½” thickness can be cut: these cuts will be rough and may need sanding of edges afterwards. Curved shapes should be formed first and then laminated. Gluing & Painting Taskboard readily bonds with spray glue for lamination and template mounting, hot glue for fast creation of sketches and structural elements, and white glue for both structural and visual applications. If painting, most visual results can be achieved with acrylic paint. Other paints, stains, dyes, inks, primers and sealers may be used for different needs and effects. Taskboard may warp if painted with overly diluted paint. Trouble shooting Experiment with different thicknesses, moistening, and types of hold to get the best from taskboard. Visit soon for further tips and video tutorials and do contact us with any questions or feedback. |
