I make mine from 5/32 birch plywood. My lumber yard has a bin that has wood in various dimensions and sizes. I cut my overall dimensions first then with a table saw cut the relief on the back side. As someone else mentioned there is no need to glue plywood to cross grain (already done in mfg). The additional 1/32 in thickness does not affect the board since the additional thickness extends back into the camera.
Mark: They have a reasonable selection of these woods mentioned in the previous responses at Southwest Hobby on Wyoming. -jb
I was helping a neighbor clean up a vacant lot he had inherited from his dad. We threw an old desk from the 1960's in for it's final trip. I noticed the drawer sides were of fine hardwood. Ash. And the bottoms of the drawers were perfect width birch veneer plywood for lens boards. Dagor 77 sent me 2 ground glasses packed in 1/4" stuff like pegboard. Can't think of the name. Made several 4X4 boards out of it. Painted flat black.
PAUL--I did ask for help and was shown stuff like you mentioned. But at all three places the 1/8th stuff was out. Oh well should have gotten the 1/4. Since I do not live in or Near albuquerque-3 hour drive just to get there-The fact that a shipment was coming in really did not do me any good. Tried the hobby lobby on Juan Tabo and they were out too. There was a place for it though.
JEFF--Doh! forgot all about Southwest hobbies.
Thanks folks I will be haunting a couple of lumber stores in Gallup Monday. Lots of great ideas. I know they have masonite(I think that is what peg board is made from right?) I just want to get shooting.
The reason I was going to cross the grain was I am just anal and it pisses me off when something I make warps or splits. You are probably right and I do not need to worry about it. Living and working in the boonies like I do makes it difficult to get things like this right when I need it.
I made several out of oak once and glued them cross grained and they still warpped. Took a day or two for it to show up but it happened. I made some out of 3/4" mahogany and used a router table to shave off the amount needed to seat it in the lens board that board never has warpped and is still in use today after about 12 years. I finished the boards with stain on the front and varnish and black paint on the back.
leec
Mark
As you can see there are many options for that. I think the best is aluminum , I have some made with it but, at least in my case, I've needed to ask for a machinist with adequated skill and tools. In the DIY mode I've made some with fenolite, it is a material used in electronic goods, it is a mix of resin and paper. Good resistance and easy to work with. Easy to find in electronics stuff stores.
If you don't find what you need, email me directly and I'll send you enough 1/8 inch birch plywood to make your lensboard.
If you'd like something a little prettier, www.micro-mark.com has various woods, including mahogany. in sizes from 1/32 X 3 X 24" up to 3/8" thick. You can make a very original looking lensboard with these and the prices are in the $5.00/sheet area.
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