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RE: DIY Rack of platform how about this material?

Posted by David Aiken (A) on October 10, 2008 at 02:47:21

In Reply to: DIY Rack of platform how about this material? posted by ericpeters on October 9, 2008 at 02:16:55:

Certainly try it. At one stage I tried polystyrene as the central layer in some constrained layer platforms and they worked quite well. Even better is GatorBoard, a fairly dense, fine core artistboard which is also a form of polystyrene with a thin synthetic layer bonded to each side.

Two warnings:

1—You'll probably need to use some material like plywood/mdf/acrylic or the like bonded to either side as polystyrene on it's own may not be stiff enough to be load bearing. It can certainly handle reasonable weights without squashing if it's suitably dense but components usually make contact via feet which means high pressure over a small contact area, and shelves are often supported at or towards the edges. Too much weight applied over a small area in the wrong spot in relation to where the shelf itself is supported may lead to flexing and cracking. Using another material top and bottom increases stiffness, helps distribute weight evenly over the polystyrene, and constrained layer construction is very good at reducing vibration transmission through the shelf.

2—Be careful with your choice of glues. I found out the hard way that some glues actually dissolve polystyrene over a period of days. The polystyrene central layer of my first constrained layer platform using polystyrene dissolved badly within a week due to the contact cement I used. White PVA woodworking glue did work reliably for me and there are probably other glues that work well also.

Good luck with your experiments. I'd try the versions with melamine or plasterboard sides rather than the felt. You may find that the melamine or plasterboard adds enough stiffness to allow safe use as a shelf bearing reasonable weights, and you know that the glues used to bond the melamine/plasterboard to the polystyrene are safe for use with polystyrene.



David Aiken

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