My wife and some of her friends are avid quilters. The blocks they make as they create new quilts need to be ironed along the way and a regular ironing board is a bit too small for their tastes. They wanted something wider that also has a consistent width along its full length (no more pointy end for them).
I've seen a few plans floating around the internet showing various solutions, but I didn't like the way they attached the new bigger top to the old ironing board. Velcro, clips, grips…too bulky, too unsightly, and difficult to store during those rare moments the pointy end of the original ironing board is actually needed for normal laundry.
My wife's ironing board is a fairly new model, so the top is made from plastic…that ruled out the bulky clamping approaches. Using velcro just didn't seem sturdy enough to keep an oversized board in place.
Fortunately, when I peeled back the cover on her ironing board to see what might work, I discovered the plastic top had a great pattern of holes…and a simple solution was inspired! You can see her ironing board, minus its original cover, standing next to the new top in the first picture. The second picture shows the new top in use.
I've made three of these at the TechShop in San Jose. For more info on TechShop, see their website at: http://www.techshop.ws
I've seen a few plans floating around the internet showing various solutions, but I didn't like the way they attached the new bigger top to the old ironing board. Velcro, clips, grips…too bulky, too unsightly, and difficult to store during those rare moments the pointy end of the original ironing board is actually needed for normal laundry.
My wife's ironing board is a fairly new model, so the top is made from plastic…that ruled out the bulky clamping approaches. Using velcro just didn't seem sturdy enough to keep an oversized board in place.
Fortunately, when I peeled back the cover on her ironing board to see what might work, I discovered the plastic top had a great pattern of holes…and a simple solution was inspired! You can see her ironing board, minus its original cover, standing next to the new top in the first picture. The second picture shows the new top in use.
I've made three of these at the TechShop in San Jose. For more info on TechShop, see their website at: http://www.techshop.ws
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Signing UpStep 1: Materials & Tools
Materials
Tools
- 5/8" plywood (you may have to settle for 19/32", just call it 5/8", it's close enough)
- 4 @ 10-24 threaded inserts (Woodcraft item #12K10, ~$4 for a pack of 10)
- 4 @ 10-24 miniature knobs with 1/2" studs (Woodcraft item #27R11, ~$4 for 2 packs of 2)
- 4 @ 1/4" washers
- Heat-resistant ironing board cover material (Bo-Nash.com's "Extra Large" with foam pad)
- tape or Scotch brand Super 77 Spray Adhesive
- Ironing board that desperately needs a bigger top
Tools
- Drill w/ 3/8" diameter bit
- Tape measure
- Panel saw or table saw
- Jig saw
- Random-orbit sander w/ fine and very-fine sand paper
- Slotted/standard screwdriver or 10-24 T-wrench (Woodcraft item #12K15, ~$5)
- Pencil
- Silver Sharpie (or similar permanent marker)
- Dust mask (use while sanding)
- Tarp (or old newspaper if you can still find that stuff)
- Razor knife (box cutter)
- Staple gun (not the stapler from your desk at work!)
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ps. I not sure why you sanded, because it's all covered up.
I've made one that was wider than 18", but I placed the holes slightly towards the front instead of along the center. That way, more of the excess would be against the wall and there'd be less sticking out towards the user. In theory that should help avoid a wider board being easily tipped (though I had to ask them which end of their ironing board faced the wall so I'd get the wholes towards the front and not make things worse by having them biased towards the back).
Thanks for the tip on the ironing board fabric at JoAnn's. I'll look for it next time my wife has me tag along to the fabric store. I used the BoNash because I found it at a quilting store last year and used some for a different (much smaller) project. It was the only ironing board fabric I knew of… :-)
As for sanding, that was partially to make the sticky bits stick better. Bare wood oxidizes over time and nothing sticks well to oxidation. A quick sanding exposes fresh wood which should stick better (unless the sanding dust doesn't get wiped away - I've made that mistake a few times).
I also sanded to ease the edges slightly and because some of the bottom isn't covered, so it gets seen by the folks I've made these for…and handled by them when they're installing or removing their cover. Sanded feels nicer to the touch, so it's also part of trying to make a good impression on the customer.
Thanks again for the tip on JoAnn's. Enjoy your new board!
Tim S.
Another board cover you may want to look into is the Miracle Ironing Board Cover. I read it's made of Nomex and I'm trying to find yardage, but meanwhile you can look up the specs on their site www.miracleironing.com.
I like that the Miracle Cover also has large sizes…
Great find.
Tim S.
But, that said, I just took a class in simple curves and for that particular method you use steam and "bully" the fabric into laying flat...and it gets skewed and it's okay.
When you iron, do you see steam coming out the bottom of your board? Or, are the holes just to help the padding dry between ironing sessions?
The plywood I used is exterior grade so if any steam left it damp, it wouldn't make the layers come apart (which could happen with interior grade plywood though you'd need a fair amount of trapped moisture over a non-trivial amount of time).
Thanks.
( http://www.quiltingboard.com/ )
They won't promise exact dimensions but they'll likely be within 1/8", probably within 1/16", of what you requested. That's plenty accurate enough for this project!
Enjoy your new un-pointy quilting board. :-)
thanks, DH is very handy and enjoyed your instructable.....he says "nice job, makes my life easier"