STILL can't get Masonite backdrop to cooperate

[kasskaboose]

I now have the 1x2s backdrop supports ready to support the primed masonite.  I have tried using a spray bottle of water to get it more pliable.  What I am trying to do is curve it around a wall that is eight feet long and one foot wide.  Any ideas how to do that?  I will probably use both liquid nails glue and screws to hold the masonite esp at that much of a curve.  Any advice is greatly appreciated.  

TIA!

 Lee 

 

 

[bogp40]

I now have the 1x2s backdrop supports ready to support the primed masonite.  I have tried using a spray bottle of water to get it more pliable.  What I am trying to do is curve it around a wall that is eight feet long and one foot wide.  Any ideas how to do that?  I will probably use both liquid nails glue and screws to hold the masonite esp at that much of a curve.  Any advice is greatly appreciated.  

TIA!

 Lee 

 

 

Is this 1 foot wide wall  what you're trying to bend around? That would be a 6" radius. The masonite will not make that tight a bend. If this is indeed what you need to do, you may have to transition to a different material, styrene, vinyl flooring or sheet metal. At my club we comtemplated using sonotube at the end of the backdrop to make such a tight radius. The sonotube could be used as a base to wrap or the backdrop could just die into it. Finishing the bare tube could be problematic to hide the spiral seams though.

[locoi1sa]

   What you describe is a 12 inch radius. That much of a sharp turn would be imposible for masonite. How about making the turn with sheet metal with some joint compound to smooth the trasition? Once it painted it would be seamless. You could get a piece of stove pipe and open it to the radius you want for cheap money and galvenized against rust already.

  Pete
 

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Just a suggestion, but you might try using a hair dryer to heat the masonite so it'll bend easier. I bent mine around an 18" radius turn.

[wmshay06]

Hmm.. 1/8 in masonite with a bit of effort can get down to about a 15-16 in radius or so, but I found that glue by itself is not strong enough, I screwed it into the wall studs for stability (counter sink them of course) and have never had a problem.  One trick I heard about to get masonite to curve into impossibly tight radii is to spray the surface with WD40 and let it soak in real good a foot or two.  This basically dissolves the binder and makes the stuff very plyable.  The down side after mounting and let the whole thing dry is that the surface will turn sort of fuzzy and needs to be re-sealed, sanded and primed.

I tried vinyl flashing which can get down to some very tight radii, but was plaqued with wrinkles I never could get out. But some folks have had great success with this material and you can get rolls in 50 and 100 ft lengths (its 16 in high I think) so that you'd have no seams over a very long run.

 

Charles

[Don Z]

Lee,

We need to know if you are talking about an inside or outside corner that you're trying to bend the masonite around. I have bent 1/8" masonite as tight as about an 8" radius. It takes a lot of muscle to get it pushed back into the corners when bending it that tight. I found out it won't hold a 6" radius.....after being in place for about 3 hours, I heard a sickening 'CRACK' from the layout room. Upon inspection, the masonite had cracked in the curve of the radius.

It would be very hard to curve the masonite that tight without help from a friend. Good luck!

Don Z.

[bogp40]

Also the taller the backdrop the harder it is to bend into a tighter radius. As other have mentioned, forming the radius whether an inside or outside works better when you cut preformed pieces of plywood for a frame to glue and screw to.

[CascadeBob]

I can tell you from personal experience that you can not get hardboard (Masonite) to bend down to this size radius, especially around what I believe you're describing as two outside corners.  It'll snap!  You could try using a more piable material, as suggested above or bring the two pieces of hardboard on each side of the wall together in a point to reduce the end profile of the wall.  Disguise the joint by bring your 3-D scenery put to the point.  Alternatively, make the hardboard follow right angles around the end of the wall.  Paint the backdrop scenery continuously around the square end of the wall and disguise the square end with your 3-D scenery elements.  I think if you do this, you'll not notice the transition around the end of the wall.

Bob

[Robby]

Go here:

http://s226.photobucket.com/albums/dd247/robby-ky/CV%20Subdivision%20Layout/

 

and scroll down to the pictures at the bottom of the page.  The Masonite (1/8" thick) backdrop (24" high) is curved to a 15" radius and the valance (7" high) is curved to a 12" radius with no issues.  Masonite backdrop is screws to each 2x4 with three screws and the seams filled with vinyl spackling compound.  Valance is screwed to 1x4 L-girders except in the curves.  My former layout had 12" radius on the backdrops for 7 years with no splitting or cracking.  This can be done.

[camaro]

I used 1/8" thick masonite and didn't have any problems.  I anchored it on one end and shoved it into the corner.  It is setting on 2" foam.  You are going to have a gap in behind but you don't see it.  Check out my photos.