ABS Backplate

[Beowulfe]

I have been reading up on BP/W and see where people have mentioned using ABS to make the plate. What thickness would be best for this? Any suggestions or gotchas to watch out for?

 

[herman]

Someone a while back made one out of PVC pipe. I have played with forming it and it is fairly easy to shape. Just slit it length wise ( a table saw does a good job) and place it in a 250 deg oven. After it softens some place it between suitable surfaces (ceramic tile works for smaller pieces), place a weight on it and back in the oven for a while to soften it farther. Once it is soft and flat enough, turn the oven off and let it cool. You can make nice flat sheets of ABS fairly cheaply this way. 6 inch thick wall pipe will give you a sheet a little over 18 inches wide and 1/4 inch thick. Plenty thick and wide for a BP. The thin wall stuff makes nice slates.

 

[smellzlikefish]

I made my backplate out of 8" PVC with the methods above and used it just this past weekend to hold a Faber steel 120 and a 40 cuft pony. Plans in the future include doubles.

To form it I used an existing backplate. My only complaint thus far is it doesn't fit in the hatch on my kayak. My next one will.