What do you use to mount your plans for viewing while building?

[Jim Rogers]

I am looking for either a Drafting Table or an easel to mount my plans. I want something large enough but also portable or even able to be broken down and stored. Any suggestions.

[kscadman]

I have a "throw off" table I use. Its big enough to hold the plans and keep them flat.

[Rick01]

I have a large sheet of MDF and just use bulldog clips to hold the plans, propping the plans up behind my worktop.

 

[mtaylor]

I hang them on the wall.   As needed, I'll copy or scan relevant areas and then put them back on the wall.  The copies/scans are used at the workbench.

[John Allen]

I agree with Mark, hang, before I start I will use a camera pop pics of small details or large on steps that may cause a problem on all plans , then reduce or enlarge to view better to prevent hopping up and down, then place in order of plan # and have them at hand as I proceed. Sounds convoluted but works with limited space.

 

Side benefit I learned from Mamoli Victory is some assemblies or rigging in plan 4 is added to in plan 6 and should have been addressed in plan 4, it avoids headaches later know this sounds off the wall but works for me.

[kurtvd19]

I picked up a cheap and not at all sturdy drafting board with an adjustable top (for the angle-no height adjustment) at a garage sale - but these things are available at any office supply store.  I put it in the upright position and depending on the plan size I either attach the plans directly to the top or to a larger piece of foam core.  I can keep it right near the workbench and move it as needed.

Kurt

[Cathead]

I use either a piece of plywood or foam core board. Both are easy to move around and plans can be taped or clipped to them. I lean the plans against the wall behind my desk or place them on the floor, depending on how I'm using them. I'm very cramped for space and this works fine. If I had more space, I like Kurt's approach.

[Bob Blarney]

I usually go to a copy service and have the plans copied and then laminated with plastic film.  The originals are filed, and the copies are used.  It is important to check that copies are not over or undersized.

[thibaultron]

I scan the plans one section at a time, then combine them into a single file. Then import them into my CAD program. The Cad lets me adjust size to correct any distortion, and redraw any sections that are not clear, or slightly different on different sheets. it also allows me to draw any additional details I might make, as well as print any section I need during construction.

 

The originals get rolled up, and stored in a cardboard or plastic tube, for safe keeping.

[Dilbert55]

Mount your plans...I wish, lucky if I know where they are. Looks like its time to vacuum the shipyard.

[Jim Rogers]

When my hobby area was in the wood shop I would just pin them all to the wall. It was nice to have all of them out to reference. When I moved upstairs when the Goat Locker was completed I have dry wall and my walls are all taken up by my plaques so no room to pin. I have read a couple of ideas I am going to implement. (1) I like the idea of copying and putting in a folder. (2) I like the idea of a adjustable drafting board. Thank you all for the suggestions.

[thibaultron]

How about a couple of unobtrusive hooks amongst the plaques, then suspend the plans while working, and set them aside when not..

[pompey2]

Metal plate screwed to the wall.

Then plans or odd sheets, notes, photos attached with magnetic strips.

Nick

[wefalck]

For space reasons I tend to work on models for which the plan at the model-scale fits onto an A4-sheet. If needed, I clip the plans onto a cheap A4 drafting board (hardboard with clips) that I can toss around the workshop. The original plans would be on the computer anyway.

[Gaetan Bordeleau]

I used few times this gadget I made  when I needed big plans to work on. Holds on the ceiling with adjustable arms for proper positioning

[Landlubber Mike]

These are a lot better than what I do, which is spread them on my kitchen table, kitchen island, or even the floor 

[Jim Rogers]

Mine are currently laid over my couch in the Goat Locker. I have ordered the Syren and want something better. Sometimes it is hard to get the Rottweiler off the couch.

[Srodbro]

Stapled to the sill plate above the concrete basement wall, or for small plans, buried under the project materials on the bench. 

[BETAQDAVE]

               Antonio C. Mendez (a scratch builder extraordinaire in Mexico) was a man after my own heart in that he was very adept at making his own tools and jigs out of whatever was at hand.  He often took one tool and converted it into another; like making an old rotary shaver into a ropewalk, or an old pencil sharpener into a miniature precision planer.

               That was the mindset I used to come up with my plan holder.  I had an old no longer used adjustable clothes drying rack that I took apart and remounted onto the side of my assembly table with a few spring clamps used for hanging brooms and mops.  As you can see, it can be very easily adjusted or removed without tools.  If I have a larger plan sheet to mount, I can raise the cross bar, attach an extension to the bar, or both. Being in a wheelchair, my reach is very limited, so having it within easy reach was very important to me.

By the way, Antonio wrote a book titled William Frederick’s (1874) Scale Journey: A Scratchbuilder’s Evolutionary Development, in which he provides detailed info with many photos and drawings describing his techniques.  I would highly recommend getting his book, as it’s full of ideas for model ship scratch builders.