When your married to an engineer there is no such thing as a "simple request" to make a big board ironing board

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05-16-2011, 08:39 PM

#21

hannajo

Senior Member

Join Date: Oct 2010

Location: Brooklyn, NY

Posts: 814

Quote:

Originally Posted by quilting memaw

My hubby is a pattern maker. Patterns out of plastics and molds for just about anything! He does my templates for me and other friends. He even helps with designs and colors. He can tell if I am off ever so slightly....LOL...

That's what my Grandpa did! Even though his factory did "vacuum forming" for plastics, he made a mold so my Grandmom could cut layers and layers of 6" fabric squares, dozens at a time. He turned that one machine into basically a giant Acuquilt Go. If your husband is anything like my Grandpa, I'm sure those templates are accurate to the milimeter.

05-16-2011, 08:40 PM

#22

BellaBoo

Power Poster

Join Date: Jan 2009

Location: Front row

Posts: 14,646

Oh my. I can relate. I asked for 3/8" plywood cut to fit over my ironing board. DH thought 3/4" would be much better. It's so heavy I can't lift it off the board. LOL.

05-16-2011, 08:54 PM

#23

momski

Junior Member

Join Date: Apr 2010

Location: Morgan Hill, CA

Posts: 136

I am laughing so hard it hurts. It sounds like your husband has been talking to mine. My darling Engineer decided that the design I printed out for him was faulty in so many ways that it wasn't worth his time to build because I wouldn't be happy with it. So he just didn't make it... so I took over the kitchen table to do my ironing (indefinatly). To spite me, he went and bought a new kitchen table instead of buying or building the ironing board I requested.

05-16-2011, 08:59 PM

#24

Holice

Banned

Join Date: Mar 2010

Location: Sturbridge, Ma

Posts: 3,992

Tell him that I am a male quilter and made two which are 22"x62 or so and with padding and covers they cost me $35.
Buying one ready made is $99 plus shipping.
It just takes plywood, two 1"x1" and a handfull of screws.
.....and I'm neither an Engineer or a Carpenter.

05-16-2011, 09:12 PM

#25

ArizonaQuilts1

Junior Member

Join Date: Mar 2011

Location: Chandler, AZ

Posts: 214

Quote:

Originally Posted by DogHouseMom

I'm determined to get a big board type ironing board (homemade). I read the tutes & testimonials, and I even bought a new cover that will be perfect for a big board.

So I tell the husband "please cut a piece of 1/2" ply 18 x 48". Simple. Precise. Concise.

Naturally he wants to know why. So I tell him. I explain what and how I want to iron, and I show him what happens on my current (regular) ironing board.

He has found several things wrong (in his mind) with the concept and has spent the last two weeks over-engineering (in his head) my SIMPLE and CHEAP ironing board.

It will be too heavy.
It will be too wobbly.
It will soak up steam and starch and the ply will separate.

It seems like every time I have an idea to make something, he steps in and over-engineers the heck out of it and tells me I need something completely different than my original specs. You should have seen the whelping box he made, my bitch hated it and the puppies didn't like it much either.

So he looked at ironing boards online, you know the cute little ones that fold up into the wall (which are fantastic if I was only ironing shirts!) and told me "this is what you need". NO IT'S NOT!! Why can't he listen to me when I tell him what I NEED. I want to iron 44" of fabric across the board ... pretty simple concept isn't it?

Then there was the brilliant idea of ... 1/4" aluminum. We have tons of that stuff in stock (it's used for the beds on our machines). Thankfully the widest he can get it is 12". Whew!! Caught a break there!!

At the moment in his head I "need" a 1" thick (!!) piece of solid Birch (!!!), my dimensions (how'd I swing that?), marine varnished (indeed!!), and I need new legs that have a wider spread for stability.

Oh save me.

Being married to an engineer is trying sometimes.

Hi there,

I'm sorry. I know exactly what you mean. I work with a bunch of engineers!

Instead of waiting for your DH to engineer a board, consider buying one of these Lifetime tables that adjusts to different heights. Sam's Club has different sizes and the prices are fantastic.....and they even have a nifty one that folds. http://www.samsclub.com/sams/shop/pr...avAction=#desc

The tables don't wobble and are built to last.

Then get yourself some Insulbright (sp?) to use as the padding, cover in a heavy cotton twill (run a drawstring around it like a normal ironing board cover) and you are done in about an hour! Of course you may want to take your cover back.

The Lifetime tables take heat really well. I use a small personal size next to my sewing machine and it's endured many hours of a hot Rowanta. It still looks like new.

Good luck with whatever you decide.

Mary

05-17-2011, 01:45 AM

#26

cjtinkle

Banned

Join Date: Jan 2007

Location: Russellville AR

Posts: 1,942

ROFLMAO! I share your plight! Engineers and practical... now there's an oxymoron :)

05-17-2011, 02:04 AM

#27

BabyCakes

Senior Member

Join Date: Jan 2011

Location: WISCONSIN

Posts: 381

2yrs ago I wanted one also and showed my brother the pic in keepsake quilting mag. Two weeks later I am the happy owner of a ironing board. I believe he used mbf?sp. He installed some wood stays on the bottom and it fits snug.Not heavy.(my 80 yr old mom can move it without a problem) I purchase a cover from keepsake quilting but with my moms he stapled batting and then fabric over that.Oh, my brother is a plummer,car/airplane mechanic,house builder,jack of all trades.I to am married to a thinker(pharmacist) thinks everything thru over and over again.Gives me a dissertation on pro and cons.Sometimes it is good and sometimes it drives me crazy.

05-17-2011, 02:09 AM

#28

watterstide

Super Member

Join Date: Oct 2009

Posts: 5,453

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jammin' Jane

Yup! I live with one too! They analyze everything over and over...drives me nuts! Maybe is would be easier just go buy one!

exactly! mine is not an engineer..but should of been one. i dread asking him to do something for me..that i can't mange myself. it is always a project..that went from 15 minutes to a couple hours..
he sure means well though!

05-17-2011, 02:33 AM

#29

katesnanna

Super Member

Join Date: Aug 2010

Location: Brisbane, Australia

Posts: 3,453

My BFF made her own to fit the end of her 6ft sewing table. Cost her under $10.00. She wrapped chipboard in foil then covered it with batting then fabric.

05-17-2011, 02:48 AM

#30

PattyH

Junior Member

Join Date: Sep 2009

Location: Texas

Posts: 165

I go through the same thing every time I even mention him helping me make or do anything. I asked him to glue the little thingy that holds my little tiny clover iron onto something so it wouldn't always tip over and it took him 4 hours to think of a way to do it. He was out in the workshop trying to make a round piece from some leftover hardy plank. I gave him a little plastic/cork coaster and said "Here - glue it to this". Works great!!! He did however do a great job on my big board ironing board! It is in a permanent place though - screwed to the old ironing board frame!!! Love that man!