Menu boards, working with thin stock (3/8")

[William Hamilton]

I have a friend who's opening a restaurant and would like me to make her about 40 menu backer boards. They will basically be a board she can affix her menus to. She wanted something a little modern/rustic, rather than simply handing out pieces of paper. She initially wanted boards 1/4" thick, and 9.5" x 12". My first thought on this was that a board at that thickness would probably want to bow, twist, cup, crack etc. So I thought doing a glue-up of something like three pieces to make up the 9.5" width might help. I also suggested going to 3/8" on the thickness might help a little. I'm planning on using walnut but the species could be changed as well. She's pretty open to what will work best.
I have also never done glue-ups with stock so thin, so I'm not sure that's a good idea. I have a bandsaw capable of ripping up to 12" height so another thought is doing thicker glue-ups and then ripping them to around 1/2", followed by planing/sanding. Any suggestions?
Any suggestions on the quickest way to handle banging out 40 of them would be welcomed too. Obviously I think doing longer lengths and then cutting them to size later would probably help.
Thanks in advance.
Bill

[John Lanciani]

I think that it is a recipie for heartache. Cupping is going to be a problem unless you use all quarter sawn stock, but more likely I see them being split it two on a regular basis (both accidentally and on purpose). The only way I'd touch the project is with 1/4" or 5/16" (8mm) baltic birch ply. Unless they are rectangular a CNC router is the way to make them quickly.

[John McClanahan]

I agree with the 1/4" plywood. I would try to frame the edges with hardwood to protect the plywood edges from damage.

John

[John K Jordan]

I'd use thin ply and add walnut or other veneer for the front and back. The edges could be painted black, especially if curved, then perhaps beveled a tiny bit. That would look great, especially in dim restaurant lighting. I hope she doesn't want all these for free - will take some effort to make.

[Rick Potter]

We ate at a place called 'The Elephant Bar' last night. They had menu board that looked a lot like an old fashioned clipboard, without the clip. They were Masonite, unfinished, about 15" high by maybe 9" wide, corners rounded. Yup, just a hunk of Masonite. There were notches along the side about 2" from the top and bottom. They put a menu on the board, snapped 1/2" wide rubber bands around it top and bottom to hold it, and that was it. Food on one side, bar menu on the other.

Looked pretty rustic to me. Pretty quick to make, gang them and cut the notches with a dado, using a backer board. Hardest part is finding the right rubber bands.

[William Hamilton]

thanks for the replies.. My initial fear was the thin stock and rightfully so I guess. So I've tried to steer her to 1/4" ply and now she's asking how thick would she have to go to avoid the problems without going the ply route. Ugh.. may have to take a pass on this project. I don't think anyone wants to be holding a hunk of 1/2" (or more) wood in their hands when looking at a menu. That's just my opinion. Plus, the cost will go up exponentially.

[David Linnabary]

You might inlet a 1/8" spline (or thinner) into the end grains to resist cupping and cracking. The dado could be done on the TS set 3/8" or 1/2" deep. Think of it like bread boarding a panel

Not sure it would be worth all the work for this project but it might be fun to mocking one Up.

David

[Pat Barry]

I would go with MDF or hardboard. The thinner the better. These are menus. They are going to get banged around, spilled on, dropped, handled a lot. You don't want something that can't be easily wiped clean. You don't want cracks and grooves and lips, and splines, etc. You do want rounded edges, comfortable, lightweight. You could coat them with polyurethane to class them up a bit.