THE WHATS, WHYS, and WHO CARES of DRAFTING BOARD COVER

Category:
Product Update
Date / Time:
June 24, 2020
Author:
Pacific Arc Team

THE WHATS, WHYS, and WHO CARES of DRAFTING BOARD COVER

WHAT VINYL DRAFTING BOARD COVER IS - AND WHAT IT ISN'T

It is Polyvinyl Chloride (H2C), aka PVC, aka "the world's most versatile plastic".

It isn't natural, i.e. it does not occur naturally in the wild (no marauding herds of pugilistic PVC to worry your pretty little head about).

It is made from two basic components: ethylene (petroleum), and  chloride (yes, chloride: common table salt).

It isn't biodegradable (the salt part is mildly misleading) but it is recyclable.

It is self healing: vinyl drafting board cover features five highly plasticized layers, when a cut is made through the top one or two layers the edges of the cut want to return to their former shape and position, thus the 'self healing' effect.

It isn't uncuttable: even though it is self healing, drafting board cover can be easily trimmed with a simple utility knife or box cutter.

WHY DO WE CARE?

PVC, the material from which vinyl drafting board cover is made, is extremely durable, surprisingly flame resistant, and can be produced easily and very cheaply in any color you wish (including clear), for an  extremely wide variety of applications: think PVC pipe, shower curtains, wire insulation, shoe heels, golf balls, outdoor fencing, LP records, vinyl flooring, medical equipment and supplies, vinyl windows, decking, and - wait for it - VINYL DRAFTING BOARD COVER.

WHO USES VINYL DRAFTING BOARD COVER?

Well, looks like everybody judging by the prior list.  But to reel it back in a bit to the point of this discussion (drafting board cover), well, still just about everyone - or at least they should/could/can.

WHAT'S THE POINT OF DRAFTING BOARD COVER?

Actually, the point IS the point: no matter what tool you use on a sheet of paper (pencil, pen, compass, X-Acto, etc.), if that paper is laid directly on a flat wood or melamine surface and work accomplished thereon, the surface is going to become indented.

Why care?

Because once an indentation is made on your work surface, everything laid on that surface is subject to and affected by that indentation and either reproduces it or is interrupted by it.   Think grave stone rubbings, or that scene in 'North by Northwest' when Cary Grant gently rubs a pencil over a pad of paper to reveal the address written on the top sheet that was torn off: that pad was indented with the address of the suspected spy who clearly was, alas, ignorant of the idiosyncrasies and evils of of indentations.

Okay, that last one was slightly far afield, but it illustrates the (all-pun-intended) point: the more work is done on an unprotected work surface the more indentations are created and the more your next effort is negatively affected.  The simple solution is a sheet of vinyl drafting board cover: it protects any and every flat surface, and does so for a remarkably affordable price, period.

Whatever your field of endeavor - crafting, drawing, drafting, geometry homework, sketching, modelling, graphic noveling, painting, layout and design, newsletter for your professional group, school, church, etc. - put vinyl drafting board cover on your dining room table, drafting table, portable PXB board - hell, I have it on the workbench in my garage - and you are guaranteed a perfectly prepared surface that always provides a smooth and even work area every time you pursue your passion. Full stop.

IS THERE A 'BEST' DRAFTING BOARD COVER?

Nope.  Nan.  Nee.

No matter how you say it, all vinyl drafting board covers are literally created equal, particularly since they all are manufactured in Denmark by one producer.  So call it Vyco Drafting Board Cover,  Borco Drafting Table Cover, even Pacific Arc Drafting Board Cover (originally sourced in China and almost identical to the Danish product but now produced in Denmark by the original source), it is all the same, and equally invaluable.

As they say, 'a drafting board cover is a drafting board cover by any other name'. Ouch.  Sorry.

HOW TO INSTALL DRAFTING BOARD COVER

This is easy: buy a sheet (either custom cut for your work area or precut to the closest next size up), and use double stick tape (NOT double-stick mounting tape: it has far too much dimenson) to mount it to the surface.  If your vinyl drafting board cover is slightly too large for your surface and you want it to fit snugly, simply use a utility knife or box cutter to gently trim the edges.

Done.

Couple of tips:

  • When choosing double stick tape, get the thinnest option you can find to avoid lumps under the surface of your drafting board cover. One of the best is available from Pacific Arc: it was developed specifically for this application, and is by far the least expensive available.
  • Most vinyl drafting board cover is sold in sheets that are rolled and stored and/or shipped in tubes, sometimes causing them to be a bit reluctant to lay flat when first taken out of the box.  Try this: find a smooth, sunny spot (indoors or out), unroll your vinyl drafting board cover, secure the corners with something of weight (a book perhaps), and give it 30 to 45 minutes: this should do the trick.

KEEP IT CLEAN

The easiest of all: how to clean drafting board cover.

Simply use warm water and a gentle cleanser.  No abrasives (I'm looking at you, Comet and Ajax), and no bleach: beyond that, any mild cleanser (soap and water, 409, Windex) work quite well.

WHO INVENTED VINYL DRAFTING BOARD COVER MATERIAL aka PVC?

The answer depends upon who you ask:

Henri Victor Regnault
Eugen Baumann
Waldo Semon

If you ask the French, it was invented by Henri Victor Regnault, who in 1838 left a flask of goo (highly technical term) sitting in daylight for a while, to find upon his return that it had turned into a hard white substance.  This, however, seemed unusable for literally anything, so it was discarded and he moved on.

If you ask the Germans, Eugen Baumann is your man, a chemist who in 1872 accidentally synthesized PVC by - all together now - leaving "a flask of goo sitting in daylight for a while", etc., etc.  Again, the resultant hard white lump was deemed unusable, and discarded and forgotten as he moved on to find - well, nothing else notable, really, at least not in the world of PVC.

Ask an American and shazam! there is a name and registered patent as proof of invention: Waldo Semon, who during the 1920's found a method for plasticizing the material to make it more flexible and thus more widely applicable, with the patent being awarded to his employer, BF Goodrich, in the 1930's.  Legally speaking, patents talk, all others walk, so the credit goes to Waldo.

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