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Gluing paper gameboard over existing gameboard...

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prophx
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Joined: 08/13/2008

Hi. I've been frequenting this board every day for a couple months now and am really enjoying the insight offered. :) I have created a boardgame and have playtested with various friends and family members. My brother is very excited about the game and begs me for a copy of it every time I see him so he can play it with his friends. I am creating a copy of the game for him using an old, but good condition game I found at Goodwill for 50 cents for the box and board. Spraypaint works great for covering the graphics of the box. My question is... what is the best adhesive to use to hold my new gameboard (paper) onto the existing gameboard. Also, is there a trick to the fold in the middle? It is just a single fold board 17x17.

Thanks!

FastLearner
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Joined: 12/31/1969
Gluing paper gameboard over existing gameboard...

My favorite glue for most every case where I'm sticking the whole surface of one piece of paper or cardboard to the whole surface of another piece of paper or cardboard is a spray adhesive from 3M called Super 77. You can buy a can of it at just about any office supply store or craft store.

It's a permanent spray adhiesive so there are a couple of things you're going to want to do. Assuming you don't have something callled a "spray booth" (which is very likely the case), you'll want to get an old cardboard box or box lid that's at least a little larger than your surface. Place one of the items (in this case the new paper surface) face-down in the box/lid and take it outside. Lightly coat the back of it with Super 77. This will keep most of the overspray in the box/lid and any other overspray off of your floor/carpet/furniture.

There's no need to wait more than 15 seconds or so. Then position the paper VERY carefully over the board and gently press it down. I often find it easiest to line up one edge and a corner perfectly and then roll the paper down onto the board. Remember that this is permanent adhesive so if you start to lay it down and discover that your angle or position is wrong, as long as you've only layed a little bit you can probably pull it back up. After to reach a certain point you're out of luck.

(If laying the paper down straight is really difficult then you might instead try an adhesive called "Spray Mount" (made by Krylon, I think) available from the same places -- it's repositionable, kind of like spray rubber cement. It holds down quite well, but you can grab the edge of the glued down object with your fingernail and pull it back up, leaving little to no residue. It can peel up, though, especially if you fold the item, so it's non-ideal for a game board but would probably work ok.)

Once you've glued all of the paper pieces onto the board you'll want to score the fold line before folding the board. To do so get a nice long straightedge, preferably longer than the fold. Lay it flat on your board and position one edge over the middle of of the fold area. Now run the back of a table knife or any other thin and hard but NOT sharp or serrated item along the edge. Your goal is to dent the paper nicely so you can see a visible crease but not to poke through the paper at all. This gives the top paper a "guide" about where it should fold. Now slowly fold the board. If you see that any part of the paper isn't folding the right way just encourage it with the table knife. You'll only need to do this once -- from then on the board should fold and unfold nicely.

hpox
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Joined: 12/31/1969
Gluing paper gameboard over existing gameboard...

Wow, great advice! I didn't know such a thing existed. I'll have to try it out.

Thank you!

phpbbadmin
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Joined: 04/23/2013
Laminate

FL,

I've heard you mention that you have used a good spray on laminate in the past, do you remember the brand and technique you used for it? I assume it's a pretty simple procedure, probably using the cardboard box technique.

-Darke

FastLearner
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Joined: 12/31/1969
Gluing paper gameboard over existing gameboard...

Aye, there are a couple of spray finishes that work well, protecting the material and giving it a nice finish.

The two I use are both from Krylon. One is called Crystal Clear, a clear acrylic finish that gives the item a perfectly clear protective coating. If you apply a very light spray you'll get a very slight shine, and if you use a lot (and/or multiple coats) you'll get a very high-gloss finish. I find that it's excellent for all kinds of wooden bits, as well as any paper items. It keeps ink and toner on the paper better and makes it look quite "professional".

The other one is also from Krylon, called Matte Finish. It's also an acrylic spray finish that protects and enhances, and is good for both wood and paper. Rather than making the item shine, though, it keeps it from being too shiny, very handy when, for example, glare might be an issue on a game board. I have only one caveat with it: don't spray it on too heavily and don't give your item multiple coats. To create a matte finish the spray includes really tiny little particles that coat the surface unevenly, scattering light. With multiple coats (anything beyond two, and sometimes just the two if both were pretty heavy coats) the particles start to build up and the surface becomes uneven. They can feel kind of "dusty," with a light coating of particles coming off when you handle the item.

Krylon also makes both in UV-Resistant versions (called UV-Resistant Clear and UV-Resistant Matte). Both are slightly more expensive than the regular items and both provide protection from ultraviolet rays, helping to prevent the coated items from fading in the sun or harsh light. These aren't likely to be problems for most game designers, but I've had great success with the sprays when creating homemade bumper stickers and such (which otherwise fade incredibly quickly).

Just like with the spray adhesives, I highly recommend either a spray booth or using a cardboard box/lid and spraying outside. I once learned the hard way that the spray acrylics will do an excellent job of sealing dust into your furniture and flooring, and give carpets and rugs an unpleasant (albeit interesting) permanent "crunchy" feeling. :)

Scurra
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Gluing paper gameboard over existing gameboard...

Here's another thumbs up for using Spray Mount, which makes life just so much easier all around.

Anonymous
Gluing paper gameboard over existing gameboard...

Something to try which works very well when two large surfaces are involved is rubber cement. The trick is to paint a thin layer of cement on both surfaces and let them dry. Then, once dry, to press both cemented surfaces together. The great thing about rubber cement is that you can usually undo the whole deed if necessary since, once you rip off the top layer and expose the dry glue, it can rubbed off.

FastLearner
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Gluing paper gameboard over existing gameboard...

Aye. Spray Mount works the same way but comes in an aerosol can. Rubber cement rules unless you want it to be permanent.

Anonymous
Gluing paper gameboard over existing gameboard...

There are acouple of other things that I find invaluable when doing this: a rubber roller and large quanitities of news paper.

You can get a rubber roller from most art supply stores. You may find it useful to get both a large one and a small one. The roller is basically a hard rubberised cylinder mounted with a handle. This device ensures you no not get air bubbles under the paper when it is glued to the base and lets you put a lot of force on the paper to ensure a good bond.

The news paper is useful for protecting your funiture and carpet. You need to spread this out so that it covers the table or floor you are going to rest the material to be sprayed on to about 1 m. (3 ft) outside the area being sprayed. Then the mist of glue or acrylic will usually settle on the paper rather than on your furniture or carpet.

Anonymous
I use krylon, but here is a trick

:) I use krylon spray the repositioning variant, so I have a few seconds to adjust it if I screw up. I also made myself a little tool. Its a 1/4 inch piece of square dowel (and you thought all dowels were round) about 24 inches long, and glued (actually double-sided taped) to the center is a 1/8" square dowel. Before applying small down sand the edges to take the edges off slightly, not too much.

Method One (for those with good eyes and accuracy):
Lay down in the center over the fold in the existing board and press down. The dowel tool acts as a press die to give you a nice straight slightly rounded depression to match the fold in the existing board. Remove the die and paper board and spary the Kylon on the old game board. Line up one half of the board and press it down holding the other half up. Once its smoothed down do the rest making sure the area going down into the fold is secured first and then smooth to the end.

Method Two (for those figuring out it never goes on straight):

Do everything in step one starting with sparying the Kylon, that is, don't prefold the paper board. After securing half the board use the die to press the paper board into the fold. Then lift and lay back the unglued section of board and spary Krylon on the other half. Now secure the free half as indicated above. Check for excess glue, remove, fold wait 2 hours and check.

I make a lot of board this way, of course I cut the cardboard and backing papers myself and don't use old boards.

hpox
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Joined: 12/31/1969
Gluing paper gameboard over existing gameboard...

I tried the Krylon adhesive spray and it works great! (All Krylon stuff were on sale at 4.99 CAN instead of 6.99)

Anonymous
Gluing paper gameboard over existing gameboard...

spray mount for me too.

quick easy. nuff said.

(but i think i will look into trying the more prmenant option now. bgdf strikes again!)

Anonymous
Gluing paper gameboard over existing gameboard...

FastLearner wrote:
(If laying the paper down straight is really difficult then you might instead try an adhesive called "Spray Mount" (made by Krylon, I think) available from the same places -- it's repositionable, kind of like spray rubber cement. It holds down quite well, but you can grab the edge of the glued down object with your fingernail and pull it back up, leaving little to no residue. It can peel up, though, especially if you fold the item, so it's non-ideal for a game board but would probably work ok.)

My favorite is Spray Mount, made by 3M. The secret to make the bond last is to position the paper immediately after spraying.

For scoring the paper at the fold, I prefer to use a paperclip. It is thicker, so the score is wider, and also, there is less chance of cutting through the paper.

For finishing, either matte or gloss Krylon varnish.

Anonymous
Gluing paper gameboard over existing gameboard...

I can attest to the value of spray adhesives! There is no better way to evenly coat an entire (and large) surface with adhesive.

I also second what lakeedah said about securing smaller portions at a time. I line everything up without the adhesive and then glue one half at a time with the unglued half being secured down (with clamps or removable tape or what have you) to ensure correct registration.

A large pad of cheap newsprint is invaluable for any gluing. I use sheets of that or scrap paper to mask off areas that I want to keep glue free.

Anonymous
Gluing paper gameboard over existing gameboard...

I'm a graphic designer and use this stuff all the time. I can tell you that 3M Spraymount and Super 77 listed earlier are fantastic products recommended in all the schools.

One tip when spraying larger surfaces like gameboard graphics:
Spray first with the Spraymount which is less sticky. This will give you a chance of repositioning if you start to see you're off track when beginning to lay the page down. After spraying with the Spraymount, hit the corners and edges with Super 77 which is really, really sticky. Corners and edges, especially corners, are the weakest points, so you want to work your hardest to protect them from lifting after it sets.

A few more points: Burnish (rub down the corners and edges really, really well. Use a burnisher or any ol' hard flat object. Protect the graphics from scuffing by laying down a piece of paper on top of the areas you are burnishing and burnish on that.

Hope this is of help to someone.

FastLearner
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Joined: 12/31/1969
Gluing paper gameboard over existing gameboard...

This thread revival reminds me that I have an all new method for gluing down game boards that I now prefer, especially if I suspect the board is only going to be good for a couple of tests before needing replacement.

Scotch makes a glue stick with what they call "Restickable Adhesive," which is to say Post-It Note Stuff in a glue stick.

My new method is to print out my overlapping tiles, then coat the entire backs of them with this glue, creating a giant post-it (but with glue everywhere on the back). I position one of the corner pieces and then position its neighbor, overlapping as appropriate (I now print them out so they have a minimum of 1/2" of overlap) -- since you're using always-temporary glue you can reposition it over and over until it matches perfectly.

Then I take a straight-edge and an x-acto knife and cut through the two sheets, right down the middle of the overlap (along its length). I peel the excess strip off the top and then lift the other half and peel the excess strip out from underneath, and then seal them back down again. Et voila, a perfect match. Any residue that's on the top just rubs off with a quick swipe of your fingers. The glue stays down as long as I want, and yet peels off leaving virtually no residue when I'm ready to replace the board. Way cool.

-- Matthew

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