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.