Keeping plans in good shape

This is a little minor irritation that maybe somebody has a cure for. How do you handle -- especially for a large number like the fuselage -- the plans? Do you bind them somehow?

For the wing, I laminated a few of them at Kinko's, but at $12 a pop, I'd rather not do that.

But last night while unpacking the plans for the fuselage and slowly...very slowly...removing the tape that holds some of them together, it appears that the plans paper is the consistency of toilet paper.

What tricks do you use to keep them nice and neat, yet accessible?

Blueprint storage

I went to a Blueprint duplication store and bought some blueprint storage tubes about 4" in diameter. I then sorted blueprints into 'done with them forever', 'will need someday', etc. , rolled them up and put the end caps on the tubes. Careful labeling of the tubes tells whats in what.

I must admit that my care for plans was somewhat down the line of when I should have begun it for I have a few ratty looking pages.I also have various vintage plans because I bought so many orphan components for my now-6A slider which was a taildragger tip-up.

The same blueprint store has sheets of clear acetate that are like page protectors. One of the fellows here made a blue print table stand with a sheet of plexiglass that he slid the active sheet under.

Real pros handling blueprints have flat storage chests with sheet-sized horizontal drawers about 2" deep.

Hi Bob

My plans are a little ratty (meaning fingerprints on them, edges a little torn, etc), but overall they are fine. What I did was take a couple of pieces of 1x2 as long as the plans are high, and used them as a clamp along the left edge. I just got everything lined up, and drove 3 or 4 screws right through the top piece of wood, the plans, then the bottom piece of wood. It is like having them in a binder.

Drill a couple of holes through the wood, and you can hang the plans from a couple of nails in the shop when you want them out of the way.

My $0.02

Organizing plans

Here's a tip that might help someone when working with plans...

Group your plans according to task:emp, wings, fuse, finish, FWF, elec, etc.
Get a dozen small black spring paper clip thingies and put a couple at the top of each set.
Put a couple hooks in the wall about 3 feet apart and hang the plans in the hooks with the wire on the clip.

I used my single garage door and have 2 plan sheets hanging side by side at all times. You can even open the door and the plans stay on the hook! You can pull them off and resort them at any time, or flip through to find a detail on a certain page.

I also use the water heater and a few magnets to hold a page or 2 that I use all the time like torque values, AN hardware charts, to do lists, etc.

This method uses no valuable workbench space and is in easy view at all times.

make some big file folders

I took some cardboard that was twice the size of the plans and folded it in half. I then made little tabs with gaff tape on three of the sides to hold the cardborad together. I made a few of these to hold different groups of plans. When I need one of the plans I just open the cardboard up like a file folder and get the plan I need. It keeps the plans nice and flat and its something to do with all the cardboard you get from Vans and Spruce.

I punched holes in the upper corners about 2" in and hang them from hangers on my slotboard walls in my shop.

Roberta

Back in 1981 I got the RV-4 plans and built a wood box big enough to store the plans flat. I put a leg in the middle of the top,opposite the hinges,so I can prop it up for use as a drawing board,or put the current page on it.
I have used it during building two RV-4's and will pass it on to a new owner someday,with a good set of plans and construction manual. I use heavy clear plastic to cover the whole plans page.
I use a piece of masonite ,with paper clamps attached at the top, to hold a second sheet. It hangs on the wall above the plans box on the table.
I numbered all the sheet pages in both upper corners to enable looking through for a certain page.
My construction manual was used as a construction log. I placed a red circle in the margin next to each step and checked off and dated each step & initialed each. My DAR liked this method OK along with pictures - a bunch.
Pix if wanted.
Bob Olds RV-4 , N1191X
Charleston,Arkansas