I am just about to try this for the first time, so this will be immensely helpful, thank you. I have been painting on 1/8 inch hardboard for a few months now, after years on canvas, and I really like the boards but I'm deathly afraid of accidentally dropping one as the corners crush so easily. (In fact, I was wincing when you were holding your own work up rather carelessly!) So I want the added protection of a cradle even before starting the painting. Seems easy enough as I have a table saw, and cheap as well. As to the orientation of the wood pieces, laid flat or on edge, I agree that it is more structurally sound to place them on edge, but I like to use floater frames for some pictures and I don't think this orientation would work very well, if at all, in most of the floaters I've used before. So I think I will have to take my chances with any warping possibilities and lay them flat in case I decide to frame them, because once that glue sets up, there's no changing it. Anyway, thanks again.
In my experience, with smaller paintings (less than 2 feet by 2 feet) you can get away with laying the backing wood flat instead of on edge - if it warps it is barely noticeable. But on a large painting such as 4 feet by 4 feet it becomes really noticeable. The best (and more costly) option is to use kiln dried hardwood for peace of mind.
I am just about to try this for the first time, so this will be immensely helpful, thank you. I have been painting on 1/8 inch hardboard for a few months now, after years on canvas, and I really like the boards but I'm deathly afraid of accidentally dropping one as the corners crush so easily. (In fact, I was wincing when you were holding your own work up rather carelessly!) So I want the added protection of a cradle even before starting the painting. Seems easy enough as I have a table saw, and cheap as well. As to the orientation of the wood pieces, laid flat or on edge, I agree that it is more structurally sound to place them on edge, but I like to use floater frames for some pictures and I don't think this orientation would work very well, if at all, in most of the floaters I've used before. So I think I will have to take my chances with any warping possibilities and lay them flat in case I decide to frame them, because once that glue sets up, there's no changing it. Anyway, thanks again.
In my experience, with smaller paintings (less than 2 feet by 2 feet) you can get away with laying the backing wood flat instead of on edge - if it warps it is barely noticeable. But on a large painting such as 4 feet by 4 feet it becomes really noticeable. The best (and more costly) option is to use kiln dried hardwood for peace of mind.