I agree with Alan. After a few years now of messing around with panels even high quality panels I’m done. I have one more 8×10 clay board panel that I am going to try out to see if I like it then I am onto getting getting cradled from here on out.

They were properly prepared, gesso on all sides, didn’t help a bit. I will never, ever buy a non-cradled panel anymore.

Moisture will pass through acrylic paint, which is one of it’s greatest assets when painting houses etc, but I think panels should have a barrier against moisture on all sides.
This may not stop warping as there will be moisture inside the panel that will still be drawn to the warmest side, but it should make a significant difference.

I don’t go over about 11×14 with 1/8″ tempered hardboard. Also as noted gesso is not a good sealer to keep out moisture which is causing the warpage. You will see less warping if you first seal with a good primer then put the gesso on top of that. I like XIM UMA Bonder Primer but there are others that will also work well.

You may want to look at ACM / “Dibond” panels. At what you are paying for the bare un-cradled Ampersand panels you can most likely buy some ACM panels locally for the same or LESS and cut them to size. It is extremely easy to cut the ACM. All you need is work table, a steel edge and a craft knife. No saw blade waste or sawdust mess and perfect cuts every time. The 3mm is many times more warp resistant than the hardboard, waterproof as is and should outlast it over time as well.

Dick Blick has the 12×24 bare Ampersand hardboards for .0214 cents per square inch. I am paying 8/10ths of a penny (0.008) per square inch for 3mm M-Panel ACM sheets. Even at double what I am paying for 3mm ACM panels, you would still be paying less for the vastly superior ACM surface. You won’t get warping with 3mm ACM at 12×24, and with the 4mm ACM, I have 48×48″ panels that are as flat as the day I bought them over a year ago. Depending on where you live you may be able to get 4mm ACM panels for less than you are paying for the raw Ampersand hardboard. I am currently paying 0.0114 for the 4mm, delivered.

Send me a private message if you want some help finding ACM panels locally.

Interesting. My hope with the Ampersand Gessobords was to avoid having to do the work involved with priming, etc. I should have known that was too good to be true. So the ACM panels appear to be two aluminum sheets sandwiching a layer of polyethylene. What’s your process with these? Do you gesso them? They’re non-pourous so I wouldn’t think sealing would be necessary. I’ll definitely look around to see where I can get them locally. It’s either ACM or try the Ampersand cradled boards. Hmmm…

You are correct. No sealing is needed. After cutting to size and smoothing the burr on the edges with a flat file or power sander, all I do is lightly sand the white factory surface just to give it some tooth, then apply gesso or some other ground. I prefer the UMA XIM bonder primer first then the gesso or I will paint directly on the UMA. I have had good luck with just acrylic gesso but the UMA gives a superior bond. I can cut a 4×8 sheet down to 12×24 panels in my studio all by myself in less than an hour.

I take a bit more care than the fellow in this video, cutting a bit deeper and more slowly, also cutting both sides before bending so I get a very clean and straight cut, but this shows how easy it really is.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XcjjoOXHISs

This page at Golden got me started on ACM panels. My only regret is that I didn’t find them years ago.

http://www.justpaint.org/painting-on-dibond/

If you have a business license you should be able to get some at wholesale from Grimco (They call their house brand Max-Metal), if not then check with sign shops near you and ask for some Grimco Max-Metal 3mm 4×8 sheets. They should be less than half the cost of Dibond.

https://www.grimco.com/Info/Locations

These guys offer an alternative to Dibond also:

http://www.sfsupplies.com/default.sfs?productid=6555

I have been painting exclusively on Ampersand Gessobord panels of late. I really like them… But… One thing I’m noticing is that they tend to bow or warp. The 24″ x 12″ panels are particularly susceptible to this. My question is, does this pose a real problem? Or is it nothing that framing the painting wouldn’t fix? I may switch to the cradled panels, which, I believe, wouldn’t have this problem. But I like the flat 1/8″ panels because they are so compact. Anyone have experience with this?

Some people have lots of problems with warping and others not at all.

Might depend on your environment and what you put on the panels.

Just curious as to how you prepared these – any water based products? Did they warp right away or overtime? In storage or on the easel? Live in a humid area?

I’ve not experienced this kind of warping – yet – thank goodness. My largest un-cradled size is about 9″ x 12″ then after that I go cradled all the way.

Best wishes on solving your problem.

In my experience, many of these warping problems can be solved by purchasing well-built panels from reputable suppliers, rather than attempting to cobble something together on your own.

I, too, have painted on a few raw, hardboard panels, that I bought from Home Depot, for which I sanded, acrylic-primed, sanded, etc., in order to prepare them for accepting oil paint. At best, they are often inconsistent in terms of the way oil paint “behaves” once applied to them, as well as the tendency of the panel to warp. Also, I understand that often this “cradling” material that is attached to the backside of the panel will have a tendency to “strike through”, showing its presence on the front of the painting! I really don’t want any of that to occur on my paintings.

I do very little of my own preparation, any more. It always seems too “iffy”, or “chancy” to me, and I am often a bit of a klutz with woodwork operations. So, recently I’ve been purchasing either linen-covered, or cotton-covered, panels from RayMar Panels. I work with 16″ x 20″ format most often, and I am totally satisfied with these panels, as they are backed with Melamine–a material with which many drafting tables surfaces are made.

I do NOT experience any degree of warping, whatsoever. The prices of these panels are quite reasonable, considering their quality, and resistance to warping.

Yes, I read that somewhere, but I can’t offer any evidence right now.