wood deck to carry motorcycle weight?

[noel]

Hello,

This probably isn't what you thought it would be. I need to photograph a biker on his bike. To do this, I need to lay down a sheet of 1/4" plexiglas that the bike will be placed on. The plexiglas is there to provide a reflection of the bike on the floor. I need to place under the plexiglas a subfloor (white paper on top of it, then the clear plexiglas on top of the paper) so that the plexiglas can be supported and not crack. The subfloor will be on the ground (supposed to be flat ground, but what ground is truely flat?)

I first wanted to use some 1 1/8th 4x8 t&g subfloor panels, but these don't seem to be available around here anymore. So, I thought I would glue and screw together two sheets of some 3/4 type sheet (plywood or osb) to make a 1.5 inch thick panel. I would make two of these 1.5" thick panels and lay them side by side, maybe pin them or use biscuit joints in table leaf fashion to create a subfloor.

My question is: Do you think this will be stiff enough to keep the plexiglas from deflecting and cracking? Keep in mind that it will lay on the ground.

[Bobk207]

why not just place a sheet of 3/4 ply on a nice flat concrete driveway?

white paper over the ply, plastic over the paper

cheers Bob

[longshot]

Lexane is basically the same as Plexiglas & doesn't crack or shatter. you can even cut it & drill it if you desire.

[noel]

Because there is no nice concrete driveway where the pictures will be taken.

[noel]

Becuase lexan in a 6x8 sheet would cost about 400 bucks and would mare and scuff more than plex.

[CWatters]

Can't you add the reflection on a computer?

[clintonG]

I've done stuff like this. Some ideas to do this like a pro -- inexpensivley -- would suggest you dress the turf or the soil surface at the site of the shoot to get a stable surface to lay down your prop. For example take sod off using a real sod cutting hand tool and you can easily get a flat surface. You can dress that surface further using a couple bags of sand smoothed, tamped and leveled with a 2x6 which is heavier than a 2x4 and will get the job done faster. Ever used a level on a string? Use your eye or the level to finish the prep job. Then build the prop using 2x2 spaced 12" O.C. covered with 1/2" OSB (Oriented Strand Board). Detail that surface as needed. You can put the 2x2 frame together really fast right on top of your stable base depending on your choice of connectors. Price these materials out. I think you'll find them affordable and give you a sufficiently stiff "deck" to park the bike on.

[Bobk207]

oh, yes....the poorly defined, oops I left out that important piece of information, moving target project

you didn't say that the picture had to be taken in a particular location...only that you needed a reflection

good luck

cheers Bob