12" x 18" Portable Drafting Board

Well worth the money, the carrying case alone would cost you $29.To be honest, I have no need for the mechanical component of this board. I wanted a portable drawing board and this is a great size and weight for my needs. The board itself is a hard plastic which is stiff enough to easily draw on. I will say the ruler was slightly damaged but not enough to return. The degree detents were broken at 15 degrees but it still would function. The board has two clamps to hold the paper and the rules are magnetic and moveable. The nylon case is actually of a very good quality and holds the board perfectly. If you are in need of a high end drafting board, you shouldn't expect it in this price category. but for someone starting out or needing a spare for travel, you really can not beat this price and quality.

I hesitate to give this 4 stars, since it does not exactly do what I expected, but it does do what is is advertised to do.What you get is a light but stiff plastic drawing surface with a great many interesting innovations, some of which work, and all of work some. It comes in a very rugged fabric carrying case (fabric like in a tool bag!) which would be almost worth the purchase price itself.The board has grooves on four sides into which the sliding rule can clamp. To use it properly, you need to clamp the rule at both ends, otherwise it will flex. Likewise, if you attempt to use the protractor and rotate the ruler, it will flex even more since you can't clamp the far end. I think the presence of a protractor feature is a bit misleading and even if it were perfect the geometry is such that it wouldn't really replace your triangles. Clearly (in hindsight) if the rule is raised to an angle, a portion of the writing surface will be inaccessible even when the left side is slide all the way to the bottom or top.The top and right sides have a magnetic strip and a detachable steel rule on top. These could be used as auxiliary paper hold-downs but the primary paper holder is on the left side where a full length piece of plastic opens up to then clamp down on the paper. A smaller such clamp is present in the lower right corner.I have had larger drafting tables in the past, and they wound up being used as, well, tables; tables covered in unrelated stuff!So like many Chinese products, if the price were twice as much I would be disappointed, but as it is this gadget looks very useful and it's small size may make it a keeper. Just don't throw out those triangles.

Not exactly pro grade, but works well for the occasional, simple,drawing.Pros: Price; reasonably solidCons: No adjustment on board angle, (I prop it up with a book); It takes some care to make sure guide stays parallel

I received this item very quickly using Amazon Prime. However, there are bubbles on the drawing surface near the top left corner of the drawing surface. These bubbles would be outside the area of drawing if I am using 8 1/2 x 11 paper. It would be inside the drawing surface if I am using 11 x 17 paper which I am planning on doing. I hate the thought of having to complain, repackage this product and getting to the Post Office, paying for postage, and then waiting for a replacement drawing board so, even though I am less than happy, I think I have just decided to live with this manufacturing defect. I cannot however give it any more than a 1 star rating due to this defect.

I knew this would not be the best given the price tag, but I figured that with the amount I would use it, durability wouldn't be a concern, and I could deal with any minor annoyances. It was broken out of the box...nothing major so it was not worth dealing with trying to get a replacement, but that gives you some idea of durability. The clips that hold the paper, as other have noted, are pretty useless...easy enough to use seem drafting tape, but the clips on the left side won't stay locked closed, so it interferes with sliding the straightedge. And "slide" is not really the right term...it is more like shimmy or scrape...it does not want to slide easily and you have to be careful about where you apply pressure...I have been just lifting it and dropping it back in the slot, which kind of defeats the purpose. And the straightedge is very flexible...just by apply pressure inconsistently when I press it down, I can throw off the angle, so it can be difficult to get good parallel lines.I would take the money you would spend on this and put it towards a better board with a cable mechanism...I wish I had.

This lightweight board does the job. With gentle operation, good quality drafting is on your desk top. The ruled magnetic strips slide easily for precise offsets. No need for triangles. Ok, maybe a small one. The paper clamps work great. I even found an adjusting nut on the back side for calibration. You could easily pay the same for just the case.After working with this, I gave away my portable parallel straight edge board.Update 05May15 - I just laid-out an entire boiler room on site with this board. I set up a collapsible camp table and stool, put this on top, locked an 11x17 vellum and got the job done. I can throw it away and still be ahead of the game. Na - Better save it for next time.

Again, I had to depend on Amazon buyers to help me make my decision. I was concerned about the accuracy of the protractor head and if the unit was flimsy. I posed basically this question to Amazon buyers and the next day, I had several answers and each and every one were basically the same which was, this unit was difinitely worth it's price, the board was sturdy but the scale would give a little when drawing a long line so if complete accuracy was required. stay on the big board, or cad. But for drawing sketches at home or for who ever, you can hold the scale but it doesn't move that much when making a long line. The scale locks in on each end. Some people said they went back to paper tape to secure the paper but if you're used to the big board, you did that anyway. Unit is well worth the money and it comes in a nice cover with elastic straps inside to hold it in place. CAN'T BEAT THAT!! 4 stars..Thanks again Amazon buyers!randy