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Hi Guys,
I have a 1" thick rigidized fiber board shelf that I've been using off & on for a few years. I just had an opal piece stick to it and tear some pretty good-sized chunks out of the surface. Anyone have suggestions about how to patch & level the surface? I have some liquid rigidizer & a couple corner chunks of the same board that I had cut off to make the board fit my oval kiln. Do you think I'd have any luck trying to grind up the board & make a patching paste with the liquid rigidizer? Is there anything else that might work? Thanks!

Can you simply flip it and use the other side?

If not, JenKen kilns sells a patch compound for their fiber kilns, which I've used before. I'd contact Mike and ask about it.

Yes, grind up some scrap board, mix with rigidizer and spackle the board. If you have already used colloidal silica rigidizer, go ahead and use that. The boards are originally made with colloidal alumina rigidizer. This is less sticky to the glass being fired.

Thanks for the info. The board was pretty rough on both sides when I got it & I rigidized it myself at the time. I used it for a long time with 1/8" fiber paper & dry kiln wash dusted on, but that won't work with what I'm doing now. So I'll try the grind & patch and see how it goes. I appreciate the advice!

i used the cement pad of my driveway for a large flat grinding surface.

That's so funny. If it EVER dries out here in Washington, I might try that! Also, hubby used to fair the hulls on great big racing sailboats, I'll bet he has some tricks.