I'm building an art easel for my daughter. I got the plans from New Yankee Workshop. On the show he says he got the chalkboard from a school supplier. However I've called every one in town and none of them carry unframed chalkboard. Does anyone have any ideas of where to find some at a reasonable price? I need two pieces about 2'x3'. Thanks
Two thoughts: if the frames on the framed ones aren't too fancy, buy a couple of those and knock the frames off. Or get some 1/2" MDF and paint it with chalkboard paint.
Lee
I can't offer a supplier. But, presuming you can't find it have you considered using chalkboard paint?
Have you considered a whiteboard for dry-erase markers?
If thinking of slate, ratehr than paint, you might try localschool boards. They sometimes have some left over from demolished schools. I found some that way, but use it for sharpening chisels. They gave it to me, but times they are a changin'.
On the show Norm says that he tried the paint and has issues getting a smooth surface to write on. I'm just about at that point though. I was just hoping to get the real thing.
Shantz, Office Depot sells these things. They have 2'x3' chalk boards for $22 (item number 624775 ) (though this direct link may work as well:
You might be able to get a decent one free if your local school district is phasing out chalk boards in lieu of whiteboards.
-Nathan
We consideered dry erase but the markers stain so easily, we decided to stick with chalk.
Well, I'm past 50, and the "real thing" was already out of use by the time I got in school. But if you insist on authenticity, buttress your easel and go to a billiard supply house and see if they can cut some slate thin enough for the weight to be acceptable while being thick enough not to be brittle.
I'm not saying I need slate. What Norm uses on show is hardboard with a factory applied cloat of the chalk board paint.
In my time at school the better blackboards had a glass sheet (or was it hard clear plastic?) with a satinized surface, as you get by sandblasting or etching (dont try etching glass at home...) over a dark background, sometimes with squares on for math problems, lines for writing of musical notes, and because the lines were under the glass they never were washed off..
Then maybe I'll have to eat my words. I thought that slate had been phased out in favor of manufactured materials and coatings long ago.
I did exactly that, with exactly the same easel with excellent results.
One board is a white board, made from Home Depot purchased material, the other board is tempered hardboard spray-primed flat black and then sprayed with chalkboard paint
Read the plan carefully before building. There are several opportunities to improve the project without undue work.
I put a nice routed edge on the drawer face, dovetailed the inner drawer added a second "chalk tray / brush holder", ran a bead around the frames and used leftover curly maple plywood for the bin and drawer bottoms. Even if you skip the dovetails, you can jazz it up!
Barry
Wed, Jan 18, 2006, 12:43pm (EST-3) snipped-for-privacy@gmail.com (shantz) who stateth: On the show Norm says that he tried the paint and has issues getting a smooth surface to write on. I'm just about at that point though. I was just hoping to get the real thing.
Issues? Not to disparage Norm, I think he's great, however, this is a guy that nails everything, "Just until the glue sets". You give a kid some chalk, and he/she will be perfectly happy drawing on a concrete block wall. So, don't worry about the chalkboard paint not being "smoth".
And, it's always considered good form to reference the post/sender you're responding to.
JOAT If you can't say anything nice about someone, you must be talking about Hilary Clinton.
I saw 48 x 32 inch sheets at my local Lowes just the other day. Look at the cut sheet goods. I found white board and chalk board. It looks like it would be easy, however, to use chalk board paint on a piece of tempered hard board.
You might consider paint supply house. Now if you can use the write on white board, try home cheapo, just bought 4 pieces yesterday ant $4.79 each . and that is 2'X4'
Apart from the obvious, slate doesn't actually work too well.
"School chalk" (from my time at school) is very soft and is optimised for writing on a painted or rubber roller blackboard. If you try to use it to write on real slate than gives a broad line and crumbles. To write on genuine slate, use welder's chalk. This is a long stick about
1/2" wide and 1/8" thick. It's actually steatite (more like talc) than chalk and is a bit harder.Welder's chalk is cheap (although it comes in a huge quantity) and is handy in any workshop. It writes on stone, red hot steel and can even be carved to make signets for sealing wax.
I could have sworn I just saw some sheets of chalkboard (maybe 3x4 feet, 1/4" thick) at Home Depot the other day. It might have been Chase Pitkin (our local version of the same thing), but take a close look around your local home center. Andy
Try artist and office supply stores (e.g. OfficeMax). I know I got mine at the mall (which chain store it was I can't recall). Don't use the paint. The so called "real" chalkboards you're going to find are painted hardboard, but somehow they know how to apply the paint to make it seem real. The aerosol stuff just doesn't work out, IMO.
J.
shantz wrote:
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