Blackboards

Ryan Mooney

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The Gorge Area, Oregon
Actually green, but let's not spilt hairs.

Here are two of the three chalkboards I did for the brewery. I made the paint from 1qt of latex paint mixed with 2tbsp of unsanded grout and put it on two layers deep sanding back to get it fairly flat.

The frame is just half lap painted pine.

Mounted to the wall with two 1/4" plywood cleats behind them.

Nothing fancy, but it used up some of the stash of hardboard so I can almost get into the plywood pile now :D
IMG_20160115_162458313.jpg

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Erases mediocre with a regular eraser but really well with a slightly moist rag.

The other part I should mention is that you want to heavily chalk it before and during sanding. The chalk fills some of the gaps and acts as an absorption agent to keep the sandpaper from gumming up as fast. I didn't think it would matter but after going through three sheets of sandpaper in a hurry I tried it and it made a world of difference. Possibly waiting a few more days for the paint to really cure would have helped to but the schedule didn't allow that.
 
Disclaimer that it can be a bit bumpy. Practice mixing it with some cheap discount paint if you can.. I've seen a couple of folks who premixed the grout to a smooth paste with water first and I think that might work better.

I put on two coats and the paint the second day was actually a bit smoother although it started to thicken up pretty significantly and I had to add a smidge of water to get it to roll on nicely.

I only had enough paint for two coats, but I think three or four might be better, sanding between them should help keep it flat to.

Let us know how it goes :)
 
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