Vertical Chest Board and Chalk Board

Jeb Taylor

Member
Messages
518
Location
Decatur, Alabama
I've been busy and haven't gotten anything posted lately, but I did manage to get a couple little projects off the list. The chess board is for a friend that is going to get it framed for his son. 3/4" MDF back, with resawn tiles about 3/32" thick, glued on with just a little spacing between in case they expand.

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The chalk board was for my wife. 3/4" mdf again with some krylon chalkboard paint from walmart and mouldings from lowes. The chalkboard paint works well, but you have to get the chalk started by rubbing through the outer coating on something harder. A new stick of chalk will scratch it a little and doesn't write well till you get past the coating.

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I think the chalk paint isn't as tough as a traditional chalk board. From what I've read its a mix of grout and paint. It's possible that a different chalk would be different, but the new chalk we had was made with a clear coat or something on the outside. When we first tried it, the chalkboard scratched and didn't write good. I was about to give up on the chalkboard paint and throw it away when we noticed a broke piece of chalk wrote just fine. Once we had a little of the end scraped off, the chalk worked great.


Larry - I'm not much of a chess player myself, but my friend I made it for is. I think he has a long game that stays going with his dad, this way the board doesn't have to stay set up for weeks on a table.
 
We tried the bistro chalk markers too on the last smaller chalkboard. They look great, but after about 3-4 days on a chalk board they don't erase anymore. Hence the new chalkboard, and she wanted one about 16" x 50" to fit in the corner. The chalk markers are really neat, but you need glass or some smooth surface for them to erase completely I guess.
 
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