Blackboard or Whiteboard for shop use

[Shadowdog500]

I have a whiteboard on the wall between my lathe and mill to do a quick sketch of whatever I’m making real quick. Magnets also stick to it so I can put drawings up if I’m making something more complex.

I use dry erase markers and use windex and a paper towel if it’s been on way too long.

I also have a maintenance tracker whiteboard that I use wet erase for the headers and dry erase for the things that get updated. Windex works for the dry erase items that get updated regularly, and brake clean on a paper towel works for the wet erase items that may be on for years.

 

[rancherbill]

I use GOOGLE KEEP for everything nowadays. I am no searching for a used smart TV for cheap to put on the wall in the garage. Then I can read manuals etc.

The bonus is I have it with me all the time in the garage or outside.

https://www.helloteacherlady.com/bl...:~:text=Google Keep is of G,what I did there?).

 

[Jeff C]

I much prefer writing on a whiteboard. It’s so much smoother and faster than a chalk board. I also like the higher contrast between the markers and the white background.

Now, if I had an old timey feeling shop with wood walls and old signs on the wall, I’d probably forget everything I said above and go with a chalkboard. The whiteboard would just look wrong in that setting.

 

[ATC]

I'm old school. I'd rather have a blackboard.

It really doesn't matter, as you can't reach a wall in any part of my garage....errr...I mean storage shed

 

[pl_silverado]

Sharpie on the stainless steel top of my epiq works well, then just comes off with a quick spray of carb cleaner.

 

[Grimpala]

Whatever my upright freezer is made of works perfect as a dry erase board, two birds, one stone.

 

[logical]

Maybe I've got a defective white board. If I leave a drawing or text up for longer than a few days, it's really difficult to erase. Have to use the spray and even then it's tough. The erasers don't do much. Very frustrating. I'd rather have a chalk board.

Where I work, big whiteboards are in most conferences rooms and many offices, including mine. The conference rooms that my group use the most have all four walls painted with whiteboard paint used heavily. heavily.

Those little spritzer bottles of cleaner used to work but then we started buying the environmentally friendly version and it just smears everything into a multicolored blob.

During COVID, every room also had big gallon pump bottles of hand sanitizer...the basic high alcohol liquid stuff. That stuff on a paper towel is like magic and takes the surface back to pure white.

 

[rharman]

I had forgotten about using the hand sanitizer. Basically alcohol. I know it works well.

That and the paste wax as I mentioned is a good combo.

 

[haveissues]

i put a stick on whiteboard film on the doors of a metal storage cabinet. Doesn't take up wall space that way.

 

[PhantomEB]

Threw mine out, I prefer a note pad on a hook that I can put anywhere for drawings, notes, budget and planned steps ahead.

 

[RMERR]

I'm in the process of adding a whiteboard to my shop right now. For me a whiteboard is the way to go, quick and easy drawing, minimal mess, bright and visible as mentioned. Chalkboard and chalk is dusty and messy. Chalk on your hands, then your shirt and pants when you wipe the chalk off your fingers. I honestly don't feel like I'll go through so many markers that I'm generating a massive amount of waste.

I'm challenged for available wall space too, so I'm mounting to the roll up door panels (2' X 17'). I'll have to cut it lengthwise if I want it to be taller than 2'. I've wanted this for a while to do a quikie sketch and a stock and materials list of stuff I need to buy. Want a visible list "staring" at me every day so I don't forget to get what I need next trip for tools or hardware.

 

[rayra]

@phred Currently my shop has a window unit in it that I run from April to October about, just depends on how much I am in there that season. I did not think about the unconditioned environment. Whiteboard paint would be awesome but I need to drywall the space first and I will not get to that this year.

@The Cobbler The only countertops I have are getting ripped out sometime soon.

@rayra Dry erase markers are insanely wasteful. All that plastic just to chuck them in the trash because you left the cap off...

@olytdi This is one of the biggest things I am afraid of. I hate that stained whiteboard look it makes me want to vomit.

Interesting, I figured there would be more support for the blackboard. I may need to just give a whiteboard a shot and if I don't like it I can always get rid of it. Just need to figure out where exactly to put it.

ok, you were serious? lol

 

[shakenfake]

@rayra Yes.

 

[Viper98912]

Do you have grandchildren? You know they will ask you, grandpa, what's this blackboard thing?

And why do you have a fax machine next to it?

 

[Just_Steve]

And if you use chalkboard paint you should prime the wall with this so it is a magnetic chalkboard.

MAGNETIZE-IT! Magnetic Paint & Primer - Standard Yield 32oz MISTD-1530 - The Home Depot

Transform Your Space: Turn an ordinary wall or other surface into one that holds magnets!Create any size magnetic area that you wish. It's an easy do-it-yourself project!Home Applications: Attach child

www.homedepot.com

 

[Eric Commarato]

I've been in a lot of architects offices and conference rooms over past 40+ years, so a lot of ideas to steal from in these regards. Say what you want about architects, their offices are pretty spiffy.

I do agree with blueshound - black boards and chalk strike an aesthetic note - but not in a building with metal siding and roof.

And chalk dust - in a shop? Doesn't seem like a big deal.

I've never been in any architect's office that was spiffy...

 

[NUTTSGT]

The steel white boards and ability to post drawings etc. with magnets is very compelling for me.

That's what I have in my garage. 2 of them actually and one in the enclosed trailer.

 

[Adaylate]

I have a blackboard from my old high school.
The school was built in 1922 and demolished in the 70's.

 

[sh944]

A piece of glass, assuming you aren’t a caveman (or cavewoman), in a picture frame and a sharpie. Windex cleans it right off.

 

[NUTTSGT]

I have heard of police departments using the deck lid/hood of a white cruiser during large incidents with a dry erase marker. Take pictures of it when done for record keeping and keep the guy with a big overhanging belly away from it.

 

[DrinkMan]

I have a few different white boards around my shop. If you forget to erase and leave the marker on too long, spray it with isopropyl alcohol and it wipes right off. I've had boards with marks from 2 years prior and they cleaned right up like new.

Same here! We have a extra large one that we use for tracking oil changes, service items, handy torque values, spark plug gap, etc.... and things sit for years on it. But a little alcohol takes care of clean up.

We also bought some real small ones with nice frames that we put in our kitchens and when we think of something we need, we jot it on the board. For those, we have some markers with magnets on them that we get at Dollar Tree.

I noted the OP mentioned dry erase marker availability as a minus. That was odd to me since I see dry erase markers almost everywhere and seldom see caulk. (Dollar Tree, WalMart, every grocery store all carry dry erase markers).

 

[shakenfake]

@DrinkMan You must have misread. Marker availability was never a concern

 

[Chris_Hamilton]

Everything about a chalkboard makes my skin crawl. The sound of chalk when writing, wiping the chalkboard, not to mentions fingernails on a chalkboard. Also hate the dust. Have no idea why, been like that since I was a kid. Just reading this thread is making the hairs on my neck stand up.

So 1000X a whiteboard for me.

 

[BrandonV]

Not enough engineering input.

Blackboards & Hagoromo chalk. No substitutes.

 

[DrinkMan]

@DrinkMan You must have misread. Marker availability was never a concern

Your right. I just went back and re-read. It was cost and life. (5 for $1.25 and last about a year here).

 

[BearsFan315]

i snagged up a few whiteboards from work when they decided to upgrade. got a few, put one up in garage to sketch and make notes on. love that thing, use it all the time.

 

[Stuart in MN]

I have a blackboard from my old high school.
The school was built in 1922 and demolished in the 70's.

One that old would be a big chunk of genuine slate, heavy as heck.
To the OP: it really comes down to what you prefer, either type will work fine. A blackboard and chalk will be more dependable in the long run, as said dry erase markers have a bad habit of drying out halfway through writing something.

 

[Sbusmech]

I could and have used both. I don't remember humidity being too much of an issue for me, and I was in the Houston TX area at the time. Currently at my work we use white boards due to that's what they supply us. At home I'm going to use a black board because I like old school look sound and feel.

 

[Dodgepu360]

I like the idea of the chalkboard for the old school cool factor. But I'd probably go with a white board. Glass white boards are great, easy to clean and never have those ugly stains.

I will probably get a piece of glass and paint the back side white if it works out cheaper than buying a ready made one.

 

[NUTTSGT]

Everything about a chalkboard makes my skin crawl. The sound of chalk when writing, wiping the chalkboard, not to mentions fingernails on a chalkboard. Also hate the dust. Have no idea why, been like that since I was a kid. Just reading this thread is making the hairs on my neck stand up.

So 1000X a whiteboard for me.

 

[johnnn]

Glassboard with metal backing will also be magnetic. I recall seeing green and black porcelain steel boards that can be used with chalk or markers. The special markers usually neon or white maybe expensive.

 

[Dave G in Gansevoort]

Sheet of clear polycarbonate hung where you can get to both sides, and dry erase markers. It’s kinda cool to be able to see it from both sides. Writing backwards is fun also

 

[DGersic]

To save space, I made my cabinet doors using the white melamine coated hardboard for the door panels. Works pretty well as a whiteboard when needed, but I find myself mostly still sketching quick things on notebook paper.

 

[Jgaz]

White Board. Use it all the time.
My shop is small. When I’m cutting, or figuring out what size pieces I can get from a board, I can see my dimensions from the machines or any of my workbenches.

 

[MOTODOJO]

I use the sheet metal front panel of a top-load clothes washing machine. The enamel paint lets me use dry erase or liquid chalk markers as well as magnets for posting notes and such. Lightweight, too. I have made some boards from 1/4 masonite covered in steel flashing, complete with wrapped corners.

 

[BurtEggley]

white board. Much easier to clean than chalk board.

 

[shakenfake]

I have a stainless steel top on my box now. Went that route. My new bench will probably end up the same as well.

 

[no704]

Guy I work with carries a few dry erase markers with him. Laminated menus work well. As does the inside of a rental car windshield.

 

[SILVERPLATE]

I recently visited a private car collection that had whiteboard walls in all the offices. It was awesome for notes, drawings, etc. They used it in so many cool ways.