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I made this chalkboard for my client "The Steakout Saloon" here in Fort Collins Colorado. This will be used in the basement shuffleboard area. They wanted it really strong so I made it from hickory and pocket holed the frame and used epoxy to hold everything together. You could probably stand on the chalk box, please don't if you live here in Fort Collins. =) The board itself is made from hardboard with Krylon chalkboard spray paint. 12 coats if I remember right. I made the board removable so it can be replaced with a ceramic board later. It's been holding up really well though. The fluting and Vcarving were done on my CNC router table with the help of Vectric Vcarve pro and .dxf file from the client. The eraser was an online purchase mad out of pine and felt. It was the only affordable one I could find at the time. Next one I make will be hardwood and I will find the thick felt strips they use for these and make my own. The eraser was chained to the back supports of the board to hopefully keep the patrons from wanting a little piece of the Steakout after their visit. 5 coats of semi-gloss poly and we're done. It's screwed through the frame and the support blocks into 3/4" plywood in it's new home. It's not going anywhere without a fight that's for sure. Thanks for looking.

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Brilliant use of the CNC!

I really like the way you allow the chalk board to be easily removed/replaced. That's thinking ahead!

This board looks fantastic - hope you gave them a bunch of business cards in case anyone asks. :)

Great work

-bob
 

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Thanks KnotCurser, I like your stuff too. They do know how to get a hold of me and it has already produced more work than I can handle right now. It could possibly turn into a full time business if I play it right.
 

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Very nice, an unusual item, with great decoration.
 

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Just curious but what kind of CNC do you have? The results look real good!

Did you put your logo anywhere on the project for some free advertising?

Do you own this design or the client?
 

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I do put my website info on everything I make. They also have my business cards behind the bar to give to customers.
I built my CNC from scratch. I used a design from www.buildyourcnc.com the 4×4 blackfoot model.
The client owns the text, I created all the other design elements.
 

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Thanks Julie,
I was just going to ask you if you had a CNC router or if they were
decals and I read that you hand painted them. Too much work for me
but beautiful no less.

I see you make lots of signs too. The hand painted fonts are amazing.
 

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Pete,
I do my designing on the computer and then hand paint and hand router everything.
We all have our own ways of doing things, I can't believe you made your own CNC, just amazing!
What bit do you use, a V?
 

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Julie, I used a 1/4" or .250 90 degree chamfer or v bit for the lettering and the accents on the bottom.
I believe I used a .375 or 3/8" ball nose endmill for the fluting on the sides and the frame around the top logo.
There are a lot of low cost CNC plans you can build out there. You'd go crazy if you had one. You should think about building a Joe's 2006 or similar machine.
Here's the link: http://www.joescnc.com/themachines-06.php
You can get plans or buy the parts pre-cut I believe. You can do it. Give it a try.
 

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Thanks for the encouragement, Pete! I will file it away in my to-do list.

I'm going to post in the next few days about routing a simple sign by hand.
I'm sure it will give you a laugh, since it's very basic and not nearly as accurate as a CNC, but I think of myself as an artist, so that's my excuse for the imperfect lettering.

Thanks again for the information, please post more projects.
 

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