Not long ago, I was visiting my friend Greg (see his great permaculture work HERE) and noticed that he had a nice small hunk of traditional blackboard slate mounted on his office wall. I know that he likes to collect salvaged materials, so I asked if he had any more. He informed me that he did.
Next time I was there, I was dropping off two 275 gallon IBCs (water tanks) for the methane digester project. Greg brushed some snow off a stack of material to reveal a large piece of blackboard he had. We loaded it in the back of my pickup truck.
When I got it home, I decided that I would like the chalk board in my hallway, mounted low down, from above the floor trim, up to below the light switch. This space isn’t otherwise used, and is nice and low for my toddler to “scribble on the wall” there with chalk.
The only “problem” here is that the slate is 48″ x 53″ – too big. It would cover my light switch and hit my furnace thermostat as well. So it was time to learn how to cut slate. I’d never done it before, so I gave a phone call to my friend Mike, who is a tile professional. He told me that it cuts similar to tile, and I should be able to cut it myself just fine, as long as I use a carbide blade and wet the blade and material with a sponge.
I pulled out my 4.5″ angle grinder and looked through my assortment of discs. Sure enough, I had a 40 grit carbide masonry cut-off disc handy. I measured the board, marked it, and clamped down a board as a guide. Then I began grinding with a wet sponge pressed against the side of the blade. Overall, it worked really well. (Other than it being REALLY cold, and me with wet hands!) There was only one small chip out of the main cut, easily cleaned up with the grinder. Slate is also soft enough that regular sandpaper can help clean up any rough edges.
I used a grinder with masonry cut-off disc, tape measure, & square to mark and cut the slate
A wood straight edge was clamped to the material to act as a cutting guide.
Slate after main cut.
Slate cut into three usable pieces.
It is said that “In Nature, there is no waste.” So, I planned my cut to make two smaller chalkboards from the “waste” of the main cut. I mounted one of the cut-offs in my kitchen, using typical bathroom mirror mounting clips. Even though I don’t have a smart phone, I can now leave “text messages”. I just leave a message for my wife in chalk on the side of the kitchen island.
The more I’ve thought about it, the more sustainable this chalkboard sounds. It’s an all-natural material, it’s salvaged, and the chalk itself is a natural material as well. If I had a dry-erase-board, I would have to buy special markers, made from plastic and chemicals. When they dry out, there’s a plastic shell to throw in the landfill. Chalk gets completely used up – there’s nothing to throw away when you are done. On top of that. the slate can be cleaned with a sponge and water, whereas dry erase boards need to be cleaned with icky chemical cleaners every once in a while.
While I really don’t want my toddler eating chalk…. it would be less bad than sucking on markers and getting into chemical cleaners.
The next step is to dig up some wood to build a frame for the large section of slate. The frame will make it easier to handle the board and then use wood screws to permanently mount it to the wall. I’m hoping to find some salvaged material that will work for this. I’m still not sure if I want an unfinished look, or if I want to paint it white to match my country-style woodwork.
Til next time,
Keep recycling!
-Ben
