Chalk Markers For Marking Wood?

[Derek Arita]

Does anyone here use chalk to mark their wood before machining? I was looking at some liquid chalk markers and wondered if they would work on wood. I want something that leaves obvious rough markings, but is easier than pencil to remove and easier to see.

[joseph dake]

I have used plain kids chalk before when I was just laying out very rough sizes for boxes. works fine for me

[Robert LaPlaca]

I just use regular old school chalk on the rough lumber to mark out my proposed layout, my eraser is a stainless steel wire brush, the chalk comes in many colors so the darker colors work better on lighter woods and white works pretty good on walnut and mahogany so far..

[glenn bradley]

"Sidewalk" chalk is softer and leaves marks easier to remove than "board" chalk which has all sorts of binders. I use blue on light woods and yellow on dark woods.

[Malcolm Schweizer]

Yes- works great for dark woods. I also use a white grease pencil but they break easily. A quality white artist's pencil is great for marking out lines on darker woods.

[Shawn Pixley]

I use white charcoal for layout for rough sizing. It erases very easily.

[Larry Fox]

"Sidewalk" chalk is softer and leaves marks easier to remove than "board" chalk which has all sorts of binders. I use blue on light woods and yellow on dark woods.

+1 - I do the same thing

[Matt Day]

I use regular chalk on darker woods, and HF sells some red lumber crayons that I use on lighter woods.

[Joe Spear]

What is white charcoal?

[HANK METZ]

I use lumber crayons when marking up stock, that's what they are expressly made for.
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[glenn bradley]

The OP wanted something that "is easier than pencil to remove". Crayons would not be my first choice.

[HANK METZ]

The OP wanted something that "is easier than pencil to remove". Crayons would not be my first choice.


The crayons are a clay-based product, they are not your old Crayola kiddy type. The color range available makes them either highly visible or discretely present. The usual operations of planning, sanding, handling etc. makes cleanup for the most part moot.

[Andrew Hughes]

I don't use chalk anymore,too many times the white chalk has drooped down in the pores ESP walnut.I once seal in a cabinet triangle with a seal coat of shellac.

[Derek Arita]

I use lumber crayons when marking up stock, that's what they are expressly made for.
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Where do you get the lumber crayons?

[Lee Schierer]

I have used regular blackboard chalk to mark rough layouts, label finished parts, mark the side I want toward the fence etc. I've never had a problem except locating the piece of chalk that I just used to mark that other piece I cut a few minutes ago.

[HANK METZ]

Where do you get the lumber crayons?

Here you go (https://www.google.com/search?q=lumber+crayons&newwindow=1&client=firefox-a&hs=NAB&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=UC8RUt-wK8PC2QXnrYDwCA&ved=0CAkQ_AUoAQ&biw=1245&bih=748) Derek.

[Roy Harding]

I use plain old blackboard chalk for all marking on lumber (I use one of those chalk holders, and it's kept in my apron right beside my pencil).

I've never had a problem with it dropping down into the pores as mentioned above. After a certain point in construction (usually after initial sanding of an assembled piece), NO markings are made with ANYTHING on the piece - perhaps that is why? Or perhaps I've just been lucky so far.

You can get lumber crayons at Staples (Office Depot) - at least around here, but we're a lumber community - so that may not be true everywhere. I occasionally use a lumber crayon when the wood is so blond that white chalk can't easily be seen.

[Jim Becker]

I use chalk all the time...simple "classroom" style chalk sticks! I like to mark up boards after they are skim planed so that I can mill components from material that has close match to grain and color. Cutting down before final milling also reduces waste and makes handling a lot easier.

[william watts]

I use school chalk on rough cut wood to mark cut lines around defects and to lay out pieces for the project. Trying to match pieces for grain and color. I use white chalk on dark and light color woods. I wonder if that is where the expression "chalk it up as a loss" came from?
Bill

[Rich Engelhardt]

Sidewalk chalk is nice and fat.....
It doesn't break as easy when you drop it.
When it does break, it breaks into fat chunks that are easier to hold than blackboard chalk chunks.


I wonder if that is where the expression "chalk it up as a loss" came from?
Maybe - but - I'd guess the expression came from some sort of gaming or wagering since you can "chalk up a win" also.

[Charles Lent]

I've tried chalk, but it rubs off too easily. I now use a soft large diameter pencil for most marking, and then use alcohol to remove the marks. As long as the pencil mark has been put on lightly enough so as not to dent the wood fibers, there is no evidence of the mark after a simple wipe with alcohol. I still use the white or yellow chalk on dark wood, because I haven't found a white pencil that can be removed easily.

Charley

[Keith Hankins]

$1 general store box of kids chalk. Been using the same tub for years. Sand's off or wipe with min spirits.

[Derek Arita]

Anyone ever use liquid chalk? It is used on black boards and white boards and is easily wiped off with a damp cloth.

[HANK METZ]

Sometimes in the pursuit of our craft we forget that there may be an entirely different solution than one we doggedly think is correct. I’m referring to the need for marking up the stock to begin with. The O.P. is looking for a piecework control method that is reversible yet legible, and can readily identify all components. Such a methodology already exists whereby with the simplest of glyphs one can tell for instance he is holding the rear panel of drawer box #3, and it is the top edge up, facing away from him. I am talking about the triangle marking system. In the video, the elements are done very bold for clarification, but in actual practice can be very faint yet effective:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SgKx2UDo3b4

[Shawn Pixley]

What is white charcoal?

You get white charcoal for an art supply house. I don't really know how it's made but my guess is that they bleach charcoal, powder it and compress into sticks for drawing. I had some lying around from an art project, so I tried it. Works great. Erases very easily.

[Joe Spear]

I looked it up. It is the traditional charcoal of Japan, made from a particular kind of oak. The wood is first steamed at relatively low temperatures in the kiln. Then the temperature is kicked up to 1000 degrees to finish it. Because of the method used, the charcoal is extremely pure and doesn't give off any weird volatile substances when it burns. Besides cooking and drawing, it is used to purify various preparations, including foods. Some think it burns at a higher temperature than other charcoals, but it doesn't, although the heat given off is very clean. It is called white charcoal because of the way it is smothered with a mixture of earth, ash, and sand when it is taken out of the kiln. When it has that stuff on it, it looks white. But that is all removed before it is used.

Thanks for prompting me to learn something new.