OK, this is NOT fine woodworking. But, what a cool idea! I do not know why I did not think of this before now. I was reading an article in Family Handyman magazine and discovered how to make a whiteboard (dry erase board) for your shop. You have to shop around for the parts, but it really is not very expensive. Total cost might be $35-40 depending on what type of materials you choose.
Whatever you do, don’t go buy one somewhere for $75-100. Go to Lowe’s big box store and buy a 4’ x 8’ sheet of dry erase board for about $13 (sometimes it’s called panel board). You will know it when you see it. It is very shiny white, just like a dry erase board. I bought a half sheet, 48” x 32”, perfect for my shop area. I just happened to have some 1/4 inch MDF on hand so I used that to make a back for the whiteboard. The whiteboard material is rather thin, about 1/8 inches thick. I glued the backing to the whiteboard with Liquid Nails Panel & Foam adhesive. Just squirt it on and even it out with a putty knife. It needs to dry overnight. The panel is made, now the frame.
I happened to have some left over 1×3 pine in my shop. I dadoed out the back the thickness of the whiteboard panel using a dado bit on my router table. I used my Kreg jig to put slots in the side frame boards and screwed the frame together that way. Very crude, but it all works.
I ended up getting some sheet metal screws and washers at the hardware store. I screwed the whiteboard to the wall. I had a heck of a time finding studs in my garage, but the board is up securely.
This was just a fun project. I got a good sized whiteboard for about $25 and I have already started using it by drawing a diagram of a cutting board I am building for a friend. There are no paper plans for this, just replacing his old plywood cutting board with a Maple one (more on this project later). If you could use a whiteboard in your shop, give this a try. It is fairly inexpensive and fun to do. Be sure and check out the photo gallery of the production process.
Doug
