I used to dip steel minnow traps with that coating to prolong their life expectancy because of the saltwater where they were used.
Yes, that might work. Thanks for the idea.
JoeyA
Did you read the post directly In front of yours?
The magnets are cut and imbedded into the chalk after they are cast.
Best,
Mike
I remove the paper from the bottom of the chalk with a razor blade. Then I glue a washer to the bottom of the chalk with epoxy. I make sure to cover the entire bottom of the exposed chalk with the epoxy as it helps to somewhat seal the bottom. I have never had an issue with the washer even coming close to falling off or getting blue chalk on my hands from the bottom of the chalk.
Good shooting
Brian
JoeyA:
Just an update on this -- I think I figured out how the guy (described in yankeepapa's post) did it.
I was lucky in that one of my tinner's hammers -- which has a square face -- is exactly the same size as a cube of chalk. I found that after the edges of the bottle cap are teased open (e.g. with needle-nose pliers, at where the corners of the square would be), you place it on the face of the tinner's hammer (like you were "capping" the face), and can use another small hammer to gently tap it in place to shape it. Then, place it on the bottom of the chalk cube, and using either a vise or channel-lock pliers, gently squeeze the sides to crimp it in place.
Done! Takes all of 2 or 3 minutes to do. It's actually a good mechanical connection, and I've not been able to pry it off with my fingers. And the bottle cap sticks well to the rare-earth magnet in my belt clip.
The trick is to find a square piece of metal that is exactly the same dimensions (sides-wise) as a cube of chalk, that you can quickly and easily tap the bottle cap onto to shape it. The face of the above-mentioned tinner's hammer worked for me, but I'm sure a sawed-off piece of a wrought-iron fence or other square stock that is the same size as the sides of a cube of chalk would do just as well.
This is even easier (and quicker!) than trying to glue a washer, electrical box knockout, or other bit of metal onto the bottom of a cube of chalk.
Thanks to yankeepapa for the idea!
-Sean
Sean,
My JB Weld/epoxy washer system only lasts for a few days of hard use. The washer eventually peels off of the paper surrounding the chalk.
I'm desperate and will have to try this.
I don't want to assume anything but would like to confirm that this works only for square shaped chalk?
JoeyA
Sean,
My JB Weld/epoxy washer system only lasts for a few days of hard use. The washer eventually peels off of the paper surrounding the chalk.
I'm desperate and will have to try this.
I don't want to assume anything but would like to confirm that this works only for square shaped chalk?
JoeyA
Joey,
You are on the right track using 2-part epoxy.... just remove the paper from the bottom of the chalk before you glue the washer to the chalk.
Regards
Ah ok.. Did not know that. I thought Chris poured them into the chalk.
Thanks!
JoeyA:
Just an update on this -- I think I figured out how the guy (described in yankeepapa's post) did it.
I was lucky in that one of my tinner's hammers -- which has a square face -- is exactly the same size as a cube of chalk. I found that after the edges of the bottle cap are teased open (e.g. with needle-nose pliers, at where the corners of the square would be), you place it on the face of the tinner's hammer (like you were "capping" the face), and can use another small hammer to gently tap it in place to shape it. Then, place it on the bottom of the chalk cube, and using either a vise or channel-lock pliers, gently squeeze the sides to crimp it in place.
Done! Takes all of 2 or 3 minutes to do. It's actually a good mechanical connection, and I've not been able to pry it off with my fingers. And the bottle cap sticks well to the rare-earth magnet in my belt clip.
The trick is to find a square piece of metal that is exactly the same dimensions (sides-wise) as a cube of chalk, that you can quickly and easily tap the bottle cap onto to shape it. The face of the above-mentioned tinner's hammer worked for me, but I'm sure a sawed-off piece of a wrought-iron fence or other square stock that is the same size as the sides of a cube of chalk would do just as well.
This is even easier (and quicker!) than trying to glue a washer, electrical box knockout, or other bit of metal onto the bottom of a cube of chalk.
Thanks to yankeepapa for the idea!
-Sean
This is a very clever idea! I like it. I can see that a typical bottle cap can be crimped around the bottom of a cube of chalk, with no glue.
The trick is "how to do the crimping without crushing the bottom of the cube, nor having the serrated metal edge of the bottle cap 'cut into' the chalk." ChannelLock pliers wouldn't do, because even with a careful squeeze, it's too easy once the metal curls inwards to go too far.
I'm thinking a small hand vise, something like this:
I have one of these. Although even just a standard bench or portable vise would do as well. The key is the incremental screw action to close the jaws -- rather than uncontrolled plier hand pressure -- which allows you to crimp firmly into the chalk without crushing or cutting it.
I'm going to have to try this.
-Sean
.Mike,
Those chalk holders are beautiful! Charley "Hillbilly" Bryant was in town for the last few days and uses a chalk holder similar to yours if not the same but I don't like the feeling of the holders and prefer the chalk alone.
Still for those that like an attractive chalk holder can't go wrong with yours!
JoeyA
Sean,
How about some pics of the capped chalk?
JoeyA
Sean,
You got my interest going with the hand vice and I started looking at crimping tools. I didn't find exactly what I was looking for but some of the perfume bottle cap crimpers with a custom shape might work well. They make hand crimpers and automatic crimpers but most of them are rather expensive. Might work for a commercial enterprise but not for my simple needs.
JoeyA
Joey:
See pic below. You'll see the following:
1. Pair of needlenose pliers, used to tease square corners into the round bottlecap so that it'd fit onto the 18oz tinner's hammer face.
2. Two Estwing tinner's hammers I used -- the 18oz's face was used as the "anvil" to offer the square shape that is exactly the same size as a square cube of chalk, and the other one above it (which is a smaller 12oz one) was used to gently tap the bottle cap onto the 18oz'ers face to shape it.
3. Channellock pliers -- these are used to gently crimp the bottle cap onto the bottom of the square cube of chalk. Notice, btw, there is no vise in the pic. I found that I didn't need to use mine, because I have nimble hands from decades of working with pliers. However, I recommend a vise if you can't control the pressure you apply with pliers -- it's a gentle (but firm) squeeze, so as not to crush the cube of chalk.
4. My ChalkShark magnetic holder, with a bottlecapped new cube of Magic Chalk attached.
5. A well-worn cube of Magic Chalk with the bottlecap attachment, that I'd been using for a while, and the bottlecap stayed attached with no problems. This cube is ready for tossing in the garbage -- no muss, no trying to salvage magnets and cleaning them up, etc.
6. The cool thing about this idea, is that you can crimp bottlecaps onto cubes of chalk ahead of time, and put those cubes right back in their original box (and close it, with no problems) for use later. This way, you just put the box of two cubes in your case, and they are there -- ready to go -- when you need them.
I'm sure I could be really meticulous, and file down the corners, paint/tape it, etc., but to be honest, this is fine for me. I don't mind that my Magic Chalk has Twisted Tea bottlecaps on them.
-Sean