How to make a Whiteboard for UNDER $5

[MD21236]

great idea....this is so helpful!!!



[Katmamik]

Why don't you just get the white plexiglass? Then you wont even have to pant it.

[DeltaSoftAustralia]

Say I am making a large one, around 4 feet by 8 feet, how do I glue this sheet onto the wall? Do I need to bolt it in or do I just get by using some kind of super glue stuff??

[sgtjlopez]

@DeltaSoftAustralia If you use thinner plexiglas, you could probably mount it with double sized foam tape. Can't guarantee that would work just because I don't know what your material is like. Plexiglas that large doesn't like to lie flat, so you might need something in the middle to keep it down if you use screws. Predrill holes in the plexiglass if you do use screws.

[DeltaSoftAustralia]

Thanks @sgtjlopez I think I have to stick with 1200mm by 900 mm pre-cut plexiglass (~AUD$50). Since it's fairly flexible stuff, I guess I would glue it on top of a Masonite board . Steps are: Cut the Masonite board back to back with Plexiglass Drill 4 holes on four corners of board and plexiglass Peel protective coat of one side of the plexiglass Paint twice or more Apply super glue Fix the Plexiglass and put some weight on it Preparation for wall mounting Peel top protective coat Sounds OK?

[sgtjlopez]

@DeltaSoftAustralia Sounds good to me. Seeing as you're using a chemical glue like super glue, make sure to let the spray paint fully dry, maybe cure a day or two so you don't get some weird paint reactions.

When drilling, be careful if you're doing anything over 3/16 of an inch (5mm?) If you have to use larger screws than that, make sure to drill a smaller hole first.

[Gytax0]

I like your video. If I won't find any cheap white boards at my local stores, I will probably use your method. By the way, if you don't want the light to get through your home made white board, you can just paint the other side black.

[MrDavidium]

Must have gotten wrong kind of plexiglass. Got it all painted and ready to go and the expo won't come for anything. I'll keep experimenting though.

[sgtjlopez]

@MrDavidium bizarre. You did take off the clear coating on the outside of the plexiglas right? They use it to protect it from scratching.

[MrDavidium]

@sgtjlopez Yep, I took the first side's plastic off yesterday when I painted it and the other sides off a few minutes ago. I was under the impression I was getting the polycarbonate. Maybe I will try the acrylic one day. The material itself feels like marker would stick to it, so I'm wondering if maybe they just had the wrong thing in the wrong area. It says "Clear Lexan 8x10" on the label.

[sgtjlopez]

@MrDavidium I've used polycarbonate and acrylic.

[marooqi]

thanks, i made 4 at a time and they turned out great!

[sgtjlopez]

@marooqi Sweet! Glad it helped :)

[marooqi]

at what point do you sand the edges?  before painting or afterwards?

[sgtjlopez]

@marooqi If you're going to sand the edges, you're going to want to do it before you spray it. Otherwise, you might take the paint off.

[magicbuskey]

When you spray paint do it inside a cardboard box and it will protect from wind, grass and most bugs. Thanks for the video!

[august241994]

cool dude! an ill give it a try but largger THANKS

[mre2u2]

Want a multi=color board? Simply use your clear plastic and tape a small piece of paperboard on the back. Np paint, no pollution, and you can change the color whenever desired. Good instructable.

[123prome]

how do you make markers?

[kebtracy]

Good info. I've wanted a large whiteboard for a while, but the prices are absurd, so I looked to making one. I think I'll give this a try.

[pkillean]

for you're handhelds have you considered a fine grain sand to improve paint bonding and maybe a thin coat of silicone sealant? in glass lighting?

How did your giant church board end up?

Great vid, informative & thorough. keep em coming :-)

[sgtjlopez]

@pkillean The paint surprisingly never came off. It just had to cure and it is pretty much on there for good.

The larger one that I made was a little too wobbly. Next time I'm going to use a more rigid plexiglas sheet.

[aircel1111]

thanx.... :)

[aircel1111]

it looks great... hey wats that sheet name...

anyone can u spell the sheet name PLZZZZZ

thanks in advance...

[sgtjlopez]

@aircel1111 It's just standard Plexiglas. You can get it at any hardware store.

[aircel1111]

@sgtjlopez Thanks..

[sohosquirrel]

@sgtjlopez I'm trying to make one at the moment and I'm just trying to find the right material. Whatever you used seems to come out nicely. You said you used a polycarbonate version of plexiglas, is that right? I'm a little confused because plexiglas is actually an acrylic. On the the altuglas website (the makers of plexiglas) the only polycarbonate product they have is called 'tuffak'. So if it's a polycarbonate it can't actually be plexiglas. Any help would be great, thanks!

[sgtjlopez]

@sohosquirrel I do believe that it's a polycarbonate...just bring an expo marker with you and mark on the board in the store...you didn't hear that from me...

[icdp]

REDNECK

[sgtjlopez]

@icdp Where do you get off calling me a redneck you imbecile?

[strivingbellemom]

How did you mount it to the door? I also was confused on what you used as the black background before mounting it to the door. Great tutorial. Thanks.

[sgtjlopez]

@strivingbellemom I spray painted black paint on. I just used some of the double sided tape--it's like the stuff you use on those instant hooks, where you can remove it later.

[strivingbellemom]

@sgtjlopez Did you spray white and then black. I don't know why I'm so confused...lol...thanks in advance

[sgtjlopez]

@strivingbellemom  yup, white then black

[iRonlMoNKleY]

"...sometimes bugs land on it, grass clippings gets on it..." Reminds me of a ShamWow ad, hehe. Great tutorial. =]

[aussienerds]

"It just look's like a Mac." I couldn't agree more.

[jenriquez316]

Genius! Sheer unadulterated pure brilliance!! I'VE BEEN DOING IT ALL WRONG ALL THIS TIME!!!! Thanks for the tutorial! Now I can apply this to my classroom! Woohoo!!

[sgtjlopez]

Great to hear! :) Are you a school teacher?

I was told that it would greatly improve the design to apply the whiteboard to a piece of plywood to give it extra rigidity, but I found no use for it, but maybe if you were making a big one, it'd matter. I still have to do that actually....

[jenriquez316]

I'm a teacher's assistant, and yeah, I was actually thinkning of the same idea and putting a frame around it to look nicer. But I'm gonna end up buying a few big pieces to try and cover the whole black board.

[jenriquez316]

Hey thanks again!!! It came out great!!!

[sgtjlopez]

Awesome! I have noticed that crappy (non-Expo) markers don't erase fully without water. But the Expos erase incredibly easy.

[italouruguayricano]

I used an old spray bottle with ammonia solution it cleans nicely

[JustAPianoMan]

Great tutorial! with the "plywood" are you saying to mount the large peice of polycarbonate to the plywood after painting it?

[sgtjlopez]

LOL, I said crap-wood. As in something you wouldn't use, but instead us it to keep the plexiglas off the ground. I suppose you could put plexiglas onto a piece of plywood though

[RonaldsSulcs]

Wait a minute. You write on the plastic side or the painted side? :)

[sgtjlopez]

the plastic side. I guess you could write on the painted side, but you'd have to use water to get it off. lol

[RonaldsSulcs]

Cant you just glue white paper on the other side, if you mount this on wall. That would be even cheaper. :)

Very nice tutorial. In my country these white boards costs astronomical amounts

[sgtjlopez]

If you want to be really economical about it, you can even just put a clear piece of plexiglas down on the table...

[blobofblue]

what brand of paint is that?

[sgtjlopez]

Rust-oleum

[LaOtraMaga]

Hey this is really helpful. But can I make a bigger one with the same materials? just asking, i'm trying to make myself a big one.

[sgtjlopez]

Yeah, you can get a big ol' piece of plywood from Menards for 10 or 15 dollars. I still have to do that tutorial.

[LaOtraMaga]

exellent! plywood it is then! thanks a lot ;)

[baylvstj]

hey ur kinda cute lol.a you remind me of an old friend and ur work is very nice

[sgtjlopez]

lol, that made my day.

[TheAbsintheReviewNet]

Niiice. Maybe you can give me the one used in your example?^_^

[sgtjlopez]

lol. I can make one for you sometime if you stop writing on your hand! ;)

[blobofblue]

hey what if you like slide under a magnetic sheet or something and you got yourself a homemade magnetic whiteboard!

[sgtjlopez]

That's actually not a bad idea! You'd definitely want a thinner piece of plastic though, mine's a 1/4" thick, so I don't know how well it'd work. But yeah, some magnetic paper, double-sided tape, and I bet it'd work.

[potatoes63]

great vid. im gonna have to make one now.

[sgtjlopez]

Good to see I inspired someone :D Mine's working out great!

[FandSproduction]

Looks cool. You should patent the design!

[sgtjlopez]

lol, i don't think that I'm the first to come up with that! Besides, getting a patent requires money!

[familyguyaddict83]

8:56 is that a mac? it looks like my mac haha. This was really informative why couldn't you put this video up earlier i could have made my whiteboard instead of buying one. Now i regret buying it but at least it'll last me a while. 5/5

[sgtjlopez]

lol. Well, now you know if you ever have to do it! I love mine! :D