How to Make A Custom Slate Chalkboard
Assemble Frame
We cut 45-degree miters on our frame parts and dry fitted the frame and slate to see how things were fitting. Once satisfied with the fit we used a Festool DF500 Domino cutter to cut slots in the miter joints.
Dominos provide a mortise-and-tenon joint, which is super strong, and durable. A biscuit joiner and biscuits can also be used for this purpose but are not nearly as strong a joint.
We then glued our dominos and miters together and clamped it overnight. The next morning we removed the clamps, cleaned up the face frame with a random orbital sander and some hand sanding. We then cut out 45-degree beveled, French cleat out of some scrap plywood. We like to use plywood because it does not split like regular wood does when installing fasteners.
We cut additional strips of pine to line the sides and bottom of the frame in order to hide out French Cleat hanging system. Doing this does add an additional ¾ inch to the depth or projection of the chalkboard of the wall but it’s needed. Personally, I like the added depth, and think it gives a nice sturdy look to the frame.
Cut slate to size
We then measured our slate opening.
We reduced the opening size by 1/8 inch off the width and length and then went outside to cut the slate.
We set up sawhorses and used 2×4 slats to support the slate and used one under our cuts to support the cut line. Compared to other stones, slate is fairly soft. You can cut it using a grinder, wet saw, or a circular saw all with a diamond blade.
To cut the slate we used a Bosch grinder and diamond-cutting blade and paired it with our Festool HEPA vacuum to collect the dust while cutting.
The Festool CT MINI vacuum is a tool activated, HEPA vacuum can be operated wet or dry and has a 2.6-gallon capacity with a suction capacity up to 99 CFM. The front interface has an outlet to plug in my grinder for tool activated dust extraction
We also used a dust collection hood for the grinder that had a nice flat cutting plate to guide the grinder along the slate. We measured and marked the slate with a permanent marker and a straight wedge.
We set the grinder to cut through the slate and into the wood 2×4 1/8 of an inch to account to irregularities in the slate thickness. We then cut “free hand,” slowly and steady through the slate – easy cutting. If desired, a straight edge can be clamped to the slate to assist the cut application.
