What makes a permanent grid on white board? Help needed with homemade "tac-tiles"

[d12]

I have wanted some tac-tiles for a while now but the company seems to have stopped making them. For those of you who don't know, they are interlocking squares with a grid that you can use for a battlemat.

Now an office supply company has produced interlocking 8 in. x 8 in. white-board pieces for home and office use. They require the same white-board markers used in classrooms and conference rooms. They are perfect, except there is no grid. I can draw a uniform grid on them easily enough but everything I draw with wipes off - pencil, pen, sharpie, you name it. I need something that I can use to produce a permanent grid, that doesn't wipe away when I erase the dry-erase marker. I have thought about using a razor to cut into the board but I would rather try anything else first.

Sorry if this is the wrong forum. It didn't seem to fit anywhere else.

 

[Derro]

We use paint pens. They seem more enduring than permanent marker. They are kind of messy though when drawing big, bold lines. I'd suggest just putting a dot where lines intersect. That way squares are implied but you've got a lot less potential for mess.

 

[chriton227]

You could use black tape, office supply stores sell 1/16" wide black tape for a few dollars a roll, and you can find narrower widths in specialty art stores. I found lots by Google searching for black 1/16 tape and black 1/32 tape.

Can you provide some more info on the tiles you've found? I haven't found anything similar in the stores near where I live.

 

[The Lost Muse]

Use a utility knife, score the grid out, and then if it's too light, a fine-tipped marker along the lines should do the trick.

 

[d12]

Company is Venture Products (they only sell to retailers)
Purchased at Target
Product name is "Wipe Works Message Boards"

 

[Scribble]

When I go home tonight I'll get the name of the markers my fiance uses in her lab.

Apparently they're more permanent then permanent markers, in that they're designed not to be disolved by the various chemicals used ina lab setting.

So... be very careful with them, as they don't really come off.

 

[Foxen]

Here's an alternative idea for a battlegrid...especially if you're into 1" squares.

You can purchase an "easel" pad worth of paper pre-marked with 1" square for probably around $10 or so. Disposable, 50 sheets at a time, etc.

I actually made my own grids with 1.25" (since the onset of the slightly larger bases by Privateer Press, MageKnight, Heroscape, etc.) by purchasing a newsprint pad (for about $10 for 50 sheets) and using a T-Square and ruler, making several sheets then taping it together.

I also purchase some colored cardstock (67lb, although I normally use 110lb white cardstock)...and printed out 1.25" grids using tables in Microsoft Word...then cut them out to make piecemeal tiles that I could use for dungeons etc.

And lastly, for a huge dragon battle, I took a paper bag from the grocery store, and gridded it up (again at 1.25") using colored pencil for additional effect....looks cool enough. Wanted to add some diversity and texture to the grid.

Wasn't quite what you asked for, but I thought I'd share some ideas for folks who wanted to make their grids.

Fox

 

[Altamont Ravenard]

Use a utility knife, score the grid out, and then if it's too light, a fine-tipped marker along the lines should do the trick.

I've use an exacto knife to grid a featureless whiteboard. Went pretty well (make sure to use a metal ruler of some kind as a guide). Dry erase "residue" accumulates pretty fast in the grooves and the grid darkens as it is used.

AR

 

[Remathilis]

Try a steady hand, a ruler, and an X-acto Knife...


GAAAH! Ninja'd!

 

[Thunderfoot]

If you have a very steady hand there is also a paint that leaves a raised residue on the surface. I can't for the life of me remember the name of the product but we used it to make a grid board for the military on a white board.

The stuff came in little bottles with an applicator and was available in a variety of colors including black, different shades of gray and even light blue (to match graph paper).