Chalk line refills and rollers

http://dixoncsp.com/dixcarchal.html I always get my chalk from Dixon. I order the half moons 1 Case of white 1 Case of blue. There is 72 pieces in 1 box and you will have to double check, but I think at least 12 boxes in a case. Good chalk all around though the half moons are easier to handle and harder than stick chalk. I stay away from the powder, like you said half your money pours onto the ground when just pulling the string out. It gets chalk all over the parking lot. Then you have to wind it up to re chalk it. Carpenter chalk/ half moons are the way to go.

I feel dumb for asking but how do you use carpenter chalk and string?

It's a half moon of chalk, you just pull the sting across it.

Walbuck.com is another good source for chalk (half moons, etc.)

Get a cord or small cotton rope about 3/16", and anchor it of have someone hold one end, while you walk to the loose end let the rope slide over the half moon of carpenters chalk. When you get to the end you line is chalked and ready for snapping a line.

I'm definitely going to give it a try. Sounds easy enough and less expensive. Sounds like it would work great for me when I work alone and I can chalk the line on my walk back after moving the big foot. Do you need to chalk it after every snap or is it like a box, and depends on how hard you snap it, terrain, etc?

Stripe Guy, Dropping everything in the bucket sounds like a mess, but a good idea at the same time. How do you keep it from dripping everywhere?

You can use your chalk box, just have your guy or big foot hold the end. Then hold the chalk in the palm of your hand, place the string over the moon or flat (doesn't matter), hold string against the chalk with your thumb, let the string slice through the chalk as you walk. Once the chalk line is saturated in chalk you can get about 3-4 snaps out of it maybe more maybe less just depends. Also do everything you can to keep string/chalk as dry as possible. Always have your guys hold onto some chalk. I use it to mark out measurements. No Parking Fire Lane stencil placement. If you are rolling on the blue. 12'' roller and pad, get a roller and the broom stick end that can screw into the handle. Take a 5 gal bucket and fill it halfway with blue, get a 5gal bucket roller mesh deal to roll off the excess blue. So you put the roller in the bucket and the mesh screen hangs on the inside of the bucket. You take the broomstick, screw it into the handle of the roller while its in the blue, then once secured roll off the excess and paint away. Try keeping the bucket close to the HC square being painted and keep the roller over the blue to prevent drips. When finished put the roller in the blue unscrew the broom stick and throw the screen into the bucket, put on the lid and your good to go. Small drips and mess ups can be taken care of with water, a handheld wire brush, and determination. If you have a decent screw up with oil based paint on Concrete you can actually remove the majority of it if not all with laquer thinner, rags , and that handheld wirebrush. If you paint 150' of red 6'' fire lane in the wrong place on concrete, your probably gonna have to sand blast it ... trust me I've been there. Luckily I have a compressor and small maybe 80lb capacity sand blasting pot.

when we use to use it we ordered it from rae products. they sell 5 gallon pails of chalk.

We leave the cover on the roller frame and put the plastic bag it comes in back on and twist it closed

Lucky stripe- Here is a string line that catches the chalk as it comes out of the chalk line reel. It is a little expensive but no wasted chalk, no mess and fast retrieval. I usually get my chalk in 1 gallon plastic bottles from Amazon. No freight charges if a prime customer. http://www.keson.com/products/Marking/Chalk-Line-Reels.aspx

Does the one that catches the chalk have issues breaking? Every time I try one that has bearings to make it wind faster they seem to last a day or two. I have tried the iwing and the dwalt ones. We use the Keson ones a lot but never with the fast rewind.

ware-ever, the giant or the smaller one? Do they both catch the chalk?

I know the larger one does for sure. I am pretty sure the smaller one does not have a cone to catch the chalk. The chalk is "caught" in the black cone. Every so often you pop off the cone and carefully put the excess chalk back into the body of the chalk real. The large one is also nice because the string is very heavy duty. Almost like a small rope. You can pull it very hard without fear of breaking it.

Thank you, good info