dive slates - what kind of plastic?

[fubari]

What kind of plastic is used for making dive slates?
I've done some searching on this and am coming up
empty so far.

I want to make 2 dozen small (2"x3") name tag-like
things to clip on student bcs for the duration of a class.
Something they can write on (Name + current weighting)
to help gearing-up at the beginning of a class (e.g. help
them find their bc out of the pile, and jog their memory
about how much weight should be on the belt).

I'm thinking about dive slate plastic since it is easy
to write on with a pencil (and pencils are cheap),
the writing has a good chance of surviving 5 pool
sessions, and would be easy to softscrub for the
next class.

Thanks for your ideas/comments,
John G.

 

[JeffG]

Vinyl House siding

 

[crpntr133]

My LDS uses key chains for a similar purpose. They had a bunch made up when the store first opened up 5 years ago and they are still going strong. They use majic marker on them but with a little scrubbing they come clean.

 

[Rick Murchison]

Go to any screen printer and get some blank plastic license plates. Cut 'em to size & they're ready to go.
S

 

[Johndog]

The cheapest slates I've made were free. Some old discarded vinyl mini blinds cut to length just past the hole where the cord is threaded, stacked together and put on a split ring make handy give- aways for your students. Clip them on their BCs or slide them up the sleeve of their wetsuit at the wrist.

 

[ScubaToneDog]

The pvc material from a shower surround works great. If you go to a local home improvement store or a plumbing supply store and ask, they sometimes have scraps or patch pieces that will cost only a few dollars.

It cuts pretty easy with utilty shears or a razor knife. Just sand the corners down, punch a hole, slap on a piece of surgical tubing, a pencil and tie it to a BC ring and your good to go.

Tony

 

[pipedope]

PVC is good.
If the surface is slick and the pencil won't write as well as you like just sand the PVC with fine sandpaper to give a nice matt finish.

I will not go into the pros/cons of them but many wrist slates are PVC pipe cut in half.

 

[ScubaToneDog]

This might sound weird, but a brown paper bag is great for "de-slicking" the surface of pvc. It also works great for removing pencil marks. Just rip a piece off and rub...dont crumple though...the flatter the paper the easier it rubs...sand paper is quicker, but the bag is finer and cheaper...just takes longer.

PVC is good.
If the surface is slick and the pencil won't write as well as you like just sand the PVC with fine sandpaper to give a nice matt finish.

I will not go into the pros/cons of them but many wrist slates are PVC pipe cut in half.

 

[fubari]

Thanks for all the clever ideas - I wouldn't have thought of
any of these things.

This might sound weird, but a brown paper bag is great for "de-slicking" the surface of pvc.

Using a paper bag does sound weird... but it is so weird
I'm looking forward to trying it

So...
After a trip to HomeDepot and a chat w/the helpful fellow
who ran the guillotine for me, I got a bag full of blanks
(about 100 small squares (3.5x3.5)) for about 10 cents
each - I wasn't patient enough to wait for scrap.

I really like the keychain idea, but minimal orders were too much
for a non-profit scuba club.

Anyway, a few grommets & a little sand paper on the corners
and this is what they look like - didn't take long at all to
make up 20 which will very likely last a while.

note: after vigorous testing w/SoftScrub, I found that grease pencils
(china markers) seep into the vinyl; I haven't been able to remove
100% of my test marks with them. Pencil, otoh, isn't quite as
legible but comes off much cleaner much more easilly.
John G.

 

[Jim Baldwin]

Try a carpenter's pencil. I use them all the time on my dive slates. I also use Brillo pads to clean the slates and it comes right off.

You can also drill a hole in them and add a string for a simple attachment.