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Dartboard area protection backing

post #1 of 9
1/25/13 at 3:51pm
Thread Starter 
We got a "real" dartboard, I'm putting it up this weekend.
Due to 7ft 9.25” throw distance for steel tips I'm going to make a big surround panel about 5' x 5' to catch stray darts instead of into the drywall.
One idea I have is use 2" foam board, then put 1/4" cork over it.
Mount that to the wall, and the dartboard onto that....
I'll probably cut the foam for wood insert to mount the dartboard solid to the drywall.
Seems like that will catch 99% of stray darts.

I'm open to thoughts/what others have done.
Pict shows where it will be located.

Edited by mtbdudex - 1/25/13 at 6:22pm
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post #2 of 9
1/26/13 at 9:10am
Thread Starter 
Nothing like trying something out to see what is needed.

Kids have fun playing darts, my lessons learned:

-steel tips are better than plastic tips, they don't break
-need steel / alum back shaft, the plastic ones break too easily when fall on hard surface
-storage below dartboard will have a cushion on top, to break dart fall and keep them from breaking
-definitely need protector for drywall all around the dartboard
-the 2" thick acoustic cotton pieces I had worked as protection, kinda, the darts had hard time penetrating them

>>I'm off to Home Depot now to buy some materials to begin 2 projects
1) Storage shelf below dart board, 14" deep x 26" high x 6' (72") long
2) protection zone around dartboard; 2" foam covered with 1/4" cork
photo.jpg

Once I get the storage shelf done can re-claim the pool table for usage as well biggrin.gif
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post #3 of 9
1/28/13 at 4:11pm
i have a nice dartboard someone gave me as a gift. i was going to find corkboard and make my whole wall out of that.
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post #4 of 9
1/28/13 at 4:50pm
I made this about a year ago. All 1/4" mdf board with 1/4" cork tiles behind the dartboard itself. Kinda made it like a light box with 3 kitchen fluro. lights. (the kind that mounts under kitchen cabinets).
The lights I find help with shadows on the board and makes it very easy to tell where the dart actually is compared to a single overhead light source. I then just added a dry erase board for score keeping and a small lip on the bottom to hold the markers, also drilled some small holes in the lip that you can place your darts in tip down. Granted this is geared more towards adult playing but no one has hit the wall yet with a dart. Anyways maybe it can give you some ideas. Also., A-Zdarts and muellers.com are great places for dart supplies and just about anything else for a game room. Think I spent about $30
a year ago and still have more flights and shafts than I think I'll ever use.
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post #5 of 9
1/28/13 at 5:58pm


I made this from some ceiling tiles and the felt I had left over from wrapping my screen border.
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post #6 of 9
1/29/13 at 1:23am
i wanted to place my dartboard at the stairway entrance, but then I thought - what if poeple can't see others walking down the stairs - they'll throw a dart in their neck! ARGH!!
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post #7 of 9
1/30/13 at 9:14am
Quote:
Originally Posted by elmalloc View Post

i wanted to place my dartboard at the stairway entrance, but then I thought - what if poeple can't see others walking down the stairs - they'll throw a dart in their neck! ARGH!!
use those convex mirrors for a blind driveway?
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post #8 of 9
2/4/13 at 11:27pm
Thread Starter 
Thx kustommade and rschuler313 for the idea starter.

My big "push" was Super Bowl game, so made the 6ft long 15in deep by 24in high storage shelf.
I have barstool that measure 24in tall, used that as max height so people could randomly sit on this while a game of pool being played.
nugugu8y.jpg

Here is using the 3/4in thk foam board with 3/16in thk 2ftx4ft rolled cork from Michaels.
y5asumen.jpg

Almost done, later will post final look
hejy8u8e.jpg



Sent from my 32GB iPhone4 using Tapatalk
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post #9 of 9
2/17/13 at 6:25pm
Thread Starter 
Finished this project today:
1) I though the plug on my 9v DC china made transformer was bad, turned out to be a cold solder joint inside the transformer itself, look at the blue lead solder joint, it came loose!


So I did what every DIY person does, just fix it and save a few$


2) Finished applying the thick cork to the foam


Ready to play darts, and can catch those stray darts safely also


3) Love using steel tip darts into real bristle board, much better than those plastic tip darts into hex slots that keep breaking
Now, the shafts were plastic, so I bought alum shaft replacements, found out wrapping some white plumbers tape made the threads very snug and they don't come loose at all


So that's it, we are ready for pool games, dart tournaments, etc....and having a 130" HDTV nearby is kinda neat also
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