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Comment by khazhoux | Hacker News Reader

I still find blackboard + chalk to be a heinous combination. Is this just because my grade school used cheap low-grade chalk?

I do have a weird physiological reaction to 'fffffffff' friction sounds. A hard cheap pencil against cheap paper, making a similar raspy sound as chalk-on-blackboard, with cause me to reflexively (and uncontrollably) suck my lips in tight, as if protecting my teeth from the vibrations. Back in school, after a long homework assignment, my lips would get swollen from doing this. It doesn't happen with pen, doesn't happen with smooth pencils or soft paper. Apparently I'm not the only one with this weird thing.

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>Is this just because my grade school used cheap low-grade chalk?

Most likely yeah. I remember reading here about the fairytale that is Japanese chalk and that US professors were hoarding it. I assume it must feel orgasmic.

We didn't have that kind of opulence in Eastern Europe. Chalk and blackboards here sucked ass, including the cleanup process students were responsible for. Schools switched to whiteboards and markers ASAP.

Although much easier to maintain, whiteboards and markers have shitty contrast, especially if light or reflections hit them at the wrong angle. Matte blackboards were much better at absorbing light and unwanted reflections which I guess is why they're still used today.

> I remember reading here about the fairytale that is Japanese chalk

Specifically Hagoromo chalk, I think

I probably read the same thing and bought some of the more recent Korean-purchased version, and it _is_ quite wonderful.

I've always hated whiteboards; when I leave something up on my chalkboard for a few days/weeks, I can still erase it. If I need more cleaning, water works. I don't need some foul smelling, expensive, concoction to clean the damn thing. (Yes, I know the "tricks" of toothpaste or drawing over the stains; the latter counts as "foul smelling, expensive", however.)

Any dust that gets on my clothes (never happens, but a common complaint), is removed with my hand easily enough.

Hagoromo does feel pretty nice to write with. It’s thicker and it writes smoother than standard chalk. It also has some sort of coating on the sides so it doesn’t get everywhere. It doesn’t break easily when dropped.

It’s good but not hilariously better than decent chalk.

I find that because of the coating you have to pick a side that you’re going to write with, and this small amount of mental energy is a small roadblock. It also seems shorter than regular chalk, although this could just be that the pieces I use are used frequently!

I think I watched a video on it a long time ago and seem to recall that professors immediately break the chalk in half before using it. I don’t remember why.

I regularly use Hagoromo chalk on a personal chalkboard and I always break new sticks in half before use. For me, it feels more comfortable to use smaller pieces than large ones. It allows me to hold the chalk with more fingers, and avoids the awkward position where you have to hold the chalk like a pencil with a few inches of chalk resting on your hand. However, some friends swear by full, long sticks, so it's very much a matter of what you're used to.

Personally, I always was afraid of breaking the long chalk while writing, which would have caused the far end to fall to the floor and break into many small pieces. So why not be safe and write with a shorter stick.

I don't know anything about japanese chalk but in general you should break chalk in half because that makes the chalk not scratch with a high pitched sound when used.

As a Hagoromo-using professor: its biggest advantage to me is that it erases much more cleanly, so that after a few passes over the board you can still read the new writing instead of it looking like writing over half-erased writing.

That’s a great point that I forgot to mention. I’d reckon a large reason for this and its other benefits is how soft the chalk is.

While it's not manufactured by the same company anymore, a Korean company bought the formula and sells it on Amazon now! [0] So, you, too, can see what the hype is all about, if you want! At $0.39 per piece of chalk, it is, indeed, expensive. But, it is also a much different experience from writing with ordinary chalk.

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[0]: https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B01HDNUXBW

> All Hagoromo chalks are well coated to prevent hands from coming into contact with chalk dust when using. Never have to worry about stained, dusty hands when using chalk ever again

You mean not having messy hands after writing on a blackboard is a thing? You mean my whole life was a lie?

FWIW, there are such things as chalk holders, also called chalk chucks.

(As a tongue-twister, do you now have chalk chuck shock? :)

I vaguely remember some pieces of chalk in my school having paper wrappers on them. Those were a bit less messy.

Good chalk on a good board should sound like a light hiss, not a lot of 'ffffff'.

and then there is fingernails on a chalkboard...

> Is it just...

Definitely yes. Good chalk and good boards sound completely different.

I remember old blackboards made from a soft material, or a soft layer under the “black” part. These sounded very pleasantly, like the most thocc-y keyboards.

Newer boards came rock solid, and when they met a hard granule in a chalk, it made unbearable sqeaks and clacks.

I thought I was alone in this. Something about the scratch of pencil on paper always bothered me; I had to use the softest graphite possible to not go crazy.

Could be the low grade chalk. I remember a short video that talked about a Japanese chalk manufacturer shutting its doors, and professors from all over the globe were flocking to Japan to buy it or figure out ways to trade it because the remaining stock couldn’t be exported (a little fuzzy on the details here). Allegedly, the chalk was just that good.

In primary school I couldn't win; blunt pencils were a bad time, and trying to sharpen my pencil would lead to the tip breaking pretty soon after. Pens also get to me sometimes, I have one which is really nice to use and it puts out a lot of ink, but I'm not sure if that's it.

Stationary can become a great and not-overly-expensive hobby if you invest a little bit of effort in it. I wish I knew what I know now when I was going to school:

* If I use harder pencils("F" or "H" where the standard pencil is "HB" and softer pencils are "B"), they erase more cleanly, give more friction so I get better control, and break less. Going softer makes them dark but there's a big tradeoff involved in the other respects.

* When I was growing up gel pens were still pretty new and ballpoints were the best option for lefty ink writing in most instances. However, now pretty much everything is a hybrid with quick-dry ink. If I had to pick one all-rounder it would be the Uni 207 Plus+.

* The standard ruled filler note papers are mostly terrible - thin, with a crummy, uneven texture. This means that they can't be used with all pens effectively because roller or fountain ink will go right through. Getting anything slightly heavier and smoother(even a graph paper pad) makes for a better experience.

* To learn to hold pens and develop muscle memory, do a lot of blind contour drawing, and use the various different kids' art supplies to vary the process. The reason why this works well is because blind contours make you navigate the paper by feel alone, and the specific feel of each tool changes your approach - pencil, crayon, brush, marker, chalk all have differences in how they're best held. So you end up being very sensitive to the differences, which makes you better at drawing as well as using the most effective grasp for the task.

One technique to deal with shitty quality chalk/chalkboard that worked for me was to dip the chalk in water.

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