This post is sponsored by The Home Depot. When it’s time to do some layout work, that usually means it’s time to grab the chalk line. A chalk line provides a fast, easy way to mark out a perfect, straight thin line for putting up a wall, or starting a tile or hardwood floor installation. When the project involves working outdoors, though, that thin line that worked so well indoors often disappears in the dirt or grass. If you need a better way to mark your territory, join us as we load up the Milwaukee Extra Bold Chalk Reel, and extra boldly go where no chalk has gone before.
Your first clue that this ain’t your daddy’s chalk reel is its size. The Milwaukee Extra Bold chalk reel is not a dainty little thing; actually, it’s huge, measuring roughly 10” x 6” x 3”. It’s made of a sturdy grade of plastic, with a steel handle, and feels rugged enough to survive the real world.
The braided line is about 1/8” thick, and has a huge 2-1/4” metal ring on the end. This makes it easy for a helper to hold onto it, or to slip it over a stake or pin in the ground. There’s a little groove on the side of the Milwaukee Extra Bold chalk reel to keep it from flopping around between gigs.
Here’s the feature list from Milwaukee:
• Planetary Gear System
• 4X Faster Gear Retraction
• 18 oz. Chalk Capacity
• Extra Bold Line
• 100’ Line
• Extra Large Quick Turn Refill Opening
• Metal Handle
• Line Lock
• Stable Refill Base
Chalk Talk
It doesn’t take long to get the Milwaukee Extra Bold Chalk Reel into action. Peel off the cardboard wrapper, dump in some chalk, and snap. Chalk isn’t included, so be sure to add a bottle of it – a BIG bottle of it – to your shopping list. The reel holds a whopping 18 oz. of chalk, so you can be snap-happy for a good while between refills. I bought two 8-oz. containers, and it swallowed them up with room to spare.
When it’s time to feed the beast, the Milwaukee Extra Bold chalk reel sits upright, and is very stable. The cap only requires a quarter-turn to open, and the opening is nice and wide, making for a fast fill-up. The filler cap is attached to the reel with a little plastic keeper, and seals the opening very snugly.
The handle is large, made of metal, and operates very smoothly. The planetary gearing system gets the string back into the Milwaukee Extra Bold chalk reel FAST. When the handle is folded down, it locks the reel in place, whether the string is extended or retracted.
The Milwaukee Extra Bold Chalk Reel – Now THAT’S A Chalk Line!
After the Milwaukee Extra Bold chalk reel finished swallowing its pound of blue chalk, we took it outside to play in the grass. For its test zone, I nailed a small spike into the dirt at the edge of our property. Since our neighbor started renting out her house to groups of up to 14 happy partyers at a time, I’m seriously considering putting up a fence to keep them from constantly wandering into our domain.
I hooked the big ring over the end of the spike, and headed for the street. The 100’ long line was perfect for our 95’ driveway. When I got to the end of the yard, I folded the handle over and locked the reel, then had my apprentice snap the line in the center. As advertised, the Milwaukee Extra Bold chalk reel left a nice, bold blue line across the grass. Now where’s my post-hole digger…?
To compare the line left by the Milwaukee Extra Bold chalk reel with that of a standard chalk line, I snapped lines with each across our driveway. Both were clearly visible, but the bigger reel left a much bigger and, well, bolder line on the concrete. It also left a helluva lot more chalk in its wake, but hey, that’s the price of boldness.
Ready To Leave Your Mark On The World?
Finish carpenters probably won’t be rushing out to snag a Milwaukee Extra Bold chalk reel for their toolboxes. For one thing, it wouldn’t leave much room there for anything else. Primarily, though, this is not a tool that you’d use for precise, finicky work, due to the width of the line it leaves.
For anyone working outside, doing layouts for sidewalks or driveways, fencing, or outbuildings and the like, it would be a great guide for laying out stakes or forms. And if 100’ just isn’t enough for you, you can add an extra 50’ of Boldness with the 150’ version.
With its huge capacity and fast refill and line-retraction, the big red chalk reel should appeal to busy pros and DIYers with big jobs to tackle. The tool’s sturdy build should ensure that it stands up to typical job site abuse, and its whopping size should make it pretty tough to lose. Milwaukee backs the Milwaukee Extra Bold Chalk Reel with a snappy limited lifetime warranty. To give you a risk-free opportunity to boldly mark your territory, the Home Depot adds a 90-day money-back guarantee.
Buy the 100’ Milwaukee Extra Bold Chalk Reel from the Home Depot:
Buy the 150’ Milwaukee Extra Bold Chalk Reel from the Home Depot:
I acknowledge that The Home Depot is partnering with Home Fixated in sponsored content. As a part of the sponsorship, Home Fixated is receiving compensation for the purpose of promoting The Home Depot. All expressed opinions and experiences are our own words. This post complies with the Word Of Mouth Marketing Association (WOMMA) Ethics Code and applicable Federal Trade Commission guidelines.
