The Basics

There are standardized distances you have to follow while mounting your dartboard. From the floor to the center of the bull’s-eye should be 5 feet 8 inches. To find the throwing line you measure 7 feet 9 ¼ inches from the front of the board. When you mount the dartboard you want to make sure that the board is flush; it shouldn’t be leaning like a picture. Also, the 20 should always be at the top. You can rotate your board by unclipping the wire numbers. Do this often so it doesn’t wear out on the numbers you hit most often, like triple 20. When you rotate, always make sure that the 20 is a dark color. Most dartboards should come with mounting instructions on how to attach your board to the wall. Make sure that you hang your board in a safe location. You will miss the board from time to time and darts will bounce off the board as well. Never place a dartboard near windows or other breakables or where anyone could accidently walk into the path of a flying dart. The picture below shows how I set up up my own board. My wife is kind, and let me set up my board in a good spot. You generally need about 6 foot or more of wall space to set up properly.

Stuff you need to set up your dartboard.

You can get everything you need (except the dartboard) from Walmart and Home Depot

• Dartboard
• Cabinet or backing board
• Two bright lamps
• Scoreboard
• Darts mat

The Dartboard Buy a competition “Bristle” board. There are many brands to choose from. Winmau Pro SFB. Nodor is another good brand. The best colors to get are Green, Red, Black and Light Yellow.

Cabinet or backing board You need something to stop darts hitting the wall when you miss, so mount your dart board on a backing board of some kind or in a cabinet. If you care what it looks like then a cabinet is best. Otherwise you can get a cork board or a sheet of wood from Home Depot, Office Depot or Walmart. If you are going to make a cabinet then 30 inches high and about 24 to 28 inches wide is about the right size. Should be 5 or 6 inches deep.

Two bright lamps (or three) One lamp isn’t so good as it will always cast a shadow when a dart is stuck in the board. If your lamps are close to the board you can get away with two if they are bright enough. Two 100w floods will generally be bright enough. Using two 60w floods are okay, but you may still get a faint shadow. Some people mount three track lights on the ceiling a few feet in front of the board. A lot of people will buy a 12″ or 24″ florescent light, but these have to be mounted on brackets at least 12″ away from the wall to get optimal light coverage.

Scoreboard Traditionally a blackboard and chalk was used for scoring. Now, dry erase whiteboards are more popular. You can buy one from Walmart for under $10. Sometimes darts cabinets have a scoreboard built in the the doors.  You can also get a quality dart dry-erase scoreboard from a place like Voks or Anglo-American, however, you may find one at Dunham’s.

Darts mat Can be tricky to get hold of.  You can easily use a carpet area rug that is 4′x8″ or something close.  This can be found at a local store and be cheap. Normally you will find them in the same section that they have doormats and welcome mats in. You might not need a mat if your have carpeted floors, but if you have ceramic tiled floors falling darts can snap off at the point. If you have wood floors or linoleum, falling darts make nasty little holes.

Anyhow, I guess that’s enough about setting up boards. Good luck with yours.