hangboard diy - 5c

Hangboard DIY!
Inspirational DIY on a budget!
www.5c-climbing.com
The concept!
!
This is no exact DIY, no plans supplied. It's meant to be inspirational. It shows you
techniques to make a cheap fingerboard to your own taste. It will guide you on how to
make a reusable template, so it’s easier to make both sides symmetrical and make
copies so you can give that all time favourite birthday present to your climbing buddy.!
In this case I have used a ‘moonboard’ as an added extra but you could fit some t-nuts
and bolt a few holds around the pockets. Just let your imagination run wild!
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What do you need?
-2 same size pieces of plywood 18mm thick , size depends on your design.!
-A piece of scrap board, roughly same width and half the size as the plywood.!
-A jigsaw.!
-An (electric) drill.!
-A handheld router!
-A larger diameter (eg >20mm) drill bit.!
-Pencil and ruler.!
-clamps.!
-wood rasp.!
-Some sandpaper.!
-10 screws, 4x30.!
-Wall plugs and screws adapted to your wall.!
-A copying router bit with ball bearing.!
-A corner rounding bit with ball bearing.!
TOP-TIP
Some of the power tools can be replaced by
hand tools and a lot of elbow-grease, but the
router is essential! Don’t have one? Ask
around, ask your strange diy uncle or friendly
neighbour. There’s bound to be someone you
know who has one laying around.
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A close-up of the router bits.
Let’s get started
1. Draw out your design on the piece
of scrap wood. Use the diameter of
the big drill bit as your width. Remember that this will become your
template, so you only need to draw
out one half of the final design.!
2. Drill the holes with the large bit.
Put a peace of scrap underneath so
you don’t get tear-out. A clamp can
stop it from moving around to much.
3. Use the jigsaw to cut between the
drilled holes. Be careful with your
fingers!
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TOP-TIP!
If you don’t have a saw(table) at your disposal, most DIY/hobby stores offer free/very
cheap cutting for boards purchased at their store. So make a little plan beore you go
shopping for supplies.
4. You should end up with
something like this. You can clean
up the holes with a wood file to
make them nice and smooth.
5. Mark out the centreline on one of
the plywood boards. Line up your
template with this line and clamp
down. Use a piece of scrap
underneath to prevent tear out and
damage to your work surface.!
Set up your copying bit so the
bearing follows your template.
TOP-TIP!
A bit more experienced in woodworking? Use solid woods for a more stylish result!!
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6. Route the first set of holes.
7. Flip the template over (mirrored
around the center line) and route the
second set of holes.
8. Exactly line up the routed board
with his unrouted plywood twin. Now
mark out some points and screw the
two boards together. Be sure to use
enough, they will be supporting your
weight.!
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9. Now you can route the second
board using the first as a template.
This way the holes will line up
perfectly.!
At this point you can choose which
holes not to route to make more
shallow pockets. In this example I
got holes 18mm and 36mm deep.
10. Set up the rounding bit in your
router.
11. Round all the holes and smooth
everything with some sandpaper.
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12. I rounded the corners for aesthetic reasons with a similar template technique and attached my
moonboard. I also drilled and countersunk two holes through the two boards to accommodate for
wall screws.
Feel free to leave a comment or post a picture of your own
fingerboard creation on our site:!
http://www.5c-climbing.com/training/fingerboard-diy-upgrade/!
!
Questions: tim@5c-climbing.com!
!
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