Hang Board
This section goes through my process in creating a hang board.
The hang board is exactly what it sounds like: a board you hang on, but its much more than that.
Rock climbers all around the world have one thing in common, and that is that we try our very best to train our fingers to be as strong as possible. We do this with the hang board. It consists of different sized notches to hang from and train our finger strength on.
I wanted to achieve this goal, but in a different way. Below showsmy rendition of the hang board.
Features
I wanted my board to be simple yet efficient. I decided to keep three tiers each with different depths, and a section for a jug (a very well gripping section) and a sloper ( a section that slopes making it harder to hold onto) I did this by using a standard table router, and carving off the edges to stop the strain from injuring finger tendons
Design
My original design consisted of one board, but it occured to me that everyone has different shoulder widths. What's comfortable for me will not be comfortable for my 6'2 friend. Because of this I decided to make two separate smaller hang boards and mount them on French cleats. This way anyone could move them to accommodate shoulder width.
Luckily this first design met my expectations! I took both sides of the French cleat mounted to the wall and connected them using a small door hinge, this way it is foldable and easy to transport.
After boring out the finger ledges using a router I rounded out the edges to avoid damage to finger joints.
Lessons Learned
Overall I had a wonderful time with this project because it was relevant to one of my favorite hobbies.
If I were to change anything about the design or material I would use a different type of wood. This wood was given to me for free by the owner of a kitchen and bath company. It consisted of wood parts pressed together tightly, which made carving out the small notches to attach the 45 degree pieces together. Going forward I would choose a wood with multi directional grains to provide a sturdier feel, and allow for a thinner board.
I would also change the length the handle pieces. My hands are small, which allows for me to have small handle pieces, however my friends do not have small hands like me, which makes hanging onto the jug section difficult. To fix this I would increase the length of the handle pieces to provide a better gripping surface.