A hangboard is one of the basic tools for climbing training and is at the same time an indispensable part of every climber’s home gym. There is no science behind making it, but it is definitely necessary to follow some guidelines. Learn how to make a hangboard at home and what you need below.
First of all, it should be emphasized that a hand-made hangboard will not be as perfect and symmetrical as a machine-made hangboard. If you start the production yourself, then assume that some pockets will be larger than expected, the edge will be a little under-rounded, etc… It all depends on the time investment and your skills, and ultimately also on the tools you have at home. So what all do you need?
P.S. At the end of the article, we will also summarize how much time the entire production took us.
What do you need to buy and what do you already have at home?
Hopefully you already have certain tools at home and you do not have to buy all of the following.
You need:
- a drill with a 20 mm and 5 mm drill bit
- chisel
- fox tail or a saw
- meter
- beak scale
- pen
- geotriangle or protractor
- 80-120 grit sandpaper
The things listed above are really basic tools, but you will certainly make your work much easier with a grinding and milling machine.
Material
You need a piece of wood to make a hangboard. For sales and serial production, we use beech wood because of its better properties (better processing, higher load-bearing capacity, no resin), but here we prefer spruce. The reason for this is that spruce has a lower density and, as a result, it is processed by hand with less effort. Now the main question is, where to get this piece of wood?
It would be very easy if you know a carpenter in the area who would be willing to do you a favor and cut a piece of board and treat it properly. Of course, not everyone is so lucky, but wood can also be found in technical stores. They have it in different dimensions, and the price can vary from provider to provider (€5-10). We used a piece of wood with dimensions:
length: 60 cm
width: 18 cm
thickness: 4 cm
When the board is ready, you also have to mount it on the wall, so you need 4-6 screws (and wall plugs, if you install it in concrete). The screws should be 60-80 mm long and 5 mm thick. Inserts must be 50 x 8 mm in size. You can also get all this in the technical store.
Let’s produce
#1 – Step cutout
First, it is necessary to make a cutout for the step. This is necessary, because with this you remove the material in the lower part, which would otherwise get in the way when you do exercises on the upper pockets.
You measure 60 mm in width and 10 mm in depth and saw this part with a foxtail or another saw.
#2 – Ramp cutout
There are usually one or more ramps on the top side of the hangboard. In this case, we made one with an angle of 30°. You measure and determine the angle of the ramps with a protractor or geotriangle and then saw off the marked part with a foxtail. If you have enough time and will, you can also make several different ramps as in the example of
FingerBoard 2.0.
As you adjust according to your capabilities. According to a rough estimate, an angle of 20° is suitable for beginners, and 35° or more for slightly more demanding users.
#3 – Marking the size and depth of the pockets
For a good finished product, it is first necessary to have a detailed plan. In this case, we drew it right on the board. Pockets are usually divided into 1-, 2-, 3- and 4-fingered, i.e. they are of different lengths. They also have more depths, which dictate the difficulty of the board. Here you have a great opportunity to create a board just for your level of difficulty! If you don’t know which length and depth of pockets to use, take a look at our product drawings.
FingerPeg 1.0 is ideal for a slightly easier set-up, and
Fingerboard 2.0 for higher difficulty. On both products, you will find exact dimensions and all other information that you can use to your advantage when making your accessory. After inspecting and deciding on the size of the pockets, you can easily draw them on the board with a pencil. Now comes the main part!
#4 – Pocket drilling
Pockets are usually 20 mm wide. Ideal for a drill with this diameter. If you don’t have one, use a smaller one and drill more holes. Nothing will go wrong even if you use a larger drill bit (e.g. 25 mm). Measure the depth of each hole you drill with a caliper and make sure that all holes in a specific pocket are at the same level. This work takes a lot of time, but it is important to remove as much material as possible with the drill. That way, you will have less work to do later. Let’s see what else is waiting for you!
#5 – Forming pockets with a chisel
At this moment, you are almost at the end, only finesse remains. You take a chisel in your hands and scrape off the parts between the drilled holes. In this part, the main role is played by the choice of wood species. We chose spruce, which belongs to the softer woods, so this work is much easier than, for example, at beech wood.
#6 – Rounding the edges with a chisel
When training on a hangboard, it is important to stay on it for as long as possible – until your muscles hurt. And not to pain in the fingers due to the sharp edge. Therefore, it is necessary to round the edges nicely. You also do this with a chisel, which you hold just a few degrees above the board and try to form symmetrical round edges with it. You can only round the lower parts of the pockets, and you can sand the upper part just a little. We rounded up everything to make it look nicer and feel nicer to the touch.
#7 – Sanding
To finish, you take sandpaper with a grain size of 80, 100 or 120 and sand the entire board. It is easiest if you “dress” a piece of wood in sandpaper and thus increase the effectiveness of sanding. Of course, you will speed up the process considerably with a vibrating sander or something similar. You only have 1 minute left for the last step and you can start training!
#8 – Drilling holes to screw the hangboard to the wall/beam…
Our training boards usually have 6 holes drilled for screwing, which also includes a set of screws and inserts. On the handmade hangboard, we made only 4 holes, which should also be sufficient. Drill holes with a diameter of 5 mm in the middle of certain pockets. At the end, you can deepen them with a countersink to hide the screw head.
Your handmade hangboard is finished! Find a suitable place and install it.
Now you are probably wondering what the time investment is for this product. Below is a rough summary.
Time investment for a handmade hangboard
The time spent making a climbing board can vary greatly from person to person. Factors that affect this are the technical skills and skill of the person, the type of tool and the location (distance from the store). Below is a rough time calculation for an average skilled person:
- purchase of wood, screws and inserts – 1 h 30 min
- preparation of tools – 30 min
- hand cut step and ramp – 1 h 15 min
- marking pockets (plan) – 15 min
- drilling and measuring pockets – 30 min
- shaping and rounding pockets – 1 h
- sanding – 15 min
- drilling holes for screws – 5 min
- mounting the hangboard on the wall/beam – 45 min
- lunch break – 30 min
Total time: 6-7 hours.
This total does not include possible errors and additional breaks, which sometimes come in handy. Especially with manual tasks. So for the entire production, we can say that you have to “sacrifice” one working Saturday.
To conclude, a few more hints
To make it easier for you, here are some more tips to avoid certain mistakes that can greatly prolong production. Remember this: the initial steps are the most important – if you draw a plan well, the next steps can be more complete. The holes will be more symmetrical, in a line, etc. Go ahead, do your best to drill the holes. Don’t drill “full” at the very beginning. Drill, measure, drill, measure… Namely, once the material is drilled, you can no longer replace it. So, try your best at every step. When sanding, remove only finesse – believe me, there is not much that can be done at this stage.
IMPORTANT: consider making a hangboard as a hobby and not as something to save money. If we just think of the well-known phrase “time is money”, after calculating the time spent, it can be clear to you that you have not saved anything. Namely, if you spend these hours working in an industry where you are successful, you will at the less time save enough money to buy a beautiful and perfect board. Of course, you also learn something while making it, which you can count as a plus. Anyway, let’s get to work!
DE