UKC

I am a final year university student who made a modular hangboard, which hooks onto a doorframe, making it suitable for those living in a temporary residence. The hangboard includes:

1) an underside hangboard, with holds like pinch blocks (but this can be developed for other grip types too). 

2) Modular grips that easily slot in and out of place. 

3) Loops to clip equipment too, such as a pulley. 

4) The travel hangboard can be slotted onto the front of the hangboard, and also taken off for outdoor use. 

5) Real rock grips, which include either a sandstone or granite veneer, which is useful for skin conditioning and preparing for outdoor climbing. Especially if you live somewhere not near a crag. 

I would much appreciate any feedback, positive, negative, or any improvements. 

The photos are on this google drive, it should be public for anyone to see. It includes some real photos and CAD Renders. The physical model looks different to the renders due to timeframe and lack of resources, but it still shows the same functionality. Thanks very much.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/BR1i8wkmDhwaEPmGA

In reply to Bendo:

It looks good. The only thing I think that's missing is a pull up bar.

What max weight testing have you done on it? Is that limited by the door architrave?

Best of luck 

In reply to Bendo:

A good bit of design in my view, particularly for people with not many option.  I use a standard fingerboard, but would definitely consider a modular option.  Good stuff.

In reply to Stob Dearg:

Yeah im aware of alien climbing, and there are a few other modular hangboards on the market, but the idea with this hangboard is to combine a bunch of features from other hangboards into one. The trouble with alien is that one of the main features is to be able to slot in the grips at different angles, which is actually pretty bad for the wrists, and creates unnecessary strain. But thanks for the feedback. 

In reply to Derek Furze:

Thanks you very much. Im aware that this isn't really the best design but there's plenty of room for improvement.

In reply to tew:

Cool thanks for the feedback. I wasn't able to do a proper limits test because I didn't really want to destroy the hangboard as I still need a physical model. But It was able to hold the weight of me with my friend on my back, which adds to about 135kg. 

In reply to Bendo:

Don't sell yourself short, this look great and is defo something I'd buy if I couldn't screw wall holes!

In reply to Bendo:  Does it hang ok? Any improvement by cutting slots for the hanging cords?

I'll assume it does as it looks pretty good

In reply to wbo2:

Hi there, Im not too sure if I fully understand what you mean by cutting slots for the hanging cords. Are you talking about the small pink looped cord on the sides of the mount? And yes it hangs pretty well I would say, there's a small bit of flexion in the wood when weight is put on it, but I reckon that's going to be pretty unfixable for a temporary mounting hangboard. Thanks for the feedback and positive comment  

In reply to Bendo:

Having installed door architrave, these sorts of things terrify me!

In reply to Bendo:

Maybe i am not understanding the pictures but whats to stop it swinging in on you, pivoting on the architrave? I made a homemade portable board that hung from the architrave but clamped either side of the door to stop any lateral movement.

In reply to Bendo:

I suspect the initial failure would occur in the architrave, not your unit which looks well designed and well constructed. I like the modular idea a lot but as it stands at the moment, I think the profiles of the slots, pockets etc might need a bit of tweaking so they're not all 'square-cut' with a horizontal base. 

In reply to PaulJepson:

Yeah it can be a little sketchy at first, but seems like a pretty good solution if you cannot drill into any walls.

In reply to Fraser:

yeah I get what you mean, our architraves seem pretty strong, but I guess you would have to judge how strong  your doorframes are. Thanks for the feedback about the holds, I would have liked to designed them so they are a little less boring, but because of the timeframe, it became a little difficult. As well as the roof grips/ pinches they will definitely need tweaking, as they are very difficult to hold onto currently. 

In reply to RX-78:

Im mean I don't really get the physics of it. But its essentially just the same mechanism as a doorframe pullup bar, which has a bar that sits on the back top architrave, (which most of the weight is being loaded onto), and then the clamps at the front of the doorframe stop it from swinging. But I should have taken more photos of more vigorous movements, such as a front lever or explosive pullups.  

In reply to Bendo:

The important question. .. Do the modular parts add cost?

Modular should be used to keep assembly etc costs down. If it adds significantly to cost compared with alternatives then you need a rethink 

In reply to neilh:

Yeah, the modular parts will of course add to the cost because it's more components and manufacturing etc. But in the long run, it's almost like an investment because the grips won't cost that much, so once you buy the mount to attach holds to, you can always add to it, and make it as cheap or expensive as you like. A little like a 'pick & mix' for climbing holds. I'll be honest though, I'm not the best at working out costs and is a little bit of a grey area for the project, but I did my best to work out all the costs. The pricing I came up with was £75 for just the mount, and £140 for the mount and all the grips currently designed. But thanks for the feedback, I just looked back and there were definitely bits that needed tweaking with the costs. 

In reply to RX-78:

Swinging it toward you would raise its centre of mass.

Looks well thought through to me but as another serial architrave remover-installer and doorframe bodger I do have some reservations about the concept more broadly. What lurks behind the wood and plaster is not always as it should be!

Fixing a couple of screw holes in plaster is much easier than fixing architrave and re-glossing it. The rational choice would be screw a board into studs over the door, it's solid, trivially repairable later and the door still works.

jk