Upcycling Progress: Naturalist Hangboard

For my upcycling project I will be creating a portable climbing hangboard out of scrap wood. A traditional hangboard features flat ledges of varying depth and is used to warmup climber’s fingers before climbing or as a way to train tendon strength. This project will not only be used for a portfolio but it also has practical inspiration. I want to fit my need for a tool to warmup my fingers during my days out climbing around Boulder and the US. In my last post I shared how I was conflicted on how to decorate the hangboard after the shape and structure had been created. My first thought was to finish the hangboard with a dark wood stain to allow it to blend in with the surrounding trees and foliage in nature to fit a naturalism aesthetic. The other option I thought of was to paint it more decoratively by making it look like a boombox to fit a hiphop aesthetic and draw parallels to some of the other popular expression forms during one of climbing’s booms in the 90’s.

Since last post I have decided to move forward with the naturalism aesthetic and create a more subtle finish to my project. This decision came from a few deciding factors. First, I did not want the paint to wear off as it was used and ultimately feel like a worn product down the line. Second. I felt that the naturalism aesthetic felt like a more fulfilling representation of climbing to me. I have been to amazing places in the US and Canada that I may have never visited if it were not for climbing. I have been to large deserts in California with mountainous backdrops hosting hidden knooks of 60 ft tall rocks, beautiful moss carpet forests in Canada and Washington, etc. Lastly, I decided because of my pride. Part of me was hesitant to carry around a hangboard that looked like a boombox

As far as materials go, so far I have sourced an ideal sized piece of scrap wood that I believe will work for the project. However, there is a knot in the wood that could be semi-problematic so I will continue to shop around for a bit longer and also get a consulation with the wood shop at the Idea Forge. The only other materials I will need is a couple feet of rope to attach to the top of the hangboard to allow it to hang, and some wood stain that I know is available at the Idea Forge. Later this week I am taking a trip to “Repurposed Materials” in Lafayette in hopes to find some rope.

Later this week I will also be going to the ITLL to see if I can have the wood carved on the CNC. This would drastically reduce my manufacturing time and also be a much more elegant way to make the ledges. As it stands, my plan is to use a mill with a drill stop set at the depths I desire and drill pockets right next to each other to make a seamless ledge. This would probably work but it would not be the most efficient way. I hope to get most of my manufacturing done next week (Feb 10 -14) and finish the stain up that weekend. I think I am in a good spot and otherwise I am excited to have my own hangboard, finally.

Sources:

Featured Image:

Ucraft Climbing. (n.d.). EVO rings 3D. Ucraft Climbing. Retrieved February 6, 2025, from https://ucraftclimbing.com/us/evo-rings-3d.html

Figure 1:

De Woodstok. (n.d.). Hangboard Woodbord. De Woodstok. Retrieved February 6, 2025, from https://www.dewoodstok.nl/product/hangboard-woodbord/

Figure 2:

My Modern Met. (n.d.). Exploring the naturalism movement in art. My Modern Met. Retrieved February 6, 2025, from https://mymodernmet.com/naturalism-movment/