Selfmade wooden loading pin
A few weeks ago I attended a workshop by Gabriel Prange in the Berlin bouldering gym Berta Block. The workshop was about training for climbing. Part of it has been a strength analysis of the fingers. And this is still one of my weaknesses. I also discovered that finger strength training with a lifting device can have certain advantages over a classic hangboard. Even if I have a very nice beastmaker Motherboard setup.
I already had the 360° Hangboard to warm up at the crag. And enough weight plates. So all I needed was a loading or lifting pin. I found this beautiful Lifting Pin. But I thought I could handcraft a similar one by myself.
Building a wooden loading pin
In general is a loading or lifting pin nothing else as a plate with a pole.
Wooden pole
As pole I have choosen a wooden stick made of beech with a 25mm diameter. This was necessary because my weight plates have an internal diameter of 28 mm.
Pole size
I wanted to keep the height of the pin as low as possible so that I don't have to stand on high ground when lifting. My weight plates have a thickness of 30 mm. That's why I have choosen 270 mm as the length for the pole. This means that at least eight weight plates fit on the pin and I still have some space for the hole at the end. In terms of space, the pin should be able to hold 160 kg if you use 20 kg weight plates. I currently lift just 40 kg with one hand on the 20 mm pole. So there is still a long way to go to reach this limit, assuming that the material can withstand this much weight at all.
Hole in the pole
Please note that the hole in the pole should be at least the diameter of the cord. It should be noted that the thicker the hole, the weaker the wood will be at that point. I opted for a hole with a diameter of 6 mm.
Don't forget to thin the pole around the hole so that the weight plates with an inner diameter of 28 mm fit over the cord in the hole.
Wooden base panel
The base panel is simple. The material I used was a 21 mm thick plywood left over from my adjustable home climbing wall project. I opted for a square shape. The side length of 140 mm was determined by the size of a leftover piece. I think 140 mm is also the maximum you need. But I wouldn't choose anything shorter than 100 mm.
Connecting panel and pole
I decided to use a 10 cm long and 6 mm thick wood screw as the connection between the panel and the pole. I therefore had to drill a 6 mm thick hole in the panel. I then drilled a hole only 5 mm thick into the pole. It was a real challenge to ensure that the hole was not crooked in the pole. I would recommend a drill stand if one is available. Finally, I glued a felt glider in each corner of the panel.
Finishing the wooden loading pin
At the very end, I pulled a cord through the hole in the pole and connected it with a carabiner. The wooden loading pin has a final weight of 375 gram. The maximum weight currently available to me is 48 kg. The pin withstood this without any problems on my loading test. Even with a lot of rocking around. I'm sure there's more to come. The following picture shows the pin loaded with 31 kg and connected to the lifting device.
