How to make a cheap board handle

How to make a board handle for under $3

With the changes to the sport of kiteboarding and many people doing no boarder’s, most people have handles on their boards, but the question often arises about board handles, buying and fitting them etc. This is not usually a problem for people who have bought new designs, particularly the 2002 and 2003 designs (Custom boards like the Cape Dr, Cyclone and Khulu and manufactured boards like the Vari Pro should come with handles), most of which are sold with board handles, however some of the less fortunate individuals might be stuck with older designs, or ones which came without board handles. In some cases, boards may have space for a handle, but people can’t find handles to fit, in other cases, where some FS plates are fitted there might be no space for a conventional handle, so I thought it was time to write up and article on making a simple but very effective board handle. Thanks to Jose who came up with the idea and showed me how to do this

A board handle can be custom made for any board at virtually zero cost with tools and equipment available to 90% of the kiteboarders out there and takes about 20 minutes of your time. By this, I mean all you need is VERY BASIC engineering skills, a length of 20mm conduit piping a metre long (most hardware stores will sell in metre lengths at less than a dollar per metre), a short piece of hosepipe, a hammer and a stove. The engineering skills required are basically those, which allow you to match the sizing of the pipe to the board holes, not exactly varsity material or rocket science.

Step 1

Firstly, cut a length of the conduit piping about 50cm (half a metre – you can keep the other half as a spare in case you bugger the first one up) long. Insert a length of hosepipe inside the conduit piping (which will be removed later – so make sure its long enough to be pulled out). This may seem arbitrary, but without this there is a chance the conduit will kink providing you with a less than aesthetic version and probably not as strong.

Step 2

Slowly heat the piping over a stove, while progressive bending it. (I am using a cadac gas braai, but I have one of these new fangled stoves that doesn’t produce too much heat. A cadac will also do, but keep the piping well above the stove, you don’t want to melt it) Try to leave a longish section in the center where you will hold the handle, but this is down to personal preference. Remember to start this in the center as you don’t want to leave it too short on either side, you can always cut off piping later if required. The arch should fall an inch to half an inch short of the holes on either side.

Step 3

Upon completing step 3, you should be left with a curved handle that will be slightly too long. At this stage, you need to match it to your board and find out exactly how long it should be. Once measure, heat the piping about half an inch short of the hole and start bending the piping back so you are left with a flat section which can be attached to the board. TAKE THE HOSE OUT at this stage or you won’t get a chance later. Don’t worry about the diameter of the piping, you can flatten this later. Its also not serious if the piping kinks at this point, it will have to. Do this to both side and make sure you have matched it correctly. If not, proceed back to step one, unless you can correct this.

Step 4

Right now, you should be left with rough looking handle that looks something like this. Now, all you need is the hammer to take your work in progress to a masterpiece. Heat the end of the piping and flatten it softly with the hammer. Don’t hit it too hard if its not heated enough or it will crack. At this stage, you want it to soften quite a lot so it can flatten quite a lot. After doing this progressively (heat, hammer, heat hammer etc) you should be left with a nice flat piece. Size it against your board and then cut off whatever is not required. Its far easier to cut when its hot, so you can use a knife, if you cut it shorter while you are flattening it. Leave a little length on each end as a precaution however.

Step 5 – finishing touches

Your handle is now complete, so all that’s left is to drill holes and fit it. Be weary with presunk holes in the board as there are different screw types. Most imported boards use different screw types (metric etc) so make sure they fit properly first. Rather than drilling holes, you can heat a screwdriver and push it through the plastic as an option. This tends to leave clean holes. Also make sure you line up correctly before making the holes, or you’ll have to fit a washer.

Completed – One finished board handle. (They come in any colour as long as you like white)