Functional and cool surfboard rack

Simple bamboo surfboard rack

    Surfing has become a natural part of the South Florida landscape. Whether strapped atop car roofs, carried around the beach, acting as kitsch decor at high-dollar weddings and Palm Beach soirees, even adorning walls of beachy-themed restaurants and bars as a means of menu specials; simply put, surfing has infiltrated SoFlo's popular culture. And if you are like me and have been swept up in the free spirited dance on water, where swells dictate weekend plans, large infusions of income go toward surf trips and equipment, and the simple act of paddling takes on therapeutic qualities, then your quiver of boards has grown to incorporate all types of swells. Instead of relegating the boards to the garage, where they are subjected to all kinds of dings, bumps and dust, I prefer to keep my boards indoors in a safe and temperature controlled environment (surfing is an expensive hobby, I consider my boards an investment). But like many starting out in their young professional life, space is limited indoors, so incorporating my boards in a way that is versatile, visually stimulating and inexpensive became a personal mission.

Surfboard rack components

   What I came up with were simple bamboo racks that are minimalist and pretty cool looking that get the boards off the ground, incorporating them into the décor of the space while still being functional. Costing less then $10, each rack was built to size for each board using only three pieces of bamboo, inexpensive four-hole corner braces, a few screws and picture frame nails, and some hemp twine. For this example I'll use the rack I built for my 6'4" short board (and give the dimensions for my 9’2” longboard rack too). For bamboo, I harvested some from a neighbor who wanted to trim back their thicket. If buying bamboo, do not over pay; bamboo is a grass, it grows like a weed and needs to be harvested often to make for a manageable landscape feature. So if you can't harvest it yourself, checkout a local nursery, they usually have some harvested pieces for sale.

   I chose a 5' piece for the main crossbeam feature (8’ for the longboard), relatively thin but still had some meat to it, that way the board extended a few inches each side.

   For the main support of the rack, the points of contact for the board, I used two thicker pieces bamboo that came from the base of harvested pieces (about 1 3/8" to 1 1/2" in diameter), roughly 10" long. You can use the same piece of bamboo, as long as there are three segments, with three inches extending beyond the end segments. If doing this, the two support sections will differ in diameter, but minimally, about 1/8" to 1/4".

Bracket affixed to wall

   When cutting the supports, I took two pieces of bamboo with two segments and a few inches beyond both directions, one for each support. I first cut an inch past one segment (the narrower end). This will be the piece that faces out so you'll want to make sure to cut cleanly and do not fray the bamboo. I then measured 10” from this fresh cut and marked it. Once ensuring this part is a hollow segment, cut. This will be where the corner brace is inserted.

   Depending on how thick the walls of the bamboo are will determine how difficult a time you will have inserting the corner braces. If the walls are thick, the corner braces will have to be hammered into the bamboo. Center the corner brace in the bamboo right atop the opening. Hopefully there will only be a few millimeters of bamboo the corner brace needs to pass through. Holding the bamboo on end with the corner brace end facing up, hammer away until the angle of the corner brace fits flush with the bamboo. It may take a bit, but try not to bend the brace less than the 90 degrees. (If the bamboo walls are thin, as will probably be the case for a longboard rack, the bamboo will have a large opening and the corner brace will fit loosely, so you will need to secure the bamboo to the corner braces with screws, but this is done best once the corner braces are secured to the wall.)

   Once the corner braces are secure within the bamboo, it is time to secure the brackets to the wall. Find a height that suits your needs--the top of the brackets are essentially where the base of the board sits. Once the height is determined, affix the brackets. For the 6'4" board I spaced them 4' apart, giving the 5' bamboo section a few inches on each side (for the 9'2" longboard I spaced the brackets 6'--with an 84" cross section). Once the brackets are secure, push up on the bamboo so it extends the corner braces to roughly a 110-degree angel.

Small nail to secure crossbeam in place.

   If the bamboo still needs to be affixed to the corner brace, push up on the braces to 110-degrees. Measure from the wall to the two holes. Mark those measurements on the bamboo and drill two holes. Place the bamboo back on the brace and insert two nails or screws long enough so that they will not fall out. The weight of the surfboard and the nails will keep the bamboo from pulling out.

Crossbeam and support secured.

   Now that the bamboo is affixed to the wall, it is time to attach the crossbeam. This is for support, keeping the board from slipping out at the base and for aesthetics. To attach the crossbeam, I took a small nail, about an inch long and very narrow in diameter. Drill a very small divot into the bamboo attached to the bracket where you want the thatching to happen. For mine, I went 1 1/2" in from the end, just before the segment (for the longboard I went 2" in, just after the segment). Take the same drill bit and drill a hole 6" from each end of the crossbeam through both walls (I went 12" in from the ends on the longboard rack). Insert the nail and place the crossbeams onto the nails. This should give a loose hold. Now wrap the hemp twine over and over, securing the crossbeam to the bamboo supports. To cover the brackets on the wall, spilt a 3” to 4" segment of bamboo in half lengthwise and glue onto the exposed corner brace. 

   Now, simply place the board onto the rack, fins out, evenly on the two bamboo supports and lean against the wall. The crossbeam will keep the board from falling off. The rack will give a little, so do not overload; the weight of one board is a perfect fit.

The finished product. Simple, easy, distinctively Shore Life.