DIY return board - Anyone else made one ?

AndyCouchman · Aug 12, 2015

Hi all
I've been looking at return boards and al seem to be around £100 plus!
To me for what it is, that's ridiculous!
So I'm going to make my own
I've ordered some 25mm MDF and some 2mm rubber sheeting, both from ebay.
Not sure what to use to support it. Angle adjustments?
Anyone else made one?
Andy

Pricey 11 · Aug 12, 2015

Yeah I made my own £35 total including 4 rubbers I'll put a pic up later

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Machine_Head · Aug 12, 2015

I am interested in making one as well. What rubbers are you using?

varik · Aug 12, 2015

you can use those monitor desktop stands to attach the board, but probably will make your setup a lil more expensive

i found this template, seems interesting

Pricey 11 · Aug 12, 2015

varik said:
you can use those monitor desktop stands to attach the board, but probably will make your setup a lil more expensive

i found this template, seems interesting

That's how mine is made

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Pricey 11 · Aug 12, 2015

Machine_Head said:
I am interested in making one as well. What rubbers are you using?

The rubber i used were friendship 729 faster Chinese rubbers with a bit of a punch 4 rubbers for £20

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Kokain · Aug 12, 2015

I think you are better investing in making a DIY robot. Just needs a variable speed motor on Ebay and a rubber wheel from a toy or a trolley. Botch that together with some old 50mm PVC plumbing pipes and you have a bucket and feeder putting all sorts of spins on the ball. The cost will work out less than the return board (100gbp) providing you like a bit of ghetto hardwaring, using a solder, and have some time to put the plan together.

Reaper · Aug 12, 2015

pr1cye11/andy please post pics and videos of the return board, seems interesting

massa · Aug 13, 2015

I've made one with 5x3 rubbers. I've bought the rubbers on aliexpress, Reactor Corbor (a pair is less than 10 euros).
The best way I've found for the angle ajustment is to put the table near a wall, attached a thin MDF (4cm x the board lenght) to the table with some heavy clips and put some hinges to angle adjustment. That will do it

Yuen Yat Ming · Apr 18, 2017

This is my DIY version, please see

ajtatosmano2 · Apr 18, 2017

I think a long pimples return board is much more useful. Many people have problems with lp blockers until they learn how to kill precisely no-spin balls and balls coming back with reserved spin. With correct configuration it might be good to practice loop against backspin, third ball attack (popped up backspin balls) maybe even playing against choppers.

BeGo · Apr 18, 2017

ajtatosmano2 said:
I think a long pimples return board is much more useful. Many people have problems with lp blockers until they learn how to kill precisely no-spin balls and balls coming back with reserved spin. With correct configuration it might be good to practice loop against backspin, third ball attack (popped up backspin balls) maybe even playing against choppers.

Err,

For no spin return board, isnt plain wall or another half table standing up sufficient and elegant? [emoji6]

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ajtatosmano2 · Apr 18, 2017

BeGo said:
Err,

For no spin return board, isnt plain wall or another half table standing up sufficient and elegant? [emoji6]

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Not really. Pips normally aren't frictionless. Pips with thick sponge are easier to setup correctly, because balls don't slip off from them.

maar · Apr 18, 2017

Hi Andy,
For the angle adjustment you can use a photo camera tripod. If you already have a tripod all you need is a spare camera plate which is mounted on the camera. Mount the plate to the return board so you can use the quick release button on the tripod.
Martin

I just noticed the original thread is from 2015...hope someone finds it useful anyway

yogi_bear · Apr 19, 2017

is it strong enough to hold the board? i mean the tripod.

ritc 729 super fx are also very cheap to use

maar · Apr 21, 2017

It depends on the tripod of course. The type and size of material used for the board would affect it too, but I hope you are not planning to use concrete

The variety of tripods is enormous. Some might not be suitable but others would be more than strong enough. Keep in mind that some of the semi-professional digital (DSLR) cameras weight a few kilos, we are not talking about pro. I myself own on of the bottom range semi-pro one and the tripod for it would withstand even the most forceful and heavy shots with ease.
Martin

maar · Apr 21, 2017

Providing you are gluing 2 rows of 4 sheets of rubber to a piece of plywood the size of the return board would be roughly 36cm×72cm (standard rubber sheet is 17-18cm square approx.).
The plywood I just picked online 0.55cm×60.6cm×122cm is way bigger (almost double the size of the board being constructed) and its weight is 2.9kg (http://www.wickes.co.uk/Wickes-Non-Structural-Hardwood-Plywood-5-5-x-606-x-1220mm/p/111195 so the return board would be much lighter than that.
Here is a basic tripod on amazon which claims it holds upto 3kg cameras: https://www.amazon.co.uk/AmazonBasi...ie=UTF8&qid=1492739882&sr=1-3&keywords=Tripod

If smaller tripod is already available the board could be made a little smaller and instead of 2 rows by 4 sheets it could be 2 rows by 3 sheets. This would be 36cm×54cm and if a plywood of 0.55cm thickness is used (standard bat wood thickness approx. 0.50cm) this would bring the weight down to approx. 1kg + all 6 rubbers this comes to less than 1.5kg.

Hope this helps.

Martin

iFlamingPantz · Jul 17, 2017

Do you think a 120cm x 60cm x 3cm pine board can fit 2 x 3 rubbers? And how heavy would that measurement of pine be?

Der_Echte · Jul 17, 2017

Several OOAK forum members have made return boards over the years, some very creative...

DIY return board - Anyone else made one ?

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