With so many stunning pool designs and options these days, the poor old diving board seems to be a thing of the past, rarely seen in most new swimming pools today. Rather than ditch the diving board, consider one of these handmade wooden boards by craftsman and designer Mikel Tube.
Custom Wood Diving Boards
Mikel Tube designs, builds and sells handmade, customized wooden diving boards for use with swimming pools and motor yachts. The great-looking boards are specifically crafted for the proper bend and resistance based on your weight and finished with an anti-slip varnish.
The high-end diving boards are assembled using materials chosen with the intention to resist different climates and saltwater.
There are only two design options at present; The Revelation 1 and The Tom Sawyer.
The Revelation 1 Diving Board
The Revelation 1 is the board that started it all. A wooden board made of IPE Brazilian hardwood and stainless steel brackets, available in three different light, medium or dark.
The Revelation 1 board received a Silver in the 2014 International Design Awards.
The Tom Sawyer Diving Board
The design for the Tom Sawyer diving board occurred when Mikel became inspired by Marc Twain and tried to imagine what board Tom Sawyer would be diving from in the Mississippi.
A Tom Sawyer board takes, on average, five days of labor, 23 feet of tropical wood, 56 Stainless bolts, and 98 foot of woven cord.
The boards are pickled and waxed, this the wood gives a nice and firm feeling under your feet.
The top of the board is made rough with a varnish and white Rhine sand mixture, which gives them extra adherence. Special designed slots assure great push-off stability.
Stainless steel bases (or brackets) are made of thick marine stainless steel (316) and can be provided in 3 different heights 4 – 8 – 12 inch.
Special features like custom stone bases for the boards are available like the ones Mikel has made for his customers, show below.
Custom Covers
Covers made of DRALON, a special material that helps your board to breath and protect it from moisture and UV radiation, are available as well. They are handmade in Mikel’s workshop to ensure the perfect fit on your custom made board. See available colors and patterns here
Cost
A typical custom board will run you anywhere from $1737 to $4500
Starting with Standard boards, via Limited editions up to Discrete boards (boards for those buyers who wish to remain anonymous). Options: Bracket (stand or foot), Dralon Cover, Depth Tag and other features.
Wooden Diving Boards, which is based in Belgium, ships worldwide and works with local woodworkers to reduce the ecological footprint of standard ‘green’ boards by more than 70%.
Wooden Diving Boards
all images courtesy of Wooden Diving Boards with some images photographed by Toddy Holland
