My Wild Idea Starts Here

So, last weekend I looked at my sad little practice corner for dancing – just concrete. My ankles were yelling at me after every session. Then I saw those fancy portable dance floors online, beautiful but wow, the price! Forget it. I mumbled “dang expensive” under my breath.

Digging around in the garage for something, anything, my eyes landed on this old wooden bed slat leaning against the wall. Pretty solid, just dusty. My brain went: “Huh… wood… floor… maybe?” A wild idea popped up: build my own shock-absorbing dance board, portable style. Yeah, right? Sounded crazy, but I was stubborn enough to try. Found a smaller leftover plank too. Good start.

The Messy Making Part

Grabbed my tools, feeling optimistic. Marked out lines on the big plank for where the legs would go. Needed those legs short and stubby. Measured, drew crosses. Easy peasy? Ha! First snag: my jigsaw decided it was nap time. Blades kept breaking like they were made of sugar glass. So annoying! Went through half a pack before finally getting the blade to cooperate long enough to cut those leg slots out. Sweat was dripping.

Time for the springs – the whole shock absorbing magic, hopefully. Found these heavy-duty drawer springs I’d saved from an old cabinet. Would they work? No clue. Took the small plank – this would be the base platform. Hammered like crazy to get those spring ends firmly attached underneath it. Felt like I was making a strange metal pancake.

Next step: connect the base (with springs) to the top dancing board (the old bed slat). Needed the springs hidden underneath, right? Plonked the top board on the ground, springs-down base on top of it. Looked weird upside down. Used longer wood screws to drill up from the top dance board, through the leg slots I cut earlier, and down into the base platform with the springs attached. Took some wrestling to get the screws to bite properly without cracking the wood. Definitely broke a sweat.

Does This Frankenstein’s Monster Even Work?

Finally, flipped the whole weird contraption over. Tapped it with my foot. Slight bounce! That felt promising. Took a deep breath, stepped up gingerly… and wow! A definite give. Not super squishy like clouds, but my ankles instantly felt way happier compared to the brutal concrete. Success!

But let’s be real, it ain’t pretty. My joinery looks like a beaver did it on a bad day. The springs are kinda clunky. And the wood? Got splinters if you aren’t careful. Feels pretty sturdy though when dancing, which is the important part. It’s heavy, but I can drag it around the garage.

Honest Thoughts

So, my Shock Absorbing Dancing Engineer Board? Here’s the deal:

• Worked? Yes! Absorbs shock way better than concrete. Ankles are thanking me.
• Professional? Heck no! Looks super homemade.
• Easy build? Nope. Jigsaw nightmares and way too much hammering.
• Use it? Absolutely. Until I win the lottery for the fancy one.

Learned a ton trying to engineer this bouncy beast. Mostly learned that making something decent requires skills I don’t quite have yet! But hey, it holds my weight and lets me dance without pain. Ugly win is still a win. If the neighbors complain about the thumping… maybe I’ll invite them to try it out.