3D Printed SUP Paddle Lock

With plenty of my designs available for you to download and make yourself on Thingiverse and Pinshape, this is officially the first product I’ve created through additive manufacturing for retail sale!

My local surf shop, Surf Connect, approached me with a unique problem: popular Stand Up Paddle (SUP) brand Ozoboard uses a snap-fit locking mechanism to allow for adjustment of the paddle length, but many customers have been losing them into the ocean. While it seems securely locked with the snap details onto the paddle shaft, somehow people just keep knocking them off, I guess because it is close to where people may be gripping the paddle with their hands. This is the grey part pictured in the middle image on the left.

A replacement part costs around $20 to buy, and to make things worse, the company making them is no longer able to supply them. So there are people stuck with paddles they can’t use because of this one small part. Well, as anyone who knows me would say, I’m up for any excuse to 3D print something new!

Some digital calipers, some Solidworks CAD software, and an hour or so of time is all it took to reverse engineer the lock details. The only trick is the metal pin which has been moulded into the original part, and takes all the forces of the 2 paddle shafts when they are locked in place. To do this as simply as possible I just used a screw with a matching diameter (a M6 x 12mm in 316 stainless steel) as shown in the top left image, gluing this with Araldite into place and concealing with a little cap. Other than the extra bulge to accommodate this, the 2 parts are identical.

Both parts were 3D printed on an Up! Plus 2 in about 50 minutes, and as you can see in the top right image, fits perfectly! Even I’m surprised that a) it fits first time, and b) it didn’t snap when popping around the paddle! The only thing yet to be seen is how well it holds up to use out on the water…

I will now be supplying these to Surf Connect exclusively to sell, since there is a genuine demand for them and no other way for people to get them. As a keen kitesurfer (and now SUPer with one of these Ozoboard paddles), I can imagine how annoying it is to be stuck on land when it’s perfect summer weather! If you need one, please get in touch. You can also download the design from Pinshape by clicking here.

– Posted by James Novak