I am thinking of building a diving board for my pool, and I'm not sure how to calculate the thickness requirement for a 250lb person to use it (I chose this because that seems to be what a typical manufactured board is rated for). I've found one "how to" description, but it follows a very different design than the custom board I was inspired by.
I'm thinking of using 10' 2x6 clear douglas fir as the main structure of the board, buiscuit joined to a solid piece (with a couple of 1x2 of same material to make the board 18" wide). With the boards planed down to 2.25" thick, I'm concerned about strength and resiliance.
The base mount for the board will be my old commercial boards mount, which is still in great shape. There is about 6' of overhang from the mount, which is what the original board had, as it was also 10' long, but it was essentially 2 2x6 boards, wrapped in a fiberglass shell, which gave it a lot of resilience, that my solid board may not have. To assist the board, I'm thinking of adding a laminated sheet of 3/4" plywood to the bottom. Probably pulling it in about an inch or two from the side, so, let's say 14" wide, and flush with the back edge and ending 2" from the front end (overhanging the pool).
I don't know how to calculate whether this would be sufficient for typical residential use, or what the weight or force ratings would be.
Can anyone help with this? Am I crazy to attempt it in the first place? I've started assembling the 2x portion of the board, and it's pretty gorgeous, but not knowing if it's appropriately sized material/design makes me nervous about going forward with the project.