What does your Woody look like???

JEFFisNOTfunny wrote: Basement wall... 9'2" ceilings... It is a Moonboard built to 45°... And condensed, so it is about 6 inches shorter. I have mats in the works (made with foam scraps).

How do you like the moonboard? I am building one right now with the same ceiling restriction 9'2" but I am going for same 40 degree angle but then shortening the footboard to 1' and decreasing the distance between rows slightly. I was worried that steeper would just result in problems being too hard especially with the moonboards reputation for stiff grades and me not climbing that hard. I would rather make the problems easier by making the bolts a little closer.

DanielRich wrote: How do you like the moonboard? I am building one right now with the same ceiling restriction 9'2" but I am going for same 40 degree angle but then shortening the footboard to 1' and decreasing the distance between rows slightly. I was worried that steeper would just result in problems being too hard especially with the moonboards reputation for stiff grades and me not climbing that hard. I would rather make the problems easier by making the bolts a little closer.

I actually did a little bit if both... Both steeper and slightly shorter... In the process it felt as if every decision of size/height/angle... Was the most important thing, but in the end, I think 45 will work fine (I'm currently sitting out right now due to a tweaked elbow). I shortened the kickboard slightly... Made it 5° steeper, and condensed the t nut spacing slightly.

I most regret loosing a few inches of starting height for the initial hand holds. The problems seem to start fairly scrunched... And I feel this would have helped. I actually don't think that the difference between 40 and 45 will be that great, because as the wall becomes steeper, the holds also become closer vertically. I'm just going to ad a "+" to every grade.

The moonboard is getting close! Didn't quite finish it last night. The other wall will have a small campus board section and a small 10% section for warming up.

moonboard in progress.

Finished my first woody! I'm super excited to have it done and begin climbing. I've never done this before and decided to commit 100% by building this wall. Any suggestions would be appreciated. It is a 43 degree angle that extends approx 11 ft in length (including 2 ft foot board). Sadly couldn't do original design due to the duct work but this will be a much better wall in the long term. I plan on continuing the build around the entire basement wall shown to create a 12 ft x 14 ft bouldering cave but that's a goal for another day! Any thoughts or comments would be appreciated on routes as I have NO idea what I'm doing, lol.

first joist installed

rest of the joists ready to be lifted

entire frame installed

after hanging the plywood (used jug holds for install, made it much easier!)

got all my holds in the mail! was the 50 hold starter kit from Metolius.

after installing a bunch of the holds onto the wall.

I've really gotten a lot of ideas and inspiration from this thread. My garage woody is pretty basic, but I wanted to share some of the things I learned building it. Also, I almost didn't build it, because I didn't think I had enough vertical space, but I'm so glad I didn't let that stop me! It's only 8' tall, but it's 5 or 6 moves from a sit start, and you can really stretch that by setting traverses into the routes. Sure I wish it was taller, but I'm sure glad I didn't let that stop me.

I started with some vert. Just to get something put up, it was fast and easy. Also, the door on the left had to open and overhang would have gotten in the way. I plan to add some volumes to make it more interesting. That said, I think some vertical wall is totally worth doing if you set good problems for it. Use those slopers, and smaller chips, and set delicate balance problems. Also, easy warm ups, and routes for your non climber friends to do in street shoes. Notice the quick draws to practice clipping.

Vert

Starting to frame some overhang. I was limited to about 30 degrees, which I actually think is about right for me anyway. I used three 2x6's for each 4' section. Some people say use more, but I'm a big guy and they feel totally solid. Probably because they're only about 80" long. Also, I framed in a fist-jam width crack in the middle.

Framing

I test fit the plywood and on the overhang I snapped chalk lines and laid out the grid in place. I think it turned out better. I drilled the (7/16") holes for the vertical wall on the ground, and them they didn't quite line up. Use a spade bit, a normal drill bit will leave splinters around the holes. Then I pulled each piece down to hammer t-nuts in the back. I used wood glue on the back of the t-nuts also. I'm still waiting on my last bag of t-nuts, that's why there aren't any holds on the far right yet. Also, I didn't put any T-nuts on the kicker, I think screw on chips are the way to go for the lower 2 or 3 feet of a wall.

Woody!

Old chalk bag to catch the caps.

Thirsty?

Future plans, some volumes, some roof above the 30 degree wall, and a hangboard above the door. I like the bare wood right now, but might paint it if it starts looking hammered.

Rather than wood glue I used epoxy that was intended on bonding wood and metal for the t-nuts

I was worried about normal wood glue not bonding to metal. What type of wood glue did you use?

DanielRich wrote:Rather than wood glue I used epoxy that was intended on bonding wood and metal for the t-nuts I was worried about normal wood glue not bonding to metal. What type of wood glue did you use?

I used Titebond. Not because I researched it and found it to be the best product, but because I had it around and thought it was probably better than nothing.

In a few months of pretty much constantly moving holds around, I have only lost one T-nut and I'm pretty sure it was mostly my own fault as I cross threaded a bolt using an impact gun. It's better to start them by hand.

I'm sure I'll lose a few t-nuts over time, but I'm actually not too concerned about it. If I occasionally have to take 5 minutes and pull a panel off, or crawl behind the wall, it's not that big a deal to me. I wouldn't want to have to do it constantly, but it doesn't seem like I'll need to very often.

I didn't use glue at first to see how well the holds would last and had them popping out while putting my holds in for the first time (had 5 fall out within minutes and I really hit those t-nuts in all the way). That said, I had purchased gorilla glue just in case this happened and used it on one section of my wall after they were installed. Haven't had one fall out yet as a result. With the way gorilla glue expands to over 3x's the size it works great after the fact because it seeps into the cracks and holds firm.

Tnuts with #6-5/8 screws to hold them in place.

I used #6x5/8" spax screws to hold the tnuts in.

woody and the climbing holds I made
It is fun making your own holds also. I used random chunks of rock I found to make molds in clay, so every hold is unique.. I did like this: alpinedave.com/misc/holds/h…

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At the end of the most recent reset - sorry phone camera not wide enuf, will take a better pic soon :)

9-20-15 Woody

Your wall looks great Tavis, I like your corner/transition between the angles. How do you do your hold cleaning? Last big clean I did was all vinegar/hot-water tub and a brush... I think I may go borrow a friends power washer next time.

When you do a fresh set do you set any holds with a route in mind or just go for a nice spread? The last few sets I've tried to set a few hard routes with my full hold selection available, and then at some point I just say f-it and throw holds on the wall with a somewhat even spacing and try to find 'routes'. Half the time I find a fun hard problem and then the next time I climb I've totally forgotten what it was.

Hey thanks! Yeah buckets of hot water and vinegar and brushes :) This set we just tried to put up the holds in a good distribution, and where they might be usable (no horrible slopers in the middle of the roof for example). So far we have found probably 20-30 problems up to v7, im sure there are harder lines to be found too we just haven't got there yet. With ~3K holds now the possibilities are endless. I like to keep a bucket of small screw ons for when a new problem needs just that little extra foothold.

Super excited to have completed phase II of my wall. Just finished installing a 30 degree wall that is 4ft wide by 10ft tall.

I plan on installing a 10degree wall next and fill in the corner between the 10 and 30. All together should have about 20ft wide worth of climbing space. The whole wall is also designed to be accessible from the back to fix any tnuts without having to pull down the plywood.

New 30 degree wall addition complete!

Also got a free king size pillow top mattress to fall on.
Picture of the area. Still need to sell that damn pool table aka 'work bench'.
Panorama of wall

New garage woody

Just got this thing finished up today! Starts with a 10ft long, 15 degree wall, then goes to a 3 1/2 ft long roof. Then up to a 4ft, 30 degree wall. Then there is a small triangular dihedral leading to a 5ft long, 45 degree wall. Soon to be constructing a 2 1/2 ft long, 12ft diameter, hanging column from the bottom of the dihedral too! Also thinking about adding a door to the side of the arête that leads up to crash pad storage as well.

Heading out to the New for a few days so I'm hoping to host a route setting party by next weekend! Also any wall donations are welcome! Even if it's just an old mattress or blown crash pad we could use for fill! Or if you're rad enough could possibly come set some routes too!

New garage woody

Just got this thing finished up today! Starts with a 10ft long, 15 degree wall, then goes to a 3 1/2 ft long roof. Then up to a 4ft, 30 degree wall. Then there is a small triangular dihedral leading to a 5ft long, 45 degree wall. Soon to be constructing a 2 1/2 ft long, 12ft diameter, hanging column from the bottom of the dihedral too! Also thinking about adding a door to the side of the arête that leads up to crash pad storage as well.

Heading out to the New for a few days so I'm hoping to host a route setting party by next weekend! Also any wall donations are welcome! Even if it's just an old mattress or blown crash pad we could use for fill! Or if you're rad enough could possibly come set some routes too!

Guys o man o man,,, I'm jealous,,,I just dream about jims like that you guys are awesome this is what I call passion for climbing, I think I'm in the right place...

Tavis Ricksecker wrote: At the end of the most recent reset - sorry phone camera not wide enuf, will take a better pic soon :)

Seriously,,, I mean,,,, thane a look at that,,, holy fukkaroooneee

Thanks brother, unfortunately I tweaked my ring finger flexor tendon in there the other day, got to take some time off now. Plastic is dangerous.

Tavis Ricksecker wrote:Thanks brother, unfortunately I tweaked my ring finger flexor tendon in there the other day, got to take some time off now. Plastic is dangerous.

Shit, I'm sorry for you man, take it easy recover well because those think they can bother you for some time, by the way that wall is a dream,, good job.