Show Off Your Crack Machines

Crack machines photo collection - it'd be rad to see some of the crack machines that are out there!

Let's see 'em - post your photos yo!!

here are a few of my babies

Nice, I dig the angled versions for sure! We've been scheming to build one for some years and are finally trying to commit to something, but can't decide on a design 

A shorty but a goodie - freestanding, adjustable, and portable, with horizontal and vertical options. Build to choice of length (I went for easy of transport and storage). I was debating giving it the ability to set diagonal angles, but haven't pulled the trigger on that yet since my main training goal is offwidth roof cracks. It's just a few simple modifications though, and am happy to discuss if you want. Good luck!

16’ long, has 3 bays. .75-1, perfect 2’s, and 3-4. The stuff on the outside is nice cause you can work on finger strength, make Boulder problems, and just switch it up. My backs of my hands get really sore after 10-20 laps.

Nice I really like the saw horse supports! I live on a farm, and while we have plenty of land we don't have much clean/enclosed spaces for protection from elements other than the main house. 

For that reason I'm drawn to the lean-to design, or another less permanent, put up/put away option... hmm.

in the other thread everyone told me to pint mine but what kinda sandpaper did you guys use or do you just wear crack gloves?

Yeah, the sawhorses are nice. I put some pulleys in the rafters so I can stash it, then lower it down to use.

I just left mine bare wood and wear gloves. I’ve seen others use latex paint with sand mixed in for grip.

Trevor Taylorwrote:

in the other thread everyone told me to pint mine but what kinda sandpaper did you guys use or do you just wear crack gloves?

Bare wood and crack gloves. I have a painted crack hangboard and like my bare wood machine waay more

OK, I reckon it's worth posting for the 10th time or so. And BTW, search turns up 536 posts for "crack machine". It has been a topic of interest for more than a decade here. There is a heap of info if you look for it.

And here is my Offwidth version:

https://www.mountainproject.com/forum/topic/117660171/building-an-offwidth-machine

Hey Mountain Hick, thanks for your input. I actually did look through pages and pages of the "crack machine " search term before posting this, and saw that each topic was highly specific, only containing a few photos or often just one, particular info about mounts, adjustability, etc. 

I was hoping to get as many folks to share their machines to get a more of a generalized photo "collection" going.

Thanks for sharing your photos

A Leewrote:

Hey Mountain Hick, thanks for your input. I actually did look through pages and pages of the "crack machine " search term before posting this, and saw that each topic was highly specific, only containing a few photos or often just one, particular info about mounts, adjustability, etc. 

I was hoping to get as many folks to share their machines to get a more of a generalized photo "collection" going.

Thanks for sharing your photos

I agree, they are also old threads that the original posters might not respond to. 

I was making wood holds last night and I think the right sandpaper for sanding is 80 grit. Has anyone’s crack machine changed in size over the years? The crack at my gym apparently went from 1.5 to .5 over time.

Trevor Taylorwrote:

I agree, they are also old threads that the original posters might not respond to. 

I was making wood holds last night and I think the right sandpaper for sanding is 80 grit. Has anyone’s crack machine changed in size over the years? The crack at my gym apparently went from 1.5 to .5 over time.

I’m sure they can slightly change, but I seriously doubt a gym crack shrank an inch. 

saign charlesteinwrote:

I’m sure they can slightly change, but I seriously doubt a gym crack shrank an inch. 

Call vertical dreams in Manchester New Hampshire and ask for Lee. I think he showed me pictures and there at one point was carpet in the crack and now the crack can barely fit hands. Maybe an engineer can chime in but that’s what I have been told. A bunch of small pieces of plywood all changing a little bit can be a big change in a old New Hampshire warehouse. This gym makes the old edge works look like luxury.

Trevor Taylorwrote:

Call vertical dreams in Manchester New Hampshire and ask for Lee. I think he showed me pictures and there at one point was carpet in the crack and now the crack can barely fit hands. Maybe an engineer can chime in but that’s what I have been told. A bunch of small pieces of plywood all changing a little bit can be a big change in a old New Hampshire warehouse. This gym makes the old edge works look like luxury.

2” is a perfect #2.  .5 is tips, and 1.5 is thin hands for most... just saying it doesn’t add up

saign charlesteinwrote:

2” is a perfect #2.  .5 is tips, and 1.5 is thin hands for most... just saying it doesn’t add up

That’s why I asked the question. The reason someone would build 1.5 is because 30 years they didn’t care about cam sizes and to size a crack you just put a piece of 2xdimensional lumber in and then you don’t measure anything. They also had carpet in this crack so it probably climbed like a 1’’. I am not saying this is what happened just what I was told. If you want more details about this crack text me at three6zero-477-eighteight59 or ask the guy who is climbing like a total Gumby on king of the ruins tomorrow. Mountain project split my account into two accounts (Trevor puppy lovr and this one) and I don’t get notifications.

Trevor Taylorwrote:

in the other thread everyone told me to pint mine but what kinda sandpaper did you guys use or do you just wear crack gloves?

Idk what anyone else does, but i just climb my wood crack barehanded, no paint or grip tape, just straight wood, and with rock shoes. It works fine although it requires more active climbing as there is a lot less friction. The lack of friction just makes it a better trainer and I am able to do the crack completely upside down so using plain wood just requires harder squeezing.

So I strapped mine to the roof.

I haven't built my crack volumes yet (need to finish framing, HVAC, Electrical, and T-nuts in our Kavern first), but I've been toying with how I'm goign to build it. Here's the current thinking.

I originally was going to build screw-on crack trainers similar to the Wide Boyz ones, but I wanted to make it adjustable without having to remove and replace screws in my climbing surface. So the plan right now is to use aluminum extruded T-channels. That way, I can screw the channels to the wall, and just adjust bolts in the T-slots to change hte crack width.

I'll also likely enclose the sides and add some T-nuts, so that it acts as a traditional volume for other problems on the wall. This thing is going to take up some real estate on the wall, so I want to be able to add other holds to it.

I build two adjustable cracks out of 3/4 plywood for mounting to my hangboard (no space for a full crack machine in my Brooklyn apartment!) Ended up adding some 3M tread tape since the plywood alone was too slick. 

Takes less than a minute to adjust to any size between tight fingers and wide fist. Could definitely take the same idea to something larger if you have the space for it.