Fabrication of climbing holds - real rock

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Hey there. I have been collecting different rocks from various climbing areas and putting them on my climbing wall at home. Currently I have around 75 real rock holds on my wall. At first I mostly just looked for rocks with fairly flat backs to them or attempted to grind them down to as flat as I could. Then I got tired of that method and I bought some bondo and pressed the rock into that, which worked to make the back of the hold flat. I came across a website for a German climbing hold manufacturer who take rocks and then put them into what looks like a polyurethane base...I was wondering if anyone has done anything similar to this and could give me any advice as to how to go about doing this myself? I’ll attach some pictures so you can understand what I am talking about. I like climbing on some of these limestone rocks found around sinks canyon/wild iris...just would like to make them more presentable...for no real reason other than its a fun hobby! Thanks all for your thoughts!

Love the concept, fun hobby. Reminds me of a home wall we did many years ago. We were making our own holds when my wife was doing pottery. Using a very coarse (sandy) clay gave a nice texture. Easy to mold any shape and form recessed attachment holes before firing. The clay is really cheap, access to a kiln is the key. Rock on!!!

I wrote an article on making holds about 15-20 years ago. Rocks set in resin was one of the methods described. It's not hard to do, but you'll want a type of stone that your hand drill can go through with a conventional masonry bit. A rotary hammer or hand drilling will blow the piece up.

Check out realstoneholds.com. We manufacture and sell rock climbing holds made with real stone. 

Ryan Loiselle wrote:

Check out realstoneholds.com. We manufacture and sell rock climbing holds made with real stone. 

Yikes, 55 per hold.

Mike, thanks for looking! Yes $55 for a bolt on and $45 for a screw on, both with free shipping in the US and all hardware included. Lots of work goes into these holds.