Hanging Climbing Prism
Small piece of a climbing wall for small spaces.
Materials
Three 10x24x0.75" (actual dimension) pine boards.
1 1/4 Sheetrock screws
Wood glue
Paracord
Climbing holds with matching bolts, washers, and T-nuts
Cut Angles
180 degrees in a triangle divided evenly means 30 degrees for each of six beveled edges. I cut my 30 degree angles on a small table saw.
Mark and Drill
Drill a hole that fits your T-nuts snugly. 7/16" for the standard climbing ones.
T-nuts
Hammer the T-nuts into the pine boards, so that they will be on the inside of the prism. To secure it in the board more firmly, you can use a bit of glue on the nut, being careful not to get any on the threads.
Putting the Pieces Together
Assemble pieces without glue, using masking tape to hold them together. Then use ratcheting or cargo straps to clamp the pieces together, placing scrap blocks in the middle of each board so the strap pushes the boards together.
Then take it apart by cutting tape along one edge, and folding the shape open. Now that everything is taped in to place and the straps are arranged, it can be quickly reassembled after a layer of glue is applied to the six angled surfaces.
Then take it apart by cutting tape along one edge, and folding the shape open. Now that everything is taped in to place and the straps are arranged, it can be quickly reassembled after a layer of glue is applied to the six angled surfaces.
Safety Screws!
To have a safety backup, I used screws in addition to the glue.
Add four screws through each of the three edges (twelve total). Check to make sure the screw point won't break through the other side of the board; my screws were 3/4" from the edge.
Add four screws through each of the three edges (twelve total). Check to make sure the screw point won't break through the other side of the board; my screws were 3/4" from the edge.
Hang It Up
Put two 1/2" holes in each board, leaving at least 1" of material around each hole. I ran braided paracord through the holes. Use bombproof knots and rope when hanging this, you don't want it falling while you're hanging upside down. Be safe and have fun!
Lessons Learned Update
Lesson 1) - 06/24/15 - Pine is so soft that the T-nuts continually bite into the board and never tighten quite enough. I will substitute the pine for 0.75" birch plywood next time.
Lesson 2) -06/27/15 - Most other climbing wall constructions actually glue the T-nuts into the wood, which may also help with the tightening problem I just mentioned...