What fixings to hang a fingerboard? (Read 21321 times)

iain_cbr · December 10, 2010, 08:04:29 pm

Ok, ok, it's probably been done before but I couldn't find it!

What fixings have you pesky kids been using to mount your fingerboard to a brick wall? The bricks in our house are 130 yrs old and aren't as good as yer modern brick. I was going to just put half a dozen 2" screws into rawl plugs, but I've also got the option of expansion bolts but I'd rather not use them.

Sorry if I'm repeating...

Iain.

tomtom · December 10, 2010, 08:15:29 pm

Squirt some no-more nails on the back and she'll be right

More seriously, rawplugs work fine for me... and my Edwardian house seems to be constructed with consolidated soot.

OR.. you can screw the board to a larger piece of ply - then screw that to the wall (spreads the load more.. and allows you to use more screws etc..)

iain_cbr · December 10, 2010, 08:27:25 pm

Nice one, cheers pal. I'll stick with the rawl plugs.
it was hard enough persueding 'er indoors to let me put a board up at all. Having a slab of ply under it might just tip the balance.

It's the hormones, y'know.

JimCon · December 10, 2010, 09:51:02 pm

A bit more expensive, but also a lot more stealthy, which might score points with the missus:

http://www.highball-climbing.com/products/prd_03.shtml

Took me about 10 minutes to install and hasn't fallen down yet, which is saying a lot considering my lack of DIY-skills and, um, sturdy frame

Obi-Wan is lost... · December 10, 2010, 10:48:57 pm

Tricky one, you do not want a board falling down, could be painful. Your right about expansion bolts, in old bricks they will shatter easily, and they are useless in mortar of any age. If you only use the fixed holes in the board the chances of getting 4 decent fixings in solid brick is fairly low. Whereas if you start with a bit of ply you can not only start with 6 or 8 fixings but also reposition them if they don't bite. Also if you put in 6 or 8 fixings, and only 4 are any good, the chances of it falling off is pretty low. I would start with a bit of 12mm ply slightly larger than the board, fix it solidly to the wall, making sure the top fixings are solid, then paint it the same colour of the wall, then fix the fingerboard to that with some nice fat screws.

If you really not 'allowed' to put up ply first I would either...

a) Use some chemical fixings http://www.toolstation.com/shop/Screws+Fixings/Chemical+Fixings/d90/sd1960
b) Liberally apply some 'guilt trip' saying, '...might fall on my back...'
c) Man the fuck up and put up the ply anyway.

lagerstarfish · December 10, 2010, 10:50:11 pm

My latest project that was granted planning permission involved 2 layers of 17mm ply (thanks to Andy B and others who tried to give) fixed to the wall with 3 and a half inch ish (enough for 1.5 inch of ply plus plaster board and so on) No 12 screws and the grey plastic plugs that need a 10mm hole drilling. The ply is cut to the same size and shape as the ~~beastmaker~~ generic fingerboard, so when the board is screwed onto the ply, it looks less ugly. I used a bit of CommonSense ^TM to make sure that the screws fixing the ply to the wall were not in the same place that the screws that fit the board to the ply needed to be.

As a general rule for how many No 12 screws to use to fix to the wall; stand on a chair so that your shoulders are level with the bit of wall to be screwed/messed up, drill as many holes as you can in 120 seconds with one arm (max force) and then the same with the other arm. Ideally use your weakest arm first. It is OK to use the non-drilling arm to pull on the other side of the wall.

If you get to the point where you think that you might need more fixings, then either stop eating or try to see if you can drill more holes in 120 seconds with your new physique

iain_cbr · December 10, 2010, 11:38:15 pm

I've asked the Mrs and she says it's ok for me to man the fuck up and defy her just this once.

On a serious note, I think I'll do the cut-it-and-paint-it-plywood-with-half-a-million-screws-in-it system.

If it falls off I'll blame all on here.

Mange tout.

BB · December 11, 2010, 10:13:31 am

I've got plasterboard walls and all sorts of headaches, so i just paid a good chippy £30 and he did it all for me! He mounted the fingerboard on an MDF backboard which I assume is both glued and screwed into the studs. Looks proper bo, neat super solid.

richp · December 11, 2010, 06:34:56 pm

Obi-Wan is lost...

. I would start with a bit of 12mm ply slightly larger than the board, fix it solidly to the wall, making sure the top fixings are solid, then paint it the same colour of the wall, then fix the fingerboard to that with some nice fat screws.

If you really not 'allowed' to put up ply first I would either...
[/quote]

I did this but needed to paint the board (beastmaker) as well to sneak it in, do you think it would have been better to use matt rather than soft sheen? The slopers feel next to impossible at the minute.

Rich

boulderingbacon · December 12, 2010, 04:40:12 pm

are u mad richp u paid all that money for a finger board and then wreck it by painting it.

Dexter · December 13, 2010, 03:14:07 pm

alternatively if you have a good doorframe and are willing to fork out around £30 you can get a powerbar and mount it as shown here this is great as you wan take it anywhere with you and you can put anything you like onto the wooden bit if you have a bit of space left over

slackline · December 13, 2010, 03:30:34 pm

Quote from: Dexter on December 13, 2010, 03:14:07 pm

alternatively if you have a good doorframe and are willing to fork out around £30 you can get a powerbar and mount it as shown here this is great as you wan take it anywhere with you and you can put anything you like onto the wooden bit if you have a bit of space left over

Almost as good as the "Brittney" hissy fit video that!

I'm guessing its not the video you meant to embed?

Dexter · December 14, 2010, 07:37:14 pm

ooops my bad supposed to be a link to beastmakers mounting thingy. Too many links to too many people.
This is the one I meant to send http://www.beastmaker.co.uk/Mounting_fingerboards.pdf

mrconners · December 14, 2010, 08:00:38 pm

2X2 (50mmX50mm) or 3X2 (75mmX50mm) batons screwed to the wall with brown plugs (7mm drill bit) and screws that are at least twice the thickness of the timber batons to fix the batons, then board fixed to batons.

Then mindless training can begin.

Fultonius · December 14, 2010, 08:21:13 pm

Where are you actually putting it? I managed to mount mine the hall wardrobe without putting any holes in the wall!

iain_cbr · December 14, 2010, 10:34:06 pm

It's going on the bit over the stairs. You know, the vertical bit you bang your head on as you're going down stairs in a rush.

StillTryingForTheTop · July 06, 2012, 01:41:13 pm

Hi all,

Finally decided to get a fingerboard, as similar to the OP, she who must be obeyed won't let me mount it in the house.

Luckily I still rule the man cave that is my garage, and therefore in order to save some "man points", I am going to go full out and build the frame indicated here for mounting on a wall http://www.beastmaker.co.uk/pages/mounting-your-fingerboard

2 questions, firstly (as height is not an issue) what is the optimum height to have the fingerboard? Should I be reaching for the top holds on extreme tip toes?

Secondly, what fixing (and how many) should I use to mount the 18mm ply to the garage wall? it is 60s/70s council house red brick so they are pretty solid.

Gary

Probes · July 06, 2012, 03:47:19 pm

Something like an 8mm rawl plug with a number 5 screw will be a good beefy option. Fixing an 18mm board to the wall your probably looking at at least 60mm long screws, Id be inclined to go for 75mm and just drill deep.
Depending on what size the board is your fixing, Im guessing its going to at least 600mm wide by the same deep, Id go for 8 fixings min, and really most of the force is going to be along the top of the board directly behind your fingerboard so stating the obvious this is where it counts gettnig them fixed/bedded well.

I think if you go to the 4 or 5th page on here there's a fairly detailed drawing for installing how you want it.

http://www.pdf-archive.com/2011/08/04/crusher-holds-handout-3-5mb/

Probes · July 06, 2012, 03:51:00 pm

....height wise, sounds ok 4 me, probably a touch lower, so if you need to you can touch your feet down and take your full weight whilst still on the highest holds.

andyd · July 06, 2012, 07:47:00 pm

Why not get a set up like serious climbing one advertised above? Or better still, make one. I knocked a basic one up a year ago and mount it on a power bar/innovation bar.
Training in the garage sucks. I train regularly indoors as there are things going on like conversation and media. After building two campus boards that I don't use, and hanging different finger boards around, I'd say that location is the most important factor for a finger board.
The wife whinges when I don't take it down, but it only takes me 10 seconds to put an end to that (by taking it down). If only she was satisfied with 10 seconds elsewhere...

StillTryingForTheTop · July 07, 2012, 10:25:09 am

Thanks all

re the serious climbing one advertised above, or indeed the other mounts available, I currently like the idea of being able to put some foot holds on the wall so I can do some feet on training, and also the ability to mount some pullies to do some assisted training with weights etc, hence having the fingerboard up against a wall rather than in a doorway seems the better option.

Fingerboard training is all new to me, so guess I will learn as I go on and ultimately may end up moving it back in to the house.

Gary