[biscuit]

Done a search and a quick look though the board construction posts and couldn't find anything so....

Today i started hunting around for stuff to build my system board with.
It's only going to be one piece of ply 4ftx8ft ( limited space hence a system board ). Frame work of 80mmx60mm ( sorry to mix metric and imperial ) to make it nice and sturdy because....
it will be attached to the concrete floor in a cunning way i haven't decided yet ( but will probably use some of those preformed metal brackets ) and will be chained near the top and attached to the house where there is a concrete lintel.

The rest of the wall is typical Spanish infill of broken bricks and builders rubble so not much choice.

This should mean the angle can be varied due to the chain and the cunning hinge thing at the bottom i haven't yet designed.

So will 15mm ply be strong enough or am i going to be ripping t nuts out everywhere ? Actually to start it's going to have a set of campus rungs going up the middle for foot on PE training and big thick vertical pinches up the side ( old banister rails ) for my target route. These are all going to be screwed on wood holds rather than proper wall holds.

Any thoughts/experiences ? I do seem to be only able to find 10 or 15mm ply here. Has anyone ever tried to mime 'plywood' ? It's harder than you think.

[boulderingbacon]

18mm would be better but 15mm should be ok as long as its a good quality hardwood throughout plyboard. birch ply is best if you can get that but expensive in comparison. roughly £50 a sheet.

[biscuit]

There are different types of ply 

It's 50 euros a sheet so i guess that's about right. I'll check it's hardwood though. Thanks for the tip didn't realise it came in different qualities.

I'll keep hunting for 18mm but i don't seem to be able to find it.

[dave]

I think 3/4" ply is the bog standard for boards but 15mm should be fine with a decent frame.

[a dense loner]

15mm will be fine unless u weigh about 250kgs, u cud prob do with 3 pieces of 3x2 for this. U dont need to spend a fortune on hardwood, just treat your board. For the hinge type bracket things u haven't yet designed can I recommend u buying hinged brackets, these have already been designed so u need look no further

[SA Chris]

just treat your board

Yeah, they like it if you buy them ice cream, or take them to the zoo.

[biscuit]

15mm will be fine unless u weigh about 250kgs, u cud prob do with 3 pieces of 3x2 for this. U dont need to spend a fortune on hardwood, just treat your board. For the hinge type bracket things u haven't yet designed can I recommend u buying hinged brackets, these have already been designed so u need look no further

I am easily confused. The single board is 8ftx4ft so what would i do with 3 pieces of 3x2 ?

Brackets ? Hinged ? Who would ever think of inventing something like that ? They'll never go together. I'll bear it in mind though.

[GCW]

Bracket ? Hinge ? Who would ever think of inventing something like that ? They'll never go together. I'll bear it in mind though.

Already been done years ago.

(showing my age?)

[erm, sam]

When I bought my euro plywood I could only buy 15mm and it was fine. I too thought the sheets only cost 50 euro a sheet but they actually cost me 50 euro a square meter or something. I nearly fell over when they told me the actual price at the till.

[biscuit]

Bracket ? Hinge ? Who would ever think of inventing something like that ? They'll never go together. I'll bear it in mind though.

Already been done years ago.

(showing my age?)

I haven't clicked the link. I was spoofing "Garlic Bread ?"by a fat Bolton comic,  but i am going to guess you are linking to Hinge and Bracket the transvestite comedy duo off of the late 70's ?

Not necessarily your age. My Gran used to watch them so i blame her for my knowledge.

[biscuit]

When I bought my euro plywood I could only buy 15mm and it was fine. I too thought the sheets only cost 50 euro a sheet but they actually cost me 50 euro a square meter or something. I nearly fell over when they told me the actual price at the till.

Shit ! Thanks for that. I'll check the small print.

[biscuit]

Bracket ? Hinge ? Who would ever think of inventing something like that ? They'll never go together. I'll bear it in mind though.

Already been done years ago.

(showing my age?)

I haven't clicked the link. I was spoofing "Garlic Bread ?"by a fat Bolton comic,  but i am going to guess you are linking to Hinge and Bracket the transvestite comedy duo off of the late 70's ?

Not necessarily your age. My Gran used to watch them so i blame her for my knowledge.

ha ha i was right.

I love the fact they have an 'official' website, just in case anyone was trying to copy them.

So, how old are you ?

[GCW]

Half as old as Lagers.

[robertostallioni]

 

you're never 25.

[Percy B]

The standard is 18mm thick, as then the barrels of your t-nuts won't stick out the front of your boards. This is only a problem once you've used the t-nuts and they've bedded in. 15mm ply is also a bit flexy, so 18mm is better. If you're on a budget, maybe try OSB (oriented strand board) as it should be a cheaper option - you can get it in 18mm and its strong as you want.

[biscuit]

Cheers Percy.

It's only going to be 1 board (8x4) used as a systems board so i can splash the cash on the good stuff.

Most ( if not all ) the holds are probably going to be screw on so i may not use t nuts at all.

However OSB i did see in 18mm and it'd be good to have the option in the future to put proper holds on.

[Jim]

just stick my oar in - I know its only going to be a system board, but 1 board is tiny.
OSB is horrible to use on a board IMO, you can pick up decent 18mm ply at the builder merchants for about £30 a sheet

[nik at work]

I think biscuit is based in Spain, which I think has bizarrely expensive wood??

Anyway I'd agree with not using OSB, it's not nice. A decent ply 15mm or thicker should be fine. The amount of bracing behind the board is important, the more the stiffer the better. One sheet will make for a pretty small dull system board, I'd struggle to be tempted to use it here in the perma-rain UK. In the "sun always shines" Spanish weather I can't imagine using a board unless it was AWESOME (awesome is another word for big).

[biscuit]

I agree with the boredom factor but it's more fun than doing aero cap work on my fingerboard. Been too hot to climb for 6 weeks. It's not 365 days a year cragging here you know.

It's being built specifically for a project. I am about 7b level at the minute and have picked a crazy overhanging tufa climb in between Chilam Balam and Planta Shiva for my first 7c, I am missing 7b+ out as that is for losers.

The climb is about 38metres, overhangs by 6 about metres and has 2 good hands off rests - one bridging your back against a 3 metre free hanging stalactite and another in a cave - interspersed by bouts of 2-4 mins of climbing ( once i've got it wired ) on drainpipe tufas and some knee bars. Totally against my usual preferred climbing style of fingery wall climbs so i have a lot of work to do.

So my plan is to do foot on campussing using the Ste Mc method:

 http://rockclimbinguk.co.uk/steve-mcclure-on-training-power-endurance/

and i am going to stick a couple of pieces of banister rail vertically on the board to train for the drainpipe tufa wrestling.

Obviously i am going to climb as much as i can as well this is for those days when i can't get out ( quite a lot with work, home tutoring 2 kids and general life ) and is more specific than doing deadlifts or dumbell complexes.

Fingers crossed.

[Murd]

Hi biscuit,
Used OSB board on woody with no problems, been up 3 years now. Sure it ain't as nice as ply but at the time it was all I could afford. I would bang some to T nuts in why your building, might have no plans to use them now but it's not to much cost or effort and you may be glad of them in the future.
Pics are on my profile on the other channel

[biscuit]

Nice woody 

If i can't find 18mm ply at least i know i can use OSB and i can get that in 18mm.

Cheers.

[biscuit]

Thanks for all the advice everyone.

In the end i had to go for 18mm OSB as there was a 3 week wait to order 18mm ply. I needed the board asap to get fit for a route in a few weeks time. This will also mean i won't have any problems with t nuts at a later date.

The floor attachment ran into issues as the concrete floor reverted back to its original state ( powder ) when i drilled it. So it's held in by 2 bolts into a lintel up above and the legs are resting on the floor. It feels very solid even with this set up. I like to think it's due to my excellent braced frame. But i am considering extra reinforcement.

At the moment it has got a lovely set of Crusher holds campus rungs up the middle and nothing more - due to banister railing being a gazillion euros. They feel lovely and i had loads of good advice from Probes about the spacing/angle etc. so thanks for that.

Just got to keep using it now and then crush 

[Jim]

you're trying to get fit for a route on a piece of 8'x4'?

[biscuit]

Yup.

Not the only thing i'm doing of course but this is the icing on the cake. Quick 40 min work out before the kids get up in the morning can't do any harm. All i need is the motivation to keep going up and down and up and down on the same holds.

Sometimes i may go crazy and miss a rung or 2 out just for a bit of variety.