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DIY Climbing Hand Holds
by Case on April 29, 2007
Table of Contents
intro: DIY Climbing Hand Holds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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step 1: Getting started . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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step 2: Mixing the bondo resin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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step 3: Pour the mix into the mold! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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step 4: Drilling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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http://www.instructables.com/id/DIY-Climbing-Hand-Holds/
intro: DIY Climbing Hand Holds
Eastern Mountain SportsThere are plans all over the internet on how to build your own indoor climbing wall like over at Eastern Mountain Sports. But there's only a few
well documented ways to make your own holds and well buying them can be expensive! Plus it's more fun to make your own unique holds that no one actually makes
giving you new challenges to your own wall.
I would like to thank my buddy Dave for first showing this to me and taking the photos.
There is all sorts of ways to make handholds from wood to bondo to silicone with fiberglass resin and while they all work none of them work well without lots of time lotss
of practice and a ton of money spent in materials getting that practice time in.
The Bondo Fiberglass resin + sand yields the best results and is real close to commercial climbing holds you would buy in texture and feel. Silicone holds are extremely
expensive to make, it will run you about $5+ to make a mold and then take a few hours to make then cover in silicone. To add insult to injury it will take a few days to dry
and at that point you are ready to take a sledge hammer to the work you all ready did and head to the local climbing shop to buy holds.
Don't let my frustration as well as others fool you there is light at the end of the tunnel. What im about to show you is probably the easiest way to duplicate commercial
holds or making your own free form holds without a "prototype".
Image Notes
1. Holds ready to be drilled
step 1: Getting started
Here is what you will need:
- 1 Block of Clay ($5-15 bucks great if you have a student id for that 10% :)
- Bondo Fiberglass Resin (I find getting the 1 gal size is managed easier aprox $20 bucks at home depot)
- Extra Fiberglass resin Fixer (about $2 to 4$ get one or two extra per gallon of resin)
- Play Sand or fine Silica sand (silica works better don't get anything with pebbles or rocks in it, starts at $5 to $10)
- 3/8" Washers (about .50 cents ea you need 1 to 2 a hold)
- 3/8" Mason drill bit for drilling the holes
- a can of WD40
Step 1
Get a block of clay (6" x 6" by 12" is aprox 20lbs depending on the clay type) It can be cheap clay; don't go out spending a arm and a leg on expensive sculptures clay it's
just not needed. We will start with cloning a commercial hold first its easier to start with as your first try. Find a commercial hold and cut a slice off of the clay deep enough
to accommodate the depth of the hold. Push the hold straight down into the clay with the back of the hold facing up, it is REAL important that you transfer the texture to
the clay mold. At this point carefully remove the hold from the clay. Need to be careful not to smudge the texture so this may take a few tries at first. If the plug from the
bolt hole breaks off roll a new one from some extra clay by hand. Place a 3/8" washer on top of the bolt hole peg, this is EXTREEMLY important.
Now you want to Spray the finished mold with WD40, this will act as a agent to prevent the poured mixture from sticking to the mold.
http://www.instructables.com/id/DIY-Climbing-Hand-Holds/
step 2: Mixing the bondo resin
Here comes the fun part mixing up the bondo resin. This stuff reeks, so do it in a well ventilated area and you might want to wear a respirator I wouldn't recommend
breathing it in. I like to set up a fan behind me blowing towards my work area to blow the fumes away from me. You are going to Guestimate how much sand would fill up
the entire mold and roughly measure that volume of sand in ounces to determine how much of the mix you need to fill the mold. So now based on that measurement you
want 60% sand and 40% bondo mix.
The first thing you want to do is mix the resin and the fixing agent one drop at a time before adding the sand. It is important to measure the volume of resin carefully so
that you can calculate the right amount of fixer to add. The more fixer you add the faster the holds will setup. I generally use the amount suggested but try not to use less.
Now you need to work FAST, the clock is ticking as you only have about 15mins before the resin begins to set and harden!
If you want to add some color to your holds now is the time, acrylic paint works best and you want to add this in before the sand as well. Make sure you get creative :)
One you have all this done and you are set to go on pouring the sand in you want to do this slowly. You want to stir as your pour it in to avoid getting clumps or pockets of
dry sand. The sand grains need to all get wet by the mix. The 60/40 mix is a good guideline but keep adding sand until it seems as if more sand would make the mix to
dry to work with.
Image Notes
1. Yogurt cups make great measuring cups for the resin. I liketo use milk crates to
mixing containers for the sand and resin. Should be able to reuse the ma few
times.
http://www.instructables.com/id/DIY-Climbing-Hand-Holds/
Image Notes
1. Get creative with your colors!
Image Notes
1. mmmm sand.
step 3: Pour the mix into the mold!
Now we can pour the mix into the molds. It is a good idea to have some small holds around in case you mix too much mix so you don't waste any. Pour up to the top of
the mold filling it to the brim.
Now we can pour the mix into the molds. It is a good idea to have some small holds around in case you mix too much mix so you don't waste any. Pour up to the top of
the mold filling it to the brim. Let the holds cool and set for 1 to 3 hours, this varies based on how much fixer you added. Its ready when the top is hard but the hold is still
a bit warm. If you pull it out too early it will damage the texture.
At this point the resin/sand mix is still a bit soft so any little irregularities you can cut off with a knife, I like to use a utility knife. This point you can smooth off the back of
the hold by scraping it on any rough surface like the sidewalk :)
Image Notes
1. Crack the mold off the hold.
http://www.instructables.com/id/DIY-Climbing-Hand-Holds/
Image Notes
1. Here is the hold out of the mold. But dont be a fool like me, you dont have to
break the mold.
Image Notes
1. another hold with a pocket on top
step 4: Drilling
At this point you want to take your holds to a drill press or you can eyeball it and use a hand drill with that 3/8" mason bit we bought earlier. You want to drill down past
the washer. Even though the bolt peg got us a starter hole it will never go all the way. So now you just have to let it harden a few hours (let it cure) and bolt them on your
wall.
Happy Climbing :)
Image Notes
1. Holds ready to be drilled
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Comments
20 comments Add Comment
bazookazuz says:
Apr 25, 2008. 7:26 AM REPLY
I build my holds our of real rock (limestone). i found the easiest way to flatten the back is to use an angle grinder with a 7" masonry grinding wheel (<$10). If
you go this route, I would wait for the hold to completely harden so you don't gunk up your wheel.
Great article! I'm gonna start building my hold this way once I exhaust my supply of real rocks.
Corvidae says:
Feb 28, 2008. 7:52 PM REPLY
I found this site the other day. Its a company that sells the stuff to make holds, so if your willing to throw a bit of money into it, you can do it this way.
http://www.makehandholds.com/how_to.htm
eastcoastholds says:
Jan 28, 2008. 8:02 PM REPLY
Nice to see the interest in making climbing holds. We have been making them for about 5 years now. Started for ourselves, now we sell worldwide and on
every auction site we can find. Most hold companies wont share info...I dont mind. If you have any specific questions, let me know. I contributed to an article
that answers some basics - http://www.stephenwilliamson.com/Climbing/climbingholds.htm.
Don-
andresm says:
Jul 25, 2007. 7:03 PM REPLY
WOW! great instructable.... i wanna cover my room wall in these... lol i know it dangearous (im mexican so pardon my spelling)
J_SCAP says:
Dec 2, 2007. 9:44 AM REPLY
no man ur speling is fine dont need to wory if we here at instructables can read it your fine
The Dude of Life says:
Aug 10, 2007. 3:07 PM REPLY
Does anyone know if you can coat your climbing wall with bondo resin? Sounds like that would be just as good as a spray-on concrete coating they use to
make "real" rock walls. Your climbing wall would be one big hold, imagine the friction.
bethehammer says:
May 3, 2007. 9:11 AM REPLY
This is great! I was planning to build a backyard playground set for my kid. She loves the climbing walls on the big sets at the park. This is going to be fun,
now I can add a climbing wall to the set and make the holds any color she wants.
Thanks for sharing.
What did you mean by tendon-friendly?
http://www.instructables.com/id/DIY-Climbing-Hand-Holds/
gmoon says:
May 3, 2007. 3:38 PM REPLY
(I'm taking this one; since I used the phrase...)
Tendon-friendly holds just don't stress a particular tendon or tendon group. Think of a natural grip, following the curvature of your hand--like a handle.
One test: they feel comfortable.
For instance, I need to avoid too much stress on my ring fingers (not uncommon--I know climbers who've had 'pulley' injuries on that finger...both hands!)
Of course, more advanced climbers tend to work hard on the weakest aspects of their climbing. Train hard on a group of holds that cause too much
unnatural stress on those connections and you've got an injury...
hedgiehog says:
May 1, 2007. 10:39 AM REPLY
I've been thinking of making my own climbing wall, but i got membership to a climbing gym, so i'd rather go there. Nice holds
admanrocks says:
Apr 29, 2007. 1:08 PM REPLY
cool
cpotoso says:
Apr 30, 2007. 11:10 AM REPLY
Excellent instructable, very very nice. Is there a criterion to "design" the shape for a hold? (I'd like to create my own without having to mold/copy them).
gmoon says:
Apr 30, 2007. 2:59 PM REPLY
There are many criterion for hold design. Some mimic natural features (flake, crack, crimp, sloper, pinch, pocket, etc.) Some are huge buckets for
roofs. Some are wacky (skulls, animals, etc.) Some (jibs) are designed mainly for feet.
The best (IMHO) are tendon-friendly. But rock isn't always friendly, so anything goes.
lemonie says:
Apr 29, 2007. 10:35 AM REPLY
Are you grinding these flat afterwards (how)?
Do you think it possible to add the hole to the mould instead of drilling it out afterwards? I'm thinking that the sand would be harsh on your drill-bit.
FEARstyle says:
Apr 30, 2007. 5:59 AM REPLY
not at all thats why you use the masonry bit
Quiznak says:
Apr 29, 2007. 10:54 AM REPLY
This sounds like a great project. You could probably stick dowel into the clay and have it extend up through the Bondo/sand mix to do what lemonie
suggested.
Weissensteinburg says:
Apr 29, 2007. 3:56 PM REPLY
Better yet, put a dowel through the original hold, before you shape the clay around it.
royalestel says:
Apr 29, 2007. 8:31 PM REPLY
This is great. I've been missing my rock climbing days . . .
Ferrite says:
Apr 29, 2007. 5:28 PM REPLY
I made climbing holds once out of cement. I made a shape out of clay and covered it with several layers of silicone caulk and let the caulk dry. I then poured
cement in and let it set. They turned out fairly well but there were a lot of air bubbles on the outside when i took them out form the mold.
nagutron says:
Apr 29, 2007. 3:57 PM REPLY
Really nice Instructable!
gmoon says:
Apr 29, 2007. 3:29 PM REPLY
You can do this without the clay molds, but I gotta admit, yours look way better. Hey, nice touch with the color--ours are just ugly pink bondo :(.
(Drilling the hole seems to make them less susceptible to breaking, when you tighten them on the wall w/your allen wrench...as does just the right mixture of
bondo/sand.)
http://www.instructables.com/id/DIY-Climbing-Hand-Holds/