UKC

So I have finally decided on the shape that my training wall will be - a 12ft long board at 10deg facing a 12 ft long board at 30 deg. Now I need to think about the construction...

Trawling the internet has led me to believe that 2x4 studs are suitable for vertical and near vertical panels (the 10deg) but for anything steeper you should use 2x6 or even 2x8 studs at a minimum of 24" centres but preferably 16" centres.

Can anyone out there who has built a training wall share what they did and tell me how rigid the result is? - I wouldn't want it to flex when doing dynamic moves even if it was structurally sound.

Thanks in advance,

Gwilym

In reply to GwilymR:

You could frame it out with 64 or 89mm CLS , or 3 or 4 by 2. Anything bigger is excessive and not required. I'd put the studs in at 600mm, maybe 400mm for the overhang. It's not load bearing so no need to beef up.

In reply to GwilymR:


Whatever centres you go for make it a module of the panel width you're using. 600mm is pretty normal but 400mm would be better and stiffer. Btw, I think you mean a max. of 24", not a min.


My board's about 17° and uses 89mm CLS studs. It does flex a bit on more dynamic moves, but not so much that it's off-putting. That could also be due to the Sterling board (in 600 x 2400mm sheets, fixed horizontally) I used in preference to ply, which I imagine would be stiffer, but is more expensive.

If you want to use cheaper studs then go thin but wide. IE instead of 2 x 4 go for 1 x 6. Less volume of wood but stiffer in the right direction. The ply will stiffen it in the other. Ok your screws do need to be more accurately placed.


You can all so use a frame work like a roofing trusses. Again thinner studs but made into a strong frame by triangulation.

In reply to GwilymR:

3x2 at 16" centres worked well for mine. Don't bother faffing around with roof truss designs, no need. 3x2 is cheap cheerful readily available and easy to work with.

In reply to GwilymR:

Thanks guys!

I think I will go for 2x4 all round and will decide on the spacing when I have compared the cost!

In reply to GwilymR:

I have 22.5 deg wall using 2x6 at 16". It is bombproof and does not seem to flex at all.
When my builder mate looked at it he laughed at the over-engineering!

Mind you it is surprising what does flex. I have hand-jam crack, consisting of two vertical 2x6 timbers, fixed top and bottom by angle brackets and by several long screws across the width, and when I jam both feet and hands you can see it flex quite a lot.

In reply to GwilymR:

Morning Campers - I've built my own wall. It is completely freestanding (based on a natty A frame design) and is made entirely from 2x4 except for the 'main beam' that spans the top of the A frame. This is a piece of 2x8. The wall is 8ft wide, split into two different overhangs, 40' and 25'with a cheeky arete type feature between them. The studs are spaced at 600mm. I used 100mm screws to fix all the studs together and then used deck screws (75mm or 50mm depending on what was about) to fix the panels on - deck screws are awesome as they're cheap and self tap really easily - bish, bash, bosh! The whole thing is stiff as bro', no flex at all. Bearing in mind it's not fixed to the walls, floor or ceiling, it hasn't budged a millimetre in nearly two years.

My only thought regarding your wall (bearing in mind I have no idea how hard you're climbing or want to climb) but I'd err on the side of steeper boards if you can. My 40' board is ace, the 25' is OK (put in for warm ups) but actually, the wall would be better if it was just one big 40' panel with some jugs on for warm ups. Fortunately, I'm moving house soon, have dismantled the wall this evening and will rebuild it all as a 40' panel in my next garage.

I'm currently trying to pop a couple of photos up on my profile. I'll let you know if I succeed.

Joyce

In reply to GwilymR:

Morning Campers - the photos are here, in my UKC photo gallery:

http://www.ukclimbing.com/photos/author.html?id=36740

Cheers,

Joyce

In reply to GwilymR:

That's massively overengineered for a garage wall.

Frankly since the worst that will happen is it'll flex a bit you could get away with no frame behind a 19mm ply board supported top and bottom at 30deg. You could eliminate almost all the flex from a basically frameless wall by building in some simple crease lines which also add value/interest to the climbing surface. Mine was flat 19mm ply, 30deg on 2x4 frame (120cm 48" centers) and it was totally overbuilt.

jk

In reply to GwilymR:

My wall is now up and working. The studs are *in front* of the panels, adding another dimension and great feature to an otherwise flat surface. The studs are 5 x 12cm and are braced with transverse 'nogging' members. The studs are then equipped with holds which create sidepull/layback/stemming/pinchgrip sequences.

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