Volume Build: Screw & Glue (part-3)

in this post your gonna see a shit ton of pictures. i kept them small so the post wont be ungodly long... but you should be able to click the image and get a better look. so, here we go... the alejandro method to building volumes...



first gather up your supplies. in the first picture you will see just about all the tools i use. but it helps to have a belt sander as well. if you dont have one i suggest you use only 90 and 45 degree angles. the second picture shows the diamond volume i built a while ago. the goal is for this new volume was to allow multiple volumes to be added/mounted on to it.... im so creative...



so i cut out my two main face panels. this will be the first step of almost every build. next i bevelled some 2x4's to about a 45 degree angle. now josh just builds his with as many screws as he has lying on the floor of his garage but i like to be slightly more anal with my builds. i use a combination of screws and wood glue. gorrilla glue seems to work really well. just avoid getting it all over your clothes. i use a good bead then the screws pull it together. pre-drill all your holes and pre-start the screws so it goes quick once the glue is on.



as you can see by many of my pictures i like to trim of extra wood after its semi in place. not the most crafty way to do it.. but it works for me. im not a super carpenter, thats why i was considering going into the messiah business....kidding... but seriously this is just the way it has worked for me. given that i like to subtract slowly so i get a nice finished product.



the glue tends run out by the way... so have a paper towel ready. the next shot illustrates my point. at this point i have added the additional framing for the side panels. and if you look at the smaller face panel there is extensive framing with 2x4's. this is because i intend to make this panel removable... youll see. then i run the side across a belt sander... forever. until it has the right angle and flat surface for mounting the sides onto. overall this will make the volumes stronger because i can make the fit tighter and add glue. when im done with the volume i will also go back and add extra glue in all the corners... cant have my heavy ass busting a seam!



to make pattern for cutting out the sides i like to lay the volume down on the plywood. i cut from and trace the exact shape i need. it seems to help me not screw up the measurements and ... well kids tracing is faster. in the past for harder shapes i have even covered the place with paper to make an exact pattern of the panel i need. its called tracing kids, ...sure you didnt draw blunt man and chronic but what you did was add depth and shading... wait what? regardless the panels are added on the same as before with lots of gluing and screws. now i know it looks funny with the bracing sticking out... but well cut those off soon.



so there it is, the basic box is done all the panels are more or less as they need to be.



so i guess once you have it all together the only thing left to do is... take it apart. i already said i intend to have a removable lid. this is so the volume can be mounted from the front of the wall by a single person. i will go into that more... but for now lets make the lid. i pulled all the screws and removed the lid panel i realized my arm was to big to fit between the 2x4's... so i cut a little diamond shaped slot to give me access.



with the lid off i started working on the mounting braces. they are beveled at the ends to fit flush with the side panels. i wanted the "top" board to sit high so i made an additional bevel lengthwise to allow it to snug up tighter.




of course once i did this i realize the place where i wanted my t-nuts to go would get covered... so i placed them before mounting the brace. it will be a little problematic when setting on this row of t-nuts... and it will make it really difficult to replace the t-nuts... but what can ya do. i needed to place them there to make the lid strong and removable. the second brace went in without a hitch. i just needed to leave enough room to sneak the mounting bolts in. the holes in the braces are made to be exactly 1ft x 1ft square. i make my standard wall spacing 6x6 inches so it will fit nicely. but if i decide to place it in an off angle i can drill new t-nuts in the wall. it mounted nicely on joshes wall as you saw in the previous post. the only thing left is the finishing "pretty" work to do.



The way i figure it, only about four bolts need to be used for the lid, and those can be mounted with holds... so its a win-win. "she may not look like much kid, buts she's got it where it counts"

check out the next post where i pretty the shield up and get it ready for use!

Volume Build: Preview (part-2)

so i spent the last two days working on a new volume. i named it the shield kinda as a joke. but it turns out to be pretty aptly named.

josh says that if he had to carry it into battle though he would need a slave for the march to get there. i have no idea... i guys i made it heavy or something.

so as i promised i have taken lots of picture for my up coming how to build a volume posts for this model... but i got it structurally done and need to run a rough test, so i trucked it over to club dreher.

the thing feels like a monster detaching flake on the under the roof. only not scary like its gonna power drive you in the ground.

josh liked it so.... i took it back. now i just need to have more time off from work so i can do all the finishing work that is required for my level of anality.

stay tuned for all the building instructions and the next volume i have in mind!

Volume Build: DESIGN (part-1)

well i promised i would be giving you a series on building volumes start to finish... so here we go with part one! i spent a little time working on concepts for a couple of new volumes today. as with any project you should have goals in mind before you start to work on it. in my case the process began with just staring at the volumes i had already built that are hanging around my living room. so... goal number one: make larger volumes that i can attach my current volumes to. goal number two: with the exception of the widget volume i made... my volumes are like most volumes, huge slopers with no in-cuts. well i made a volume at josh's awhile back with a definite jug sized in-cut. so, now im gonna try to perfect the idea a little. goal number three: incorporate josh's internal bolt/attachment method into my designs....we'll see about that one.

so here is my first new design. i came up with it in the car on the way to the climbing gym today. it features one trapezoidal in-cut panel. it is a variation on the standard three sided tetrahedron. the thin end is loped off to avoid the unusable arrow point where no T-nuts can fit. the wide has been split into two angled panels. the size i hope to make is roughly 40 inches long and it should sit around 15 inches tall. not HUGE but large overall than any other volumes ive made. so here it is:

and if the picture arent artful enough for ya...there's this:





the next design i have had kicking around in the back of my brain for a bit now, it's fairly simple... the idea comes from those detaching flakes that always seem so scary to boulder on. you know the one the size of your chest that you imagine tearing off at the worst time and crushing you ribs! it feature four sides and is a variation on the standard ramp shaped volume. my design pulls the sides in to form two big in-cuts. in the picture the "back" is the view that you could only see when the volume isnt mounted to the wall. overall size will be around 34 inches long, 34 inches wide and 8-10 inches tall... so here he is:



....this one probably needs the extra video to show it off:





so thus concludes part one... i imagine this will take a few days work considering i want to heavily document it for all y'all. give that plus work, and josh's wedding i expect this series will take a week or so to finish. i hope to do it in several post with the last one debuting them at club dreher some night. again thanks for reading and i welcome comments and questions... you are all my baby birds, i will feed you! ...did that sound as creepy as i was hoping for?!

Volume set

i recently had a query about my volume manufacturing. what have i made?... blah blah... so here is most of them. i made a couple more that reside at club dreher. and although they are bigger these ones were made with more... dedication.


i have plans for a couple bigger ones... ill do a post about making one start to finish including the plans sometime in the near ...ish future.

Volume Craft

well here is my latest volume creation. i call it the widget volume, for lack of a better descriptive name (a widget is a non-specific hypothetical object...i thought it made sense). its a little one but it will give you a good idea of how i build these. obviously your gonna need to use a little of your own creativity. but lets get started i what ive done.


first off, my intent was to make a hold that is a little free-form, given that i chose also to make it small. its been my experience that when you want to experiment start simple and start small. well ive done simple, so here is small. the first two pictures are of my starting frame. to do this i used a miter saw and and 2x2's for the frame. i cut some pieces somewhat randomly just to start puzzling it together and see what i get. if you look i made it so there are two low angles and two overhanging angles. the cross beam is there so i can later make the hold a bolt-on piece. take a look...



so as i was putting it together i used a belt sander to make the pieces fit more flush. i have found this very helpful to make a clean final product. i know the legs arent match well but ill correct for it as i go. to make the A-frame legs i initially drilled a pilot hole then glued the to legs together securing them with a temporary screw. this was later removed so that it would conflict with T-nut placements or later framing. but it holds the legs together while the glue sets up. i used gorilla glue and it is a good fast drying strong compound. after a couple minutes i pulled the screw and sanded the seam. thats why they look uniform! the cross beam got to keep it's screws.


next i sanded the sides down to make a flat surface to mount the first side panel. i like to use a jig saw for cutting these panels but a skill saw will do in a pinch. again pre-drill the screw holes then i get liberal with the glue. if you thread the screws into the panels so a little of the point sticks out the back end you can line up easier with your pilot holes and ensure you get the panel on right. in the second pic below you can see the back edge isnt quite flush... but thats okay as long as it has a good 1/4"in of flush surface. trust me it will work out.



next i went and sanded down the other side include the top edge of the panel i just added. and if you look at legs i did a little work flattening them out so the piece can be set up right. keep in mind that the inner legs dont need to be perfect because the sides themselves when done will provide plenty of flat mounting surface. i just need them flat enough to work with.



so in the second shot you can see i mounted the second panel. notice how they dont come together symmetrically. thats okay, youll never know after i do my finish work. also notice after i had the second panel in place i sand the last to side so everything is flush.

so here you see what i was talking about before. sanded flush, i made pilot holes then put in the screws, and use plenty of glue. i want the glue to really add to the overall strength of the hold. have a paper towel or rag handy to clean up any excess as you mount the panel. here you can also see the legs how i flattened them a little. also note the panels stick out a little beyond the legs. when i mount the final panel i will run the whole thing over the sander making the hold sit flush when put on the wall. okay, in the second picture we see the hold pretty close to finished. all the hard stuff is done. now its all finish work. first i lightly roll the sharp edges over the sander and make sure everything is flush. then i switch out my 50grit belt for a 150grit. the 150 is less aggressive and lets you be more delicate. then i do a final bit with sand paper in my hand. leaving me with the final product in my video.

So that's it the hold is all but done. i know what your thinking... "where do i put the T-nuts, and how does it mount to my boulder wall?" well thats up to you. i didnt have time for that yet. you can either mount your hold with a bunch of screws...or you can set it up to have a bolt like your commercial holds. ill show you all of that in my next blog on volumes. i have three different volume holds to do and T-nuts in all of them so, be patient! ....gosh! oh, and let me know if you have any questions.

ShopSmitty!

every now and then i like to whore out myself for things i like. one of my fellow Vulgarians was asking how i have been making all these different things (holds, volumes, wall panels... yes i know you haven't seen them yet) and i just want to point out that if you have the means the craftsman shop smith is the coolest thing ever! Drill press, belt sander, table saw, the list goes on....

VOLUMES!!

at this point i would assume everyone knows what a volume is. Yes! it is the amount of 3-demensional space occupied by an object. but that's not what we are talking about. volumes are also the name for the big..big ...telemudo! holds that we find at the gym that take a boring flat wall and make it resemble something closer to what nature intended ...sorta. the point is they are cool! look---------->

Motivation Volumes (google it!) can make you some if you have and excess of money and a lacking in time. oh, and you'll need tools.....skill saw, miter saw, drill press, belt sander. so being that i love projects, i decide to build my own. the main things you want to consider is framing for durability and maximize your t-nuts placements! here is basically what im talking about.

so after google image searching for a while and essentially riping off other peoples ideas, i came up with several design ideas for making my own volumes. and late one night after i completed my boring tasks of medication reckoning and record checking i put my time to better use and drew these ups! now i havent figured out all the design specifics and im still not up to par with a miter saw but as i move forward ill post more on this topic! ....admit it ...the drawings arent half bad!

oh, and no these will definitely not fit on a treadwall. but this is why we are making a boulder wall to compliment the treadwall.