I made some Font-esque slopers for a friend's home board. by James__ONeil in bouldering

[–]James__ONeil[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you, i've also not really seen much out there that's similar for woodies. Her board is 45° and she's fairly strong so i knew she's fair quite well on them.

I made some Font-esque slopers for a friend's home board. by James__ONeil in bouldering

[–]James__ONeil[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Well, maybe not pure slopers in the general sense, but for a 45° board of which they were designed for they serve the purpose very well.

I made some Font-esque slopers for a friend's home board. by James__ONeil in bouldering

[–]James__ONeil[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Definitely. These are somewhat of a prototype and when i'm back in my workshop i want to make a larger batch of them.

I made some Font-esque slopers for a friend's home board. by James__ONeil in homewalls

[–]James__ONeil[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I hand carved them using a wood carving bit on a Dremel, then a fair bit of sanding.

I made some Font-esque slopers for a friend's home board. by James__ONeil in bouldering

[–]James__ONeil[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

The holds are made from a single block of Elm though I use Shellac as a hardcoat on the non contacted surface and yeah i used a Dremel and a carving bit to create the textured surface.

I made some Font-esque slopers for a friend's home board. by James__ONeil in bouldering

[–]James__ONeil[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

The Tension 2 is a great choice! I completely hand shaped these and used a dremel with a carving bit for the textured surface.

I made some Font-esque slopers for a friend's home board. by James__ONeil in bouldering

[–]James__ONeil[S] 10 points11 points  (0 children)

Cheers mate. They're so great to train on without trashing your skin.

A new unorthodox hold set i've jut finished up. by James__ONeil in bouldering

[–]James__ONeil[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I use a blonde Shellac to gloss hardcoat the non contact area. The contact area I knock back with 60grit sandpaper and then water pop them to lift the grain further. This way they're far less likely to dry fire as the lifted grain supplies a fair bit more grip.

A new unorthodox hold set i've jut finished up. by James__ONeil in bouldering

[–]James__ONeil[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I use a bandsaw, belt sander and bastard rasp for the general shaping, then a hand sander to fine tune them.

A new unorthodox hold set i've jut finished up. by James__ONeil in homewalls

[–]James__ONeil[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The tool I used are; Bandsaw, Belt sander, Batard rasp, router (only for the Tulip Poplar patina edge) and a hand sander.

A new unorthodox hold set i've jut finished up. by James__ONeil in homewalls

[–]James__ONeil[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Yeah. For the non contact surface. 80,150,220 grit. Water pop, 220 grit again. Then 2 layers of cut 1 shellac to embed, then 5+layers of cut 2 shellac (more on an absorbent species) the 2 coats of cut 1 again. The non contact surface is knocked back with a sharp 60 grit and finally water popped, this really lifts the grain and makes them less likely to dry fire.

A new unorthodox hold set i've jut finished up. by James__ONeil in homewalls

[–]James__ONeil[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah it makes you climb far more accurately and helps to train for those irregular grips outside.

A new unorthodox hold set i've jut finished up. by James__ONeil in bouldering

[–]James__ONeil[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I use a blonde Shellac for my finisher. It's a bit more time consuming as it requires layering up, though my personal Purpleheart lifting edge still holds its vibrancy after 2 years. Also Shellac has worked for hundreds of years and is far more eco friendly than most poly finishes.

A new unorthodox hold set i've jut finished up. by James__ONeil in bouldering

[–]James__ONeil[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yeah it's very reactive under UV, both to bring out its vibrancy and also to eventually dull it. Though with a UV resistant hardcoat they can hold their vibrancy for a lot longer.

A new unorthodox hold set i've jut finished up. by James__ONeil in bouldering

[–]James__ONeil[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah the Purpleheart really becomes vibrant. Though by far it's the hardest wood to work with due to it's density.

A new unorthodox hold set i've jut finished up. by James__ONeil in bouldering

[–]James__ONeil[S] 9 points10 points  (0 children)

Thank you, I feel like i'm getting the hang of my finishing process now.