mounting fingerboard/hangboard

JoshW

JoshW

Well-known member
I've just bought myself a Kong Revolver hangboard, and I'm now at the daunting stage of needing to stick the thing on the wall.

The doorway I want to hang it above is in a brick wall of a converted garage.

I've seen that it's preferred to mount it to a bit of 3/4" ply and then mount that to the wall, but I can't find any reasons why this would be.

What kind of drills/bolts etc do I need to beg/steal/borrow to be able to get this hung without pulling down the door frame the first time I hang off of it? (Please bear in mind, for those who don't know me, I'm properly stupid when it comes to things like power tools).

Cheers,
Josh
 
Steve Clark

Steve Clark

Well-known member
When you fix into brickwork, the quality of the fix is variable based on where fixing lands. It's easy enough to miss the mortar beds by adjusting the height, but it could be in a perpend (vertical mortar joint), a solid bit of brick or hit a hollow bit within the brick itself. On a finger board, there are fixed positions for the screws. You may hit something good with one and the next one is rubbish. By using the plywood, you can put multiple fixings in the ply and hit to optimum spot on the bricks behind. Once this is solid, you can then fix the fingerboard to that at exactly the correct height and position you want.


Best kind of fixings are something like these. You want 50-60mm in the wall, plus the thickness of ply :

https://www.screwfix.com/p/easydrive-countersunk-concrete-screws-7-5-x-80mm-100-pack/8400h

6mm holes in the wall. Will need an impact driver to put the screws in.
 
tobyk

tobyk

Member
As long as the brick is solid, mine is up with just wall plugs and screws. Doesn?t seem to be going anywhere...although it?s not too far to fall.

 
PeteHall

PeteHall

Moderator
tobyk said:
As long as the brick is solid, mine is up with just wall plugs and screws. Doesn?t seem to be going anywhere...although it?s not too far to fall.
Click to expand...

Not too far to fall, but can be serious anyway. My sister's friend had a friction fit pull-up bar that slipped out. She landed on her bum and busted her spine...

That said, screws and wall plugs should be fine if placed correctly in decent bricks. Most of the load is carried by the friction between parts and the screws just squeeze everything together to provide the friction.
 
JoshW

JoshW

Well-known member
Steve Clark said:
When you fix into brickwork, the quality of the fix is variable based on where fixing lands. It's easy enough to miss the mortar beds by adjusting the height, but it could be in a perpend (vertical mortar joint), a solid bit of brick or hit a hollow bit within the brick itself. On a finger board, there are fixed positions for the screws. You may hit something good with one and the next one is rubbish. By using the plywood, you can put multiple fixings in the ply and hit to optimum spot on the bricks behind. Once this is solid, you can then fix the fingerboard to that at exactly the correct height and position you want.


Best kind of fixings are something like these. You want 50-60mm in the wall, plus the thickness of ply :

https://www.screwfix.com/p/easydrive-countersunk-concrete-screws-7-5-x-80mm-100-pack/8400h

6mm holes in the wall. Will need an impact driver to put the screws in.
Click to expand...

This is a solid description that even I can understand. very much an 'explain like I'm 5' situation. Thank you :)

Hopefully our onsite maintenance guy will have an impact driver, and I'm sure I can blag some plywood from him as well.

Will take a look at those screws as well.

How removable would such a mounting be? I'm moving out of this place in the next year or so. Assume I could just remove the long screws and remove the whole plywood board?
 
JoshW

JoshW

Well-known member
cavemanmike said:
I hope there isn't a catnick lintel above the door. Hopefully it will be a concrete one
Click to expand...

well that's muddied the water...

what is one of those and how would I tell?
 
F

Fjell

Well-known member
We have a Crusher that we got with a doorway mounting kit. You don?t have to screw anything into a wall. The board screws into the wood. You need to adjust the backing piece for different widths, but that is just a piece of simple wood you can buy a new one of.

http://crusherholds.co.uk/fingerboards/matrix-and-mount-hangboard-fingerboard

 

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PeteHall

PeteHall

Moderator
JoshW said:
cavemanmike said:
I hope there isn't a catnick lintel above the door. Hopefully it will be a concrete one
Click to expand...

well that's muddied the water...

what is one of those and how would I tell?
Click to expand...

It's a profiled steel lintel that supports the brickwork. Not great for fixing into.

For a standard width door, on an internal (or solid, non-cavity) wall, I would speculate that it is more likely to be concrete as it would be the cheaper option. If it's a cavity wall, or wide opening a catnic type lintel would be more likely.

If you drill your hole and it's solid Alltwen way, you are OK. If you drill your hole and it goes through a sheet of steel into a void,  you have a problem.

If your fixings are more than about 100mm above the doorway, you should be clear of the lintel anyway.
 
tomferry

tomferry

Well-known member
Lots of good advice given already , if your still worried about the fixings all being good make a cardboard template for all the drill holes offer this up mark them all out and see what you think .  Rawrl bolts are very good don?t no you could use them or if they have to be screws ?
 
cavemanmike

cavemanmike

Well-known member
If you're struggling (and I think you are) you should ask your on site maintenance man, he will know the building better than anyone as we are all just guessing what construction the building is
 
SamT

SamT

Moderator
tobyk said:
...although it?s not too far to fall.
Click to expand...

PeteHall said:
Not too far to fall, but can be serious anyway. My sister's friend had a friction fit pull-up bar that slipped out. She landed on her bum and busted her spine...
Click to expand...

I was going to mention that.. I assume it was Hannah...

https://ukbouldering.com/board/index.php/topic,20498.msg370664.html#msg370664

Off topic I know, but those 'friction fit' bars were never designed to be 'friction fit'.  they are sold with two cups that you are meant to screw into the frame, and expand the bar into cups. 

There's an ad on TV that features a girl doing exactly the same thing and the bar slipping out and it makes me wince every time I see it.


 
JoshW

JoshW

Well-known member
Have spoken to maintenance man who has kindly agreed to help me fit it :) Will report back with the final mounting solution just in case anyone is interested!
 
TheBitterEnd

TheBitterEnd

Well-known member
JoshW said:
The doorway I want to hang it above is in a brick wall of a converted garage.
Click to expand...

Make sure there is enough brickwork or weight above the brick into which you place the highest fixings, e.g. don't rely on the top one or two courses of brick if the garage has a flat roof. A long time ago I used to use a gym that was in an industrial unit and they had a pull-up bar bolted to the breeze block wall, it was a good few courses down but eventually the top breeze block pulled out of the wall, fortunately it didn't come all the way out but it moved a few inches.
 
Pitlamp

Pitlamp

Well-known member
Your original post mentions not being sure why the device should first be attached to plywood. I'm not sure how brittle these things are but if you include plywood it will then be attached to a plane surface. If you attach it directly to the wall, this may not be a plane surface. When you then do up the fixings you would create a significant bending force to the device, which could cause it to fail.

I'm no expert but that's my best shot at answering that one.
 
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