Making Campus Rungs

[selfguided]

Has anyone here ever had success making campus rungs? I just finished building an outdoor campus board and am leaning towards making my own rungs for cost purposes. I cut and sanded a few rungs the other day from 1x2 alder, predrilled the holds, and am going to mount them tonight to test.

Curious about wood choices (alder, maple, cedar, etc) and router bits...Feel free to chime in with any expertise. I'll keep updating this thread with progress in the meantime.

Update #1 (2/2/15):
Cut a second batch of 3/4" depth rungs out of alder. An 8ft section gave me six 16" rungs. Needed to do a 12 degree bevel cut so that the rungs were horizontal once mounted.

Update #2 (2/11/15):

Cut a third batch of 2" monster rungs for my wife to train on. Went with alder again due to the super cheap price and because I wanted to see how the first set of rungs did outside in the elements. Would have hated to build some nice ones only to have to replace them due to the weather.. This time I went with a 10 degree bevel cut to have a little more slopiness. Countersinking the pilot holes helped out a ton.

I would highly encourage anyone that is remotely handy and looking for a nice DIY project to consider making their own rungs. With a table saw, sander, and drill you can make your own for a fraction of the price that the companies are trying to sell them for. After getting lumber from a local supplier, I calculated that each rung cost me 0.50 cents! If you really want to get fancy you can use your round-over bits and router instead of the sander to speed things up and get a nice, even, round edge.

[MarkAnderson]

I don't have any specifics for you, but my friend Lee Brinkerhoff made a bunch using a table router. He has some cabinetry experience, which I'm sure helped. He made it sound pretty easy to do. At least one person on Mountain Project has done it too (here's an example in case you want to contact the maker www.mountainproject.com/v/campus-rungs-for-sale-35-set-of-10-or-4-a-peice/106904562 )

One suggestion, friction varies substantially by wood type (and sanding).  Lee's rungs were super sticky (compared to my Metolius Rungs), and I immediately set a PR the first time I used his board.  That is either good or bad depending on your point of view.  Stickier rungs will be easier to latch, but also more likely to create a skin injury.  

[climber511]

A friend and I made up several sets of each size in his shop.  It was a pretty simple operation really "if" you have all the equipment.  We used a few different kinds of hardwood and made up 3/4" - 1" - 1 /4".  We used a 15 degree angle on all of them but used two different router bits (the 3/4" ones seemed better with a different radius). 

Plane wood to desired thickness
Cut to length
Route the edge 
Cut the angle
Sand
Drill mounting holes with countersink

My favorite wood type ended up being cherry - very pretty but more importantly it has the texture I liked best (it almost feels "soft")

[tedwelser]

I made nice quality small rungs using oak rectangular moulding as a start point.  They seem functionally equivalent to the wood grips small rungs.  I have some photos here. boulderingathenscounty.blogspot.com/2014/06/compact-campus-board.html

medium and large will be more complex because they are not simply sanded down versions of rectangular moulding.

[selfguided]

Thanks for the info guys. Made a second batch yesterday. They turned out great. I would have loved to have a router to round over the edge, but the sander worked just fine.

[Chris W]

tutu helper?

[daustin]

Mar 1, 2019 5:45:54 GMT -7 Chris W said:

tutu helper?

Clash Royale