Recycled car tire rubber for climbing material
We been using recycled car tire rubber 1/4 inch thick mat since March
2015. It works very well for climbing and it doesn't shed onto the floor. It was cut in strips and hot melt glued to 1x4s with about 1/2 inch hanging over each side. They have some trouble climbing down, like cats do on most any material, but it can probably be made easier. I will plan to buy enough so that it can be wrapped around the sides of the board. Then either stapled or glued onto the back. That will probably give them a lot more to sink their claws into than just trying to grab onto the edge of the mat while descending. I might have enough recycled car tire rubber mat left to experiment with that idea. Might be nice to purchase a tube of such material that would snugly slide onto a 1 x 4 or 2 x 4. No work required except cutting it to length. But oh well. |
Recycled car tire rubber for climbing material
Well...
I made a standard wraparound version of the recycled car tire rubber climbing post and apparently it's working great. Being 1/4 inch thick, it's difficult to work with. In fact, the hot melt glue did not stay stuck on one side. But there is an easier method, just use screws. First I clamped on both sides of the screw point, then drilled a pilot hole down through the rubber and the wood, and then drove the screw through both. I believe the car tire rubber is rip proof so the screws will hold. My rambunctious Norwegian Forest calico just hit the newly covered climbing post on the fly (from the reverse direction of climbing). It clearly looked like the cat took advantage of the climbing post's better wrapping. Judging by the damage they did to the old covering (with no evidence of shedding onto the floor), 1/4 inch isn't necessary. A maximum of 3/16 thick recycled car tire rubber will do. Even 1/8 inch thick might do and would be much easier to handle (besides being much cheaper). -- I wrote: We been using recycled car tire rubber 1/4 inch thick mat since March 2015. It works very well for climbing and it doesn't shed onto the floor. It was cut in strips and hot melt glued to 1x4s with about 1/2 inch hanging over each side. They have some trouble climbing down, like cats do on most any material, but it can probably be made easier. I will plan to buy enough so that it can be wrapped around the sides of the board. Then either stapled or glued onto the back. That will probably give them a lot more to sink their claws into than just trying to grab onto the edge of the mat while descending. I might have enough recycled car tire rubber mat left to experiment with that idea. Might be nice to purchase a tube of such material that would snugly slide onto a 1 x 4 or 2 x 4. No work required except cutting it to length. But oh well. |
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