Shrinking a Moonboard and other engineering challenges

Sadly, it appears that climbing gyms in my area are not going to reopen any time soon and outdoors climbing is limited (it's also 95 degrees outside). I am considering installing a bouldering-wall-like contraption in my apartment and would like communal input/thoughts. Since this could be my only climbing venue for a while, I am willing to commit some cash to making it work well (my thinking was it should fit into $2-4k). All of this is further complicated by the fact that I don't have access to welding equipment myself and every fabrication shop is closed. Instead, I am gonna have to have the whole structure made as "flat-pack" and shipped to me.

a. Space and structure. This is an urban apartment, so I don't have much to play with. The climbing surface will be 6 feet by 7"6" plus a tiny 4" kick board at the bottom. Since the wall is so short so it has to be steep to offer effective training, but I can't have it take up an entire room. Instead, I am planning to order an adjustable steel frame that can be installed flush with the wall and can be swung out to overhang as far as 50 degrees. This way, when not in use, I can keep it out of the way and while it would still offer multiple angles to play with.
 
b. Engineering. I am going to order a break-down frame for the climbing surface (corners and braces separately) plus two side posts and top/bottom braces that will be attached to the wall using concrete anchors (I own the place, so drilling the wall is not a problem). All this will be welded out of either steel angles or square profile tubing (have not decided yet which one is better). The climbing surface will be connected to the bottom brace using 3 hinges. Two steel swing-arms with predrilled holes will keep it in place either when stowed or out at a climbing angle. I am thinking of using gas lift pistons on the sides make adjusting easier. I will also have to order the plywood panels, have them pre-drilled and painted.  I'll post a blueprint once I am done with it.

c. Climbing. My thinking was to make it a down-sized Moonboard, even though both the width and the height are not sufficient. For width, I am planning to shrink the t-nut spacing slightly. Standard Moonboard has 10 t-nuts spaced at 20cm plus some spare space on both sides, but I am planning to space t-nuts at 17cm to fit into 6' width with very little space to spare. For height, I am planning to stop my board at grid 12 and shrink the spacing to 19 cm to fit on 7' 6'.  This way, I will have access to thousands of pre-set problems but will have to ignore the grades since my board will be both narrower and shorter. I am also planning to add extra t-nuts staggered between the standard spacing so I can set some problems on my own (most probably replicas of my outdoor projects).

Any deep thoughts, ideas, critiques are welcome. Also, if someone can point me to a good fabrication shop, I'd appreciate it.

Nivel Egreswrote:....Also, if someone can point me to a good fabrication shop, I'd appreciate it.

Location will help for recommendations.

Terry Ewrote:

Location will help for recommendations.

I am in the New York City, pretty sure everything around here is closed (unless these guys are "construction" somehow). My plan was to find a shop out of state and ship in back.

You could check out the moonboard mini and shrink from that. (Which it sounds like you essentially are). Then at least the problems will be full problems for the board. Do you have a link for this steel frame? It sounds interesting. Might help with ideas. Also tension has some smaller board options you could checkout. 

Phil Sakievichwrote: You could check out the moonboard mini and shrink from that. (Which it sounds like you essentially are). Then at least the problems will be full problems for the board. Do you have a link for this steel frame? It sounds interesting. Might help with ideas. Also tension has some smaller board options you could checkout. 

I'll post the blueprint whenever I am done with them. 

Could a negative COVID test and a bottle of bourbon get you a day pass?