Email Q&A: Use microbubbles for texture?
Question: I just read your climbing holds section. I am going to be building a wall soon. I have been thinking about the question of texture. I have a theory of how it is done commercially, though I really don’t know. I was thinking that it was from sandblasting the hold once it is made. I don’t know if they put microfiller (little bubbles) in the resin to be opened up or what. This isn’t that practical for the DIY practitioner, but anyway. alex Answer: It’s possible that the microbubbles might be the answer to their secret “manufactured” texture, but there’s a couple things that make me think is isn’t. Voodoo holds had dual texture holds that are very slick on the outside. If the hold was made with microbubbles, they couldn’t have the slick sides. Also, all holds are filed off on the backpart that meets the wall. There are a few bubbles in this side, but these are most likely due to trapped air bubbles. So, whatever they are doing, they are doing only to the grippable surface area. It
