My favorite 'toy'
- Thread starter heyitsGQ
- Start date
HappyToBeAlive
Owned
- Joined
- Jul 28, 2019
- Posts
- 2,041
Oh wow it is amazing!
Do you have some plans for it or you came up with the plans yourself?
My only trouble with it right now is figure out how not to get weird looks every time someone comes... maybe i should offer to tie them so they relax a bit... or even better, I'll tie myself for them! lol
In all honesty, I want to copy it!
(and who will tie me? lol)
Do you have some plans for it or you came up with the plans yourself?
My only trouble with it right now is figure out how not to get weird looks every time someone comes... maybe i should offer to tie them so they relax a bit... or even better, I'll tie myself for them! lol
In all honesty, I want to copy it!
(and who will tie me? lol)
heyitsGQ
World-Class Lurker
- Joined
- Oct 26, 2006
- Posts
- 11
I used the VersaHorse plans that are readily available and made some modifications. Velcro straps are integrated into the padding. In hindsight I'd take out the vertical slats, we won't use them. I'd make the bench part a half an inch narrower (we're both 150 lbs-ish and it's a smidge too wide for our hip bones but tolerable). I didn't bother with the internal carrying pieces, folding it down would be enough. The upper part is secured to the lower part with screws not bolts.
Quite honestly, the 'most challenging' part was two things. I'm garbage at staining wood with consistency. I had to take one panel completely back to bare wood because I hated the first attempt on one of the panels so much. I spent parts of four days staining, sanding, poly, sanding, etc.
The other part, which was 'technically' hard are all the 'angled' cuts. You're cutting 30 degrees off both sides of a 2x6 and a similar angle at the top of the wings. This would be super simple with a proper table saw, but I did it with a circ saw so that wasn't overly great.
Fabric used: Amazon - VViViD Black Weatherproof Faux Leather Finish Marine Vinyl Fabric - order the 5 ft x 54" piece. $36.99
Velcro used: Amazon - Reusable Hook & Loop Strong Grip Fastener Roll with Soft Touch Microfiber Velour 2" x 16' - $19.87 The velour backing is key to making it much easier to wear than traditional velcro.
I had a 2" dense foam padding lying around (lucky me) but I did add a layer of the maple 3/4" plywood under the foam, wrapped the vinyl around both and stapled the fabric on the bottom side. I then took the 2x4s and simply put long screws up through the bottom and into the bottom of the 'padded fabric' portion so the entire thing is super secure. I didn't really see lots of instructions for how those pieces are assembled in the 'regular version', but I went with 'over-engineered' and simple. It'll never slide, move or come apart so I'm fine with that.
Another 'modification' I made was to make the width between the bolt holes the same on both the arms and legs. It's slightly different in the plans (and it could come into play for some of the 'additional toys', I'm not sure, so ymmv), but I made them all 4" apart and offset the 'arm' and 'legs' holes by one inch (and two inches vertically apart so you have a lot of incremental coverage if you put it all together and discover that the legs are too high in one position and too low in another. (You'd have to rotate the top around, but that's easier than drilling all new holes). Or make them 1 1/2" vertically spaced, whatever suits you.
I'll say that I'm 5'9" and it's the perfect height if she's laying face down. If we added some of the things where she's face up and legs are attached to the v-shaped bars, I'd need to be two inches taller to even make it work.
Eventually I will likely add a 'massage table face rest attachment'. The original model uses posts with foam wrapped around it, which seemed a little cheesy to me. If the person riding slides down a little, they can rest their chin on the padding and it's not that bad (better than just hanging off the edge).
This was another reason that we'll probably never use the vertical slats as additional attachments points. If your arms and legs are well positioned and secured with the velcro, you're not moving. Also on that point, the vertical slats are a little weird because you're never going to be able to secure biceps/thighs against the wings of the bench because you're wider than the base you're laying on (I'm sure that doesn't make sense). If you were standing at the end of the bench looking at the angle of the arms and legs going down to the supports, it would make the shape of the outer edge of a "W", where as the wings of the bench make an "A", so you would end up with so much slack because of the distance between the arms and legs to the wings that it's just more hassle than it's worth (at least for us).
Quite honestly, the 'most challenging' part was two things. I'm garbage at staining wood with consistency. I had to take one panel completely back to bare wood because I hated the first attempt on one of the panels so much. I spent parts of four days staining, sanding, poly, sanding, etc.
The other part, which was 'technically' hard are all the 'angled' cuts. You're cutting 30 degrees off both sides of a 2x6 and a similar angle at the top of the wings. This would be super simple with a proper table saw, but I did it with a circ saw so that wasn't overly great.
Fabric used: Amazon - VViViD Black Weatherproof Faux Leather Finish Marine Vinyl Fabric - order the 5 ft x 54" piece. $36.99
Velcro used: Amazon - Reusable Hook & Loop Strong Grip Fastener Roll with Soft Touch Microfiber Velour 2" x 16' - $19.87 The velour backing is key to making it much easier to wear than traditional velcro.
I had a 2" dense foam padding lying around (lucky me) but I did add a layer of the maple 3/4" plywood under the foam, wrapped the vinyl around both and stapled the fabric on the bottom side. I then took the 2x4s and simply put long screws up through the bottom and into the bottom of the 'padded fabric' portion so the entire thing is super secure. I didn't really see lots of instructions for how those pieces are assembled in the 'regular version', but I went with 'over-engineered' and simple. It'll never slide, move or come apart so I'm fine with that.
Another 'modification' I made was to make the width between the bolt holes the same on both the arms and legs. It's slightly different in the plans (and it could come into play for some of the 'additional toys', I'm not sure, so ymmv), but I made them all 4" apart and offset the 'arm' and 'legs' holes by one inch (and two inches vertically apart so you have a lot of incremental coverage if you put it all together and discover that the legs are too high in one position and too low in another. (You'd have to rotate the top around, but that's easier than drilling all new holes). Or make them 1 1/2" vertically spaced, whatever suits you.
I'll say that I'm 5'9" and it's the perfect height if she's laying face down. If we added some of the things where she's face up and legs are attached to the v-shaped bars, I'd need to be two inches taller to even make it work.
Eventually I will likely add a 'massage table face rest attachment'. The original model uses posts with foam wrapped around it, which seemed a little cheesy to me. If the person riding slides down a little, they can rest their chin on the padding and it's not that bad (better than just hanging off the edge).
This was another reason that we'll probably never use the vertical slats as additional attachments points. If your arms and legs are well positioned and secured with the velcro, you're not moving. Also on that point, the vertical slats are a little weird because you're never going to be able to secure biceps/thighs against the wings of the bench because you're wider than the base you're laying on (I'm sure that doesn't make sense). If you were standing at the end of the bench looking at the angle of the arms and legs going down to the supports, it would make the shape of the outer edge of a "W", where as the wings of the bench make an "A", so you would end up with so much slack because of the distance between the arms and legs to the wings that it's just more hassle than it's worth (at least for us).
Aurora1982
Curious girl
- Joined
- Jun 29, 2023
- Posts
- 5
Wow, well made! I am sure it will bring you lots of pleasure 
Dearelliot
Really Experienced
- Joined
- Feb 21, 2010
- Posts
- 850
Looks good, nice job!
