Okay, here’s how this whole larch timber dance pad project went down. Woke up last Tuesday itching to make something noisy with wood scraps in the garage.
Starting with Nothin’ but an Idea
Found some leftover larch timber boards from that shelving fail last month. Figured, why not try a dance pad? Larch’s tough, and I had exactly four pieces rough-cut. Dragged ’em outside near the shed.
- Step one: Measured each board – slapped a tape on ’em. Each around 2×2 feet, thickness uneven. Used the circular saw to hack off the splintered ends. Safety goggles on, dust flying everywhere.
- Step two: Needed space between boards so they don’t bang together. Grabbed these plastic pipe bits from an old sprinkler. Drilled holes through timber corners, jammed pipe pieces in as spacers. Looked janky but held.
- Step three: Time for the “dancing surface.” Had no fancy sensors, so I stole the wife’s yoga mats. Cut ’em into squares with kitchen scissors. Gorilla-glued those suckers onto the timber tops. Weighed ’em down with concrete blocks while drying.
The Messy Testing Phase
Let it sit overnight. Next morning, ripped off the blocks. Pushed the whole contraption onto flat concrete. Hopped on – first try: yoga mat peeled right off one corner. Cussed a bit. Re-glued with clamps this time.
Second try: Stepped center on one pad. Timber cracked where I drilled too close to the edge. Patched it with scrap wood screws and superglue like a hack job. Forgiving wood, that larch.
Finally… Pad Dancing!
Waited another day. Went out barefoot after coffee. Stomped left timber: solid thunk. Jumped to front-right: loud creek but held. Started shuffling sideways – pads gripped okay, spacers kept boards from crashing. Lasted five whole minutes before a spacer popped out. Bent it back in with pliers. Done enough.
Would it hold at a rave? Hell no. But the larch took my stomping without splitting worse, and those ghetto yoga mats didn’t slip. Felt like clomping on a lumpy treehouse floor. Fun dumb experiment. Next time? Thicker wood. Maybe duct tape.
