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None of our numerous store-bought cat trees were ever large enough for our 16lb boy, so I grabbed an old area rug and plywood scraps I had and took matters into my own hands.
It's about 70% compete, I'm gonna add at least a platform on top of the post, and my partner wanted a cat hammock, so I gotta figure out where/how to incorporate that.
Lemmy know what you think!
How did you tack down the sisal rope?
I drilled two holes at the ends of the post. Tied a knot in the top end, wound my way down, then ended with a clove hitch to maintain three tension, and put the excess through the other hole and tied another knot just for extra security
I'm not OP, but I recently rewrapped my cat trees and used a staple gun to tack it down. Close to the base, I wrapped the tail vertically a little upwards on the pole, stapled it to secure, then ran it down to the base and started winding over the tail. This causes some bumps in the snaked look, but isn't too bad from a distance. Plenty of staples keep it in place up the pole in case the cats cut through it from sharpening. 
Given that both ends pass through a hole in the post, to the back side that we can't see, I'm going to guess that knots are holding it in place.
I don't know about OP, but when I put rope on my cat-tree's soft-fabric column I just wound it around the column (cylinder, don't know if it would work as well on a squarer support) as tightly as I could and safety pinned the bottom end to the 2nd to last row. The tight coil encourages friction and prevents slippage when he scratches it. The rope hasn't moved, aside from when I rotate it for a fresher side, since I placed it over 2 years ago.
Nice work. I've replaced sisal rope on a few cat towers and scratching posts, but haven't built one myself. Now you have me thinking...
Great job!!
cats seem to love it so big success
omigosh their ribbon/bow is so cute!🥹❤️
This is something that would be great for our 26lb mix. We don't know yet what he's a mix of, but we think it may be Bengal or Chausie. I need to flex my handy skills, and this feels like the purrfect way. Thanks for sharing!
For the record, if you go to carpet stores you can frequently get discounts by getting discards, or like, broken packs of the tiles.
The trouble is, the scraps aren’t always what you’re looking for.
I'd recommend using something like 3/8 ply, instead of the 3/4 I used, you'll save a ton of weight. For joining vertical and horizontal surfaces I used a few, small L-brackets and a couple blocks that doubled as reinforcement
This made me smile, seems he liked it
Was it difficult to do? Stretch and attach the fabric?
I didn't really plan it, so sequencing building the frame vs attaching the carpet was a little annoying, but overall not bad at all.
This isn't the first one I've made for them, but I used spray adhesive on the first, which wasn't nearly effective enough. This time I used carpet adhesive, which was more cost effective and seems to be much more effective. Downside to that, though is that I had to wait 24 hours after carpeting a piece to attach it
I've done plenty of cat stuff with staples, especially the sisal rope, as long as you angle it in the direction they would be scratching it's usually fine, you do need a really heavy duty staple gun tho
I use staples, too. I use them for the primary attachment of carpet, while the adhesive cures. Clamps, too, depending on how aesthetically pleasing the surface needs to be
Makes it’s harder to replace vs stapling it on, but it should also last longer since a little damaged part can be shaved down and it won’t make a section loose.
The other one I made has lasted more than a year, and that was not made as well as this one. I'm planning on chopping this one up and tossing it whenever it gets worn out
