E-mailed them also!
Whew, GOOD LUCK!
Fri Oct-17-03 10:03 AM
In response to Reply # 8
Mini Topper Instructions
Approximate time from full sized step to mini: 3 to 5 hours, depending on your confidence and general handy-person skills. J Add half an hour for each child who is assisting you, plus a bonus hour if any are below the age of 6! J
Materials list ( besides the step! J ):
1 roll of 20 gauge hanger iron ( also known as pipe strap ) -- can usually be found with or near plumbing supplies in the hardware store
20 - 12 X 1/2" sheet metal screws ( buy individually, or the smallest box I found was 100 )
industrial strength glue sticks
black cloth/duct tape
liquid nails, original formula
1 can of spray adhesive or 2 Pkgs. epoxy ( see step 8 )
2" masking tape
Note: If you have a step that says "Bollinger" on the bottom, please see the notes at the end for variations in the instructions.
Tools needed:
saw of some kind (further detail below)
tape measure
pencil
straight edge
drill
screwdriver
scissors
high temp glue gun ( You may want a dual temp, if you have to buy one especially for this project. )
tin snips, or something else that will cut metal
hammer
coarse sandpaper
Helpful, but not necessary:
C-clamps
2ft. 2 X 4
exacto knife
wrapping paper
Step 1: Remove the rubber mat. Pretty self explanatory. Once you pull up one edge, it will pull off relatively easily. TIP: The adhesive is kind of like a big sheet of double sticky tape. If you can keep that sheet on the mat itself at least for the first 8 inches or so on each end, it will make working with the mini-topper more pleasant later on. You will also want to pull off as much of the adhesive from the back of the mat and from the step as possible. Slow, even pressure makes it easier to get it off in big pieces.
Step 2: Measure 8 inches in from the end of the step on both top and bottom and draw a line with your straight edge. I tried several different things, and this is the method that was easiest for me in achieving an accurate measurement: Place the step with the short end flush up against a door. It’s best to do this in an uncarpeted room, if possible. Measure out 8 inches FROM THE DOOR, not the edge of the step. The step is wider at the bottom than at the top, so by doing the measurement from the wall, you'll be coming in the same distance on both the top and the bottom. Turn the step over and do the same thing on the bottom. ( This particular innovation came from Dawn. Thanks, Dawn! J I was doing the same thing, but against the wall, which required elevating the step on risers to get above the baseboard. This is MUCH simpler! ) I found that drawing the lines just in the notches for the risers was sufficient for the bottom of the step. Turn the step around and do the same on the other side. TIP: Measure 2 or 3 times after each line is drawn to make SURE this is where you want to cut. J I used a pencil for my lines, so erasing if I goofed was easy.
Step 3: Cutting the step. For me this was the most stressful part of the process, because if I messed up, well . . . you get the picture! J What kind of saw to use? A band saw with a very thin blade would be best, since then you could just cut right on the line you drew. Wendy used a table saw. I didn't have access to either one, and what worked best for me was a circular saw. It has a fairly wide blade, however, so you will want to make a practice cut or two so you know where to position the saw in relation to your line. This is where the 2 X 4 and C clamps can be very handy. A circular saw has a guide on it. If you figure out where the saw needs to be in relation to the line, and clamp on the 2 X 4, You can press the saw right up against the board, and it will keep you dead on where you need to cut. In order to do this, you'll have to cut the step so you'll be able to get the C-clamps in the right place. It's the perfect time to practice! You have all that expanse of step that you're just going to throw away anyway, so it doesn't matter if you mess up! J A circular saw won't cut deep enough to go all the way through the step, so you'll either have to cut the last inch or so by hand, which is what I did, or turn it over, re-clamp the board, and make another cut. If you're sawing by hand, be aware that it this is VERY tough plastic. Getting the cut started is tough, and clamping the board right along the line ( if the saw has a thin blade ) can help keep you on the line. Make sure that if you're using a hand saw that it is at least 17" long. I tried a hack saw with a 12" blade, and it was very hard, because the step is about 16" wide in places. Now comes the fun part! You can pull out a riser, put the 2 halves together on it, and start envisioning your mini topper! If your halves don’t meet perfectly all the way around, DON’T PANIC! See the trouble shooting section at the end.
Step 4: Gluing the two halves together. First you want to make sure that if there are any bits of plastic on the cut edges, that you sand them off. Now, I cut some strips from the rubber mat about 1 inch wide and 5 inches long and hot glued them across the top on the inside. I hot glued half and inserted them. I hot glued the other half at the same time I did the cut edge of one of the halves. Since this IS hot glue, and it cools fairly fast, this has to move pretty quickly. I put the half with the rubber strips glued in on a riser covered with a plastic trash bag (To protect it from the hot glue) Then I applied hot glue to the plastic strips first, and then the cut edge of the piece in my hand. I then quickly put the 2 halves together and pressed firmly, making sure that they were flat on the riser. Hold a minute or two until the glue cools enough to be firm. Then you can remove it from the riser and fill in any places where you didn't get quite enough glue in, since you were moving at the speed of light!
At this point you can put the step section to one side, and let it cool completely.
Step 5: Grab your roll of galvanized hanger iron. This is to make brackets that you'll screw in on the bottom of the step for additional support. I didn't measure each one precisely. I just counted off 9 holes and snipped. I cut off 6 pieces, then I hammered each piece nice and straight. TIP: Some hanger iron has holes all the same size, others have alternating large and small. I’ve used both. If you get the kind with the alternating size holes, make your brackets so there are large holes on each end. It will make attaching the brackets later much easier. Now get the step, place the brackets where they will go, and mark where the holes for the screws go. Each goes across the seam-- 2 screws on each side. Now I’ll tell you why I make the brackets with 9 holes. Put the center hole on the seam and your bracket is exactly where you want it! J I'll take you on a tour to see where the brackets go, but the pic makes this much easier, so I'm glad you have it!
Follow the seam around to the bottom, and the first bracket will go on the OUTSIDE valley wall. Keep following the seam up to the next hill, and do a bracket diagonally across the seam and across the mini-valley right there ( Trust me, when you're looking at the bottom of your mini, it will make sense.), using just 2 screws. Follow the seam down into the next valley and put brackets straight across the seam on the walls facing each other. On the next "hill" you again put the bracket on diagonally, but this time it will be in the opposite direction. Go down into the last valley, and put the last bracket on the outside wall. Remember you're not putting the brackets on yet, just marking the holes.Now drill the holes where you made your marks. Side note: Wendy used car stereo mounting brackets, cut to the right length. This might be sturdier. On the other hand, I've had no problems at all with my mini either.
Step 6: Make sure that you’ve gotten any bits and pieces of plastic from the cutting or drilling cleaned off the mini topper. Now get the black cloth tape and use it to cover the seam all the way around. This makes it look nicer, as well as being additional reinforcement for the joined halves. If the tape covers any of your holes, make sure you poke through and re-open them. TIP: To get the tape down into the littlest valleys, it helps to have a pencil handy. Use the eraser end to help smooth the tape in down in there. Also, don’t be afraid to pull it back up a time or 2. This is duct tape, so it will still stick well.
Step 7: Get the liquid nails, sheet metal screws, and brackets. It's time to attach the brackets. On each bracket, put some of the liquid nails on the back of the bracket and on the screw holes. Position the bracket and attach it using the screws. You're almost done!
Step 8: At this point if you haven’t gotten most of the adhesive off the back of the mat, you need to get it off at least the area that is going to be the mini topper mat. Cut the rubber mat to the size you need for you new mini. An exacto knife is helpful here to get it just right. A great method for getting the mat exactly the right size is to make a template. Wrapping paper works very well for this, but any relatively thin roll of paper would work. Cut off a piece of paper that you can see is larger than what you need. Lay it over the top of the mini step in the spot where the mat will be attached. Using a pencil, trace around the space for the mat. It’s indented slightly, so this won’t be difficult. With the wrapping paper, your template will probably be mostly cut out already from the pencil marks. Complete the process, and you’ve got the pattern you need to make your mat. This is especially helpful if your mat is damaged, and you need to see where the best place is to cut out the mat for your mini step. There are a number of different methods people have used to attach the mat. My first try went like this:
a.) Using the spray adhesive, attach the rubber mat to the top of your new mini. First put 2" masking tape around the edges of the area where the mat is to be attached. This will prevent extra adhesive from getting on places you don’t want it ( This IS a spray, after all ). You spray the underside of the mat as well as the area on the mini topper the mat will be attached to, wait a minute, and then put the mat in place and smooth it down. I had some trouble getting the edges of the rubber mat where it goes over the sides to stay down. I noticed that with Cathe's, they just stapled the sides down. After trying several different things, I ended up doing the same thing.
Others who made this mini-topper said they used an epoxy, which was a much easier material for them to keep the mat down. Another TIP from Dawn: If you use epoxy, make sure it is a slow setting one -- at least 5 minutes to set. Also, make sure that you get the surface completely covered, maybe by sliding the mat around a little bit, or you get little bubbles under your mat where there's no adhesive. I tried this on a mini I made, and I wasn’t happy with it. The epoxy is awkward to use and spread around, plus it didn’t hold down the sides for ME any better than the spray adhesive did. Maybe I’m missing something here. I THINK I have the solution.
Put masking tape on the last inch on each end of the underside of the mat. Do the same thing on the mini topper where those parts of the mat will be attached. Follow the instructions under (A) with the spray adhesive. Once you have your mat on and smooth, remove the masking tape. Now get your liquid nails and apply it to the topper and smooth down the sides of the mat. Use masking tape to hold down the edge until the liquid nails sets completely. Turn the mini topper around and do the same thing on the other side.
You’re done! J I would let everything set for 24 hours before you use it the first time.
Notes for those with a step that says "Bollinger" on the bottom:
Bollinger changed the adhesive for the mat on The Step when they took over the manufacturing. Basically it's a lot more gooey than the other adhesive, and it doesn't stick as well. That's a plus for you in some respects. When you peel off the mat ( which will be easier than with the other version ), have some waxed paper handy. As you pull it up, put a sheet of waxed paper on the bottom of the mat to protect the sticky side from picking up dirt, lint, or other assorted grime. Make a mental note of where you seem to have the most adhesive remaining on the mat. Continue adding sheets as you pull the mat up. By the time you're done, the entire bottom of the mat should be protected by the sheets of waxed paper. The step itself you'll want to clean off as much as possible once you've cut the middle out. The adhesive comes up pretty well if you rub at it with your fingers. It rolls into sticky little balls, that you then pull off and throw away. It's fairly tedious, so you may want to have a video handy to preview. J
When you cut the mat to the size you need for your mini, try to use the section that had the most adhesive remaining on it. Now here is where this is going to work to your advantage: You should be able to re-use the adhesive on the back of the mat, meaning that you won't need the spray adhesive at all. In order to make the edges stay down, you'll have to remove the waxed paper from the last inch or so of each end and remove as much of the adhesive as you can. Then follow the instructions you already have for securing the ends where the mat curves down on the step.
TROUBLESHOOTING
Okay, so the road to the mini wasn’t as smooth as you had hoped. By this time, a number of Vfers have made minis and lived to tell the tale. J Here are some mistakes that were made, and how people got around them.
You got overly enthusiastic with the hot glue on your seam, and there are lumps and bumps all around your seam. Some of that is normal and unavoidable. That’s one of the reasons for the black tape around the seam. J But if you’ve really overdone it ( and it’s easy to do ) you can use an exacto knife to shave some of the extra glue off. Don’t take off any more than you have to, because you don’t want to weaken the joining of the halves. I personally would rather see too much glue ( within reason, of course J ) than too little. The black tape will cover it. The exception is in the notches that match up with the riser. There you want to get the seam as smooth as you can so there isn’t any rocking or wiggling of your mini topper when it’s set up on risers.
You put your halves on the riser, and the edges don’t meet all the way around. Maybe they don’t meet AT ALL. All is not necessarily lost. J None of these suggestions should be taken as an excuse not to exercise care in the measuring and cutting stages however. A perfect fit is obviously the best outcome. J These tips are ONLY provided to help salvage an otherwise hopeless problem.
If you have halves that are too big, obviously you’re going to have to shave some off. You can use the same tool you used to cut in the first place. Use the same measuring method as before, and make your line at the 8 inch mark so you know how much extra you need to remove. Then measure it again. J Depending on how much you need to cut off, this may be tricky, and may lead to another of the problems discussed below.
Small gaps of less than 1/8" are generally not a big problem, even if they are most, if not all, the way around. The glue is going to do fine with filling that in. After the initial gluing together, you will probably need to go back and fill in some "sag." If your glue gun is dual temp, use the lower temp for filling in, so you don’t just re-melt the glue you already put in.
Gaps of 1/8" to ½" present a bigger problem. If this is just an isolated spot or 2, you want to put an extra reinforcing strip across that spot when you glue your halves together. Then if the gap is wider than your strip, you cut another small strip of mat a little smaller than the width of the gap, and reaching most of its length. Hot glue THAT to the reinforcing strip, and then fill in the rest of the gap with hot glue. When I made my first mini, as I mentioned, I used a 12" hack saw, and my cuts weren’t as straight as I would have liked. I did have one spot where I had a ¼" X 1" gap, and this is the method I used to fix it. It worked like a charm. And looking at my mini topper now, I can’t tell where it was.
The ultimate horror: A VFer who wishes to remain anonymous made a major goof, and her halves failed to meet by about ¼" most of the way around. YIKES! Since she had nothing to lose, she tried a variation on the smaller gap method above. First, she used reinforcing strips all the way around the step, anywhere she could fit one, basically. The she cut more strips, slightly smaller than the gap size and hot glued the across the reinforcing strips, and then filled in with hot glue. Again, later building up will be necessary as the glue sags a bit, and you should use a lower temp if at all possible. She tested it for sturdiness after she had the seam built up to her satisfaction and the glue cooled completely. She could stand on it without any movement of any kind, so she proceeded and completed the mini topper. She reported that it feels very sturdy, and she has had no problems with it at all. I DO NOT recommend that you take this as a license to be careless with your measuring and cutting. This was a desperation move ONLY. While it seems to have worked out, the BEST bet is to make sure that you measure and cut accurately. Also, in my opinion, to do this with a gap bigger than ¼" is not a good idea.
3.) The mat on your step is so badly damaged or worn ( It is used, after all ) that there truly isn’t a big enough undamaged area to cut out a mat for your mini step. Dawn P. reported that Home Depot sells the rubber matting by the yard.
Good luck! And happy mini topper making!
These instructions were posted by ErinF in July of 02. Here is the link if you'd like to save it. I haven't seen Erin here in a long time. Hope she doesn't mind my posting this. I found it thru a search.
http://ferragut.home.mchsi.com/ministep/
Your-Friend-In-Fitness, DebbieH http://www.handykult.de/plaudersmilies.de/wavey.gif[/img] If You Get The Choice To Sit It Out Or Dance...I Hope You DANCE!!!
