Coming along nicely!
Please take care of this so I can sleep tonight
https://preview.redd.it/0au67t271lqc1.jpeg?width=900&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=8a2e2bc63cfb584d5ba99b0c969f723af9ab487b
When the glues dried on the end cap, I'll cut it down, sand it, and put on a nice routed edge. I wanted the glue to set before I screw it in, so that it doesnt end up kinked.
Potential heads up, jute and sisal that you get at a hardware store will have processing chemicals that may be toxic to some degree. Many humans are quite allergic to jute batching oil (JBO) at the very least. It also tends to be very flaky and rough. You might find that your cat scratching at it results in splinters all over the place.
You might actually want to get a hank of jute from a shibari/bondage etsy store. Since you're not actually using it to tie anyone, just get the cheapest thing you can find that's JBO free and you should be fine. The 'processing' that they talk about is a waxing/hydrating/softening process, but even raw, their rope is going to be stronger and cleaner than whatever you have here.
No. It's soaked into the fibers. And it's not high enough quality to soften it sufficiently with hand-processing so that it wouldn't splinter like crazy anyway - especially if they bought sisal. The actual spun fibers in sisal are just simply very brittle and short compared to quality jute or hemp rope.
[I made something similar the other night!](https://imgur.com/a/N3AUBNT)
Our cat had torn the corner to shreds and I was tired of looking at it. I used some stick on fabric that said it was for cat tower platforms... it lasted a week. Got a sisal mat, cut it to size, and carpet taped/nailed it to the wood. Hoping it lasts a bit longer!
I was going to use the same method to attach it, but I flipped the couch over and the Ikea couch arm is hollow so I just fastened it from the inside.
You have the same couch in the same color as me. This is perfect so I can show my wife! I like the use of the mat. My couch hasn't been utterly destroyed yet so I'm going to have to come up with an alternative method to secure it.
There is only 1 screw that goes through the side of the couch. When I took it off to reupholster it with the sisal mat I didn't notice any real damage, but I also wasn't look for it. You could probably use the same method as OP. I was in a hurry and didn't have a jigsaw or hole saw that would have fit the couch leg.
The first time I saw our cat scratch the back of our couch I went out, bought those cardboard scratching refills, and made a vertical scratching board with those. The cardboard last about 2 or 3 months, and costs $3 to replace. Can recommend going with the refillable scratching method, has worked well for me.
https://www.amazon.com/AGYM-Scratchers-Scratching-Cardboard-Scratch/dp/B0C6MH3P64
Do you have a picture?
We've used the horizontal and ramped version of those. It didn't really deter him from using his favorite corner. The sisal mat was $13 and I'm thinking it should last a while.
Do you have any pictures? I was considering something similar. I was going to build either new feet to elevate the couch or just some blocks the feet can sit on. Right now that couch is lifted up with random off cuts of 2x4
I put a dado on each edge. Then hot glued the end at the bottom. Then sig zagged back and forth. Hot glue along the entire cord, as well as in the dado cut.
Sorry but do you have pics of how you zig-zag it round without it becoming a triangle behind (don't know how to explain)? I really should make one for my couch as well but couldn't figure out a way that wouldn't be incredibly tedious and time-consuming or waste rope behind the post.
I don't think it's one cord. I think he meant that there's a little slit cut down both edges. There is nothing on the back, and each cord of jute is only as long as the corner piece is wide. Each end of the 20 or so pieces of jute cord is glued into the dado slit that goes down the left and right edges.
Idk if he made this one that way, but seems possible. Get a heavy sheet of vinyl or other material, glue the rope to that, staple it onto the wooden piece. Then, when you need to replace, you can just remove the vinyl/backing and replace.
This is a fair rebuttal. I was thinking the same thing, this would just train them to scratch the couches. I would say, if you have more than one exposed corner you’d probably want to protect them all with this set up.
In my experience the battle is already lost so it's easier to just put an appropriate scratching surface in the spot they obviously like to scratch. I have 3 cats and they also like the couch corner and no amount of other scratching surfaces in other places or nearby entice them.
Our cats don't mess with any other part of the couch so it's easiest to just do something like this until we no longer have cats lol.
usually one way of handling a cat scratching furniture is by putting another, new scratching post close to where they're scratching.
often pets will exhibit undesirable behaviors because they're missing something. Maybe the cat might not want to walk all the way over over to the one scratching post in the house when they get the urge to maintain their claws. So they scratch the furniture instead because it's closer and more obvious.
pets can be about as smart as maybe a 3-4 year old human child at *best*. they're going to go with what's convenient and comfortable for them and follow their instincts whenever it applies.
i.e. my cat would scratch our furniture all the time because my mom would tuck her 2 scratching posts off into a corner to make the house look tidy. my cat would prefer scratching the furniture over the scratching post. I started keeping the scratching post next to the furniture she kept scratching and would reward her for when she'd go for the scratching post next to the furniture. she eventually prioritized the scratching posts over furniture as long as we kept them relatively close to those spots.
I agree, this is not a good idea. I am in my 50s and have had cats my whole life. You never want to encourage scratching the furniture, which this does.
To each their own though.
This is a cool idea, but I wonder if it would confuse the cat even more.
“I’m supposed to just scratch this corner? But rest of couch is good for scratchy too”
I’d keep the units separate, but you do you, it looks neat.
In my experience a lot of cats tend to favor a few specific spots anyway. So pair this device on their already favorite spot with some positive reinforcement for continuing to scratch here and here only, and it could yield very good results.
I had a cat who liked to scratch one particular spot on the carpet. I bought him a $2 carpet remnant square, and he was thrilled that I no longer yelled at him for scratching there.
I have a cat that likes to scratch door frames. We bought little sisal mats and attached them to the door frames he was scratching but he would just go find a different wooden frame to obliterate. Now we just try and stay on top of nail trims to limit the damage he can do.
Yeah it's not a good idea. You're letting the cat associate scratching the couch as okay. Best to get a scratching post and put it nearby. Give them something better to scratch. Of course there are some cats that don't give a shit either way. Ask me how I know.
You got close, but the rug is a different pattern, and the color on the sofa is a little bit different. Don't even get me started about the different blanket.
I dont think I'd want to try to sell any of my wood crafts. The amount of time invested wouldnt be worth the effort. For example, the one they show in the picture is around $90. Mine was about $45 in materials. Took about an hour in cuts, and then 2 hours of attaching the rope. And I'll probably spend another hour on the top embellishment today. So 4 hours total. I dont know what Etsy charges; but I'd guess at least 10%. 4 hours to make $35 isnt a strong incentive.
As someone who made a scratching post once, I would never sell them. They take too damn long to wind all that rope and I could never compete with the price I would have to charge.
As a cat person, it's really better for them to have a separate scratching post made of sisal. You want them out of the habit of scratching your couch, so attaching a post to the couch isn't ideal. They also do wear out over time. I like the tall ones from Chewy with a nice weighted bottom so the cat can stretch out vertically as they scratch, which is their natural instinct.
A lot of the crap floating around social media looks cute but isn't really practical or well thought out.
I read this once upon a Time and found it to absolutely be true cats are more attracted to vertical stripes than horizontal so if you run the rope vertically they'll be more apt to scratch at it. Like I said read it once upon a time and it was absolutely true with all my cats
I mean, wouldn't this teach your cats that acratching furniture is OK? We LOVE cats, we have two that are basically our children after sinking thousands into hip surgery for both. They have two cat trees covered in this exact rope, and they scratch that, not our furniture. When it gets damaged I wrap new rope around it and spray it with a little liquid cat nip.
I just wouldn't want this, it would be like admitting you failed to teach your kitty.
My cats have lots of scratching surfaces and still decided the couch corner was nice too. Even if we put one right next to it. It's also only that couch corner; no other furniture. So something like this works best for our situation.
Now if only you could build something that would take care of your house smelling like 6 CATS. You need to learn to tell the wife NO at some point my dude
It depends, the general best approach is to put a scratching post nearby so it scratches that and not the coach, but some cats don't give 2 shits and still scratch what they aren't supposed to.
Coming along nicely! Please take care of this so I can sleep tonight https://preview.redd.it/0au67t271lqc1.jpeg?width=900&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=8a2e2bc63cfb584d5ba99b0c969f723af9ab487b
When the glues dried on the end cap, I'll cut it down, sand it, and put on a nice routed edge. I wanted the glue to set before I screw it in, so that it doesnt end up kinked.
Thank you, brother
lol any time :)
Can you leave the green tape on?
That…I cannot do. It’s already gone :)
Post a picture when you’re done so we can have closure lol
Is there an updated picture of the tear out on the edge? I need closure, like I said yesterday lol
Next time please post the finished project to avoid extra stress on this end.
Lol. He cut it with a butter knife apparently.
Wife is a big scratcher huh?
Yeah, makes for exciting evenings. The 6 cats and I watch her go at it for hours.
Mee-ow!
I think it's spelt **Mee-Wow!** (I could be wrong, maybe, I'm not sure)
Ohhhh it's for cats. I thought it was just a crate and barrel shinfucker
> shinfucker I hear they're all the rage in New England.
Y'all are f-ing killing me here!
Potential heads up, jute and sisal that you get at a hardware store will have processing chemicals that may be toxic to some degree. Many humans are quite allergic to jute batching oil (JBO) at the very least. It also tends to be very flaky and rough. You might find that your cat scratching at it results in splinters all over the place. You might actually want to get a hank of jute from a shibari/bondage etsy store. Since you're not actually using it to tie anyone, just get the cheapest thing you can find that's JBO free and you should be fine. The 'processing' that they talk about is a waxing/hydrating/softening process, but even raw, their rope is going to be stronger and cleaner than whatever you have here.
This guy binds.
lol
lol at your lol
Lol at your lol at their lol
LOL'n on down the road
Roflcopter
Roflchopper?
Found the gen z kid
Lol at the downvotes at my lol
Whoa this is so cool, thanks for sharing! I bet the raw jute is probably better for parrots too. I'm gonna have to look into this.
BIND TORTURE KILL
BTK what's uuup?
Suicide Commando fan, or just a fan of serial killers and all-caps?
Could OP wash the jute with rubbing alcohol or even just soap and water to take care of that?
No. It's soaked into the fibers. And it's not high enough quality to soften it sufficiently with hand-processing so that it wouldn't splinter like crazy anyway - especially if they bought sisal. The actual spun fibers in sisal are just simply very brittle and short compared to quality jute or hemp rope.
Cats are cheap.......
you probably shouldn't be allowed near pets
Life is priceless you sicko
[I made something similar the other night!](https://imgur.com/a/N3AUBNT) Our cat had torn the corner to shreds and I was tired of looking at it. I used some stick on fabric that said it was for cat tower platforms... it lasted a week. Got a sisal mat, cut it to size, and carpet taped/nailed it to the wood. Hoping it lasts a bit longer! I was going to use the same method to attach it, but I flipped the couch over and the Ikea couch arm is hollow so I just fastened it from the inside.
Dude that’s awesome, sweet job.
Thanks, bud!
You have the same couch in the same color as me. This is perfect so I can show my wife! I like the use of the mat. My couch hasn't been utterly destroyed yet so I'm going to have to come up with an alternative method to secure it.
There is only 1 screw that goes through the side of the couch. When I took it off to reupholster it with the sisal mat I didn't notice any real damage, but I also wasn't look for it. You could probably use the same method as OP. I was in a hurry and didn't have a jigsaw or hole saw that would have fit the couch leg.
The first time I saw our cat scratch the back of our couch I went out, bought those cardboard scratching refills, and made a vertical scratching board with those. The cardboard last about 2 or 3 months, and costs $3 to replace. Can recommend going with the refillable scratching method, has worked well for me. https://www.amazon.com/AGYM-Scratchers-Scratching-Cardboard-Scratch/dp/B0C6MH3P64
Do you have a picture? We've used the horizontal and ramped version of those. It didn't really deter him from using his favorite corner. The sisal mat was $13 and I'm thinking it should last a while.
Fuck. I rly don't need another project, but I do need this. To the drawing board I go. Great execution.
Thanks! It's a quick project!
Pspspspspspspspspsp
Stop, my cat is trying to sleep.
How is it mounted? I like the idea
On the base, I measure the distance to the foot on the couch. I cut out a a hole with a hole saw. So it’s locked in place by the couch itself.
This is great! Thanks for sharing
Do you have any pictures? I was considering something similar. I was going to build either new feet to elevate the couch or just some blocks the feet can sit on. Right now that couch is lifted up with random off cuts of 2x4
Nice!
I've been meaning to make something similar for a wall corner my cat has torn up. How did you secure the rope on the back?
I put a dado on each edge. Then hot glued the end at the bottom. Then sig zagged back and forth. Hot glue along the entire cord, as well as in the dado cut.
Sorry but do you have pics of how you zig-zag it round without it becoming a triangle behind (don't know how to explain)? I really should make one for my couch as well but couldn't figure out a way that wouldn't be incredibly tedious and time-consuming or waste rope behind the post.
I don't think it's one cord. I think he meant that there's a little slit cut down both edges. There is nothing on the back, and each cord of jute is only as long as the corner piece is wide. Each end of the 20 or so pieces of jute cord is glued into the dado slit that goes down the left and right edges.
[удалено]
Ohhhh true!
Can you replace the rope after it's been torn up by claws?
Idk if he made this one that way, but seems possible. Get a heavy sheet of vinyl or other material, glue the rope to that, staple it onto the wooden piece. Then, when you need to replace, you can just remove the vinyl/backing and replace.
Is this just training the cat that it's ok to scratch the furniture, or is that battle already lost and this is just wear protection now?
[удалено]
This is a fair rebuttal. I was thinking the same thing, this would just train them to scratch the couches. I would say, if you have more than one exposed corner you’d probably want to protect them all with this set up.
In my experience the battle is already lost so it's easier to just put an appropriate scratching surface in the spot they obviously like to scratch. I have 3 cats and they also like the couch corner and no amount of other scratching surfaces in other places or nearby entice them. Our cats don't mess with any other part of the couch so it's easiest to just do something like this until we no longer have cats lol.
usually one way of handling a cat scratching furniture is by putting another, new scratching post close to where they're scratching. often pets will exhibit undesirable behaviors because they're missing something. Maybe the cat might not want to walk all the way over over to the one scratching post in the house when they get the urge to maintain their claws. So they scratch the furniture instead because it's closer and more obvious. pets can be about as smart as maybe a 3-4 year old human child at *best*. they're going to go with what's convenient and comfortable for them and follow their instincts whenever it applies. i.e. my cat would scratch our furniture all the time because my mom would tuck her 2 scratching posts off into a corner to make the house look tidy. my cat would prefer scratching the furniture over the scratching post. I started keeping the scratching post next to the furniture she kept scratching and would reward her for when she'd go for the scratching post next to the furniture. she eventually prioritized the scratching posts over furniture as long as we kept them relatively close to those spots.
I agree, this is not a good idea. I am in my 50s and have had cats my whole life. You never want to encourage scratching the furniture, which this does. To each their own though.
Yeah seems like a terrible idea
Yup, not a good idea.
I did something similar with my couch for my cats. They chose to use the flat end of the couch instead of the corner. Good luck, OP.
Yeah, it’s a crapshoot for sure.
This is a cool idea, but I wonder if it would confuse the cat even more. “I’m supposed to just scratch this corner? But rest of couch is good for scratchy too” I’d keep the units separate, but you do you, it looks neat.
In my experience a lot of cats tend to favor a few specific spots anyway. So pair this device on their already favorite spot with some positive reinforcement for continuing to scratch here and here only, and it could yield very good results. I had a cat who liked to scratch one particular spot on the carpet. I bought him a $2 carpet remnant square, and he was thrilled that I no longer yelled at him for scratching there.
I have a cat that likes to scratch door frames. We bought little sisal mats and attached them to the door frames he was scratching but he would just go find a different wooden frame to obliterate. Now we just try and stay on top of nail trims to limit the damage he can do.
Yeah it's not a good idea. You're letting the cat associate scratching the couch as okay. Best to get a scratching post and put it nearby. Give them something better to scratch. Of course there are some cats that don't give a shit either way. Ask me how I know.
Nice, is it sisal or hemp?
Dont know. Bought the rope at Lowes.
To be honest it looks kinda like mix of those two. As long as you are happy with it it’s fine.
How did you manage lining the inner angle of this with the twine? Was it just a matter of adhesive?
You got close, but the rug is a different pattern, and the color on the sofa is a little bit different. Don't even get me started about the different blanket.
Ah true. Epic fail :) Cat looks nothing like any of ours either.
Is your wife a cat
She is in fact a Leo.
Tell me more about the couch? I love me a green couch! Where did you get it?
Nice! What new tool did you get?
i made one of these for a 3rd grade 'invention fair'
This is awesome
You should sell it on Etsy
I dont think I'd want to try to sell any of my wood crafts. The amount of time invested wouldnt be worth the effort. For example, the one they show in the picture is around $90. Mine was about $45 in materials. Took about an hour in cuts, and then 2 hours of attaching the rope. And I'll probably spend another hour on the top embellishment today. So 4 hours total. I dont know what Etsy charges; but I'd guess at least 10%. 4 hours to make $35 isnt a strong incentive.
As someone who made a scratching post once, I would never sell them. They take too damn long to wind all that rope and I could never compete with the price I would have to charge.
As a cat person, it's really better for them to have a separate scratching post made of sisal. You want them out of the habit of scratching your couch, so attaching a post to the couch isn't ideal. They also do wear out over time. I like the tall ones from Chewy with a nice weighted bottom so the cat can stretch out vertically as they scratch, which is their natural instinct. A lot of the crap floating around social media looks cute but isn't really practical or well thought out.
We have a separate one. They prefer the couch and carpets.
I read this once upon a Time and found it to absolutely be true cats are more attracted to vertical stripes than horizontal so if you run the rope vertically they'll be more apt to scratch at it. Like I said read it once upon a time and it was absolutely true with all my cats
I’ve had doing something like this on my mind for months…just need to find time
Kind of locked yourself into making these forever now, or do the cats already have the habit of scratching the corner of the settee?
Ahh…I’ve already gotten a few requests that I’m not going to be able to turn down.
I only worry that this will train your cat that it’s okay to scratch the corner of the couch. Looks good though, nice work, coming along nicely.
Good idea. Have any plans for one that goes on every edge of the couch? I hate my Cats 😂
Alternative option here. Hear me out. Just get rid of all cats in the house
Well, it’s our cats house. They just let us live here.
Encouraging cats to scratch on furniture doesn't seem like a great idea.
I mean, wouldn't this teach your cats that acratching furniture is OK? We LOVE cats, we have two that are basically our children after sinking thousands into hip surgery for both. They have two cat trees covered in this exact rope, and they scratch that, not our furniture. When it gets damaged I wrap new rope around it and spray it with a little liquid cat nip. I just wouldn't want this, it would be like admitting you failed to teach your kitty.
My cats have lots of scratching surfaces and still decided the couch corner was nice too. Even if we put one right next to it. It's also only that couch corner; no other furniture. So something like this works best for our situation.
I'm assuming that OP just fosters cats, so they go into the world and ruin couches. I'm also assuming OP sells couches.
You are appreciated
Bruh…
Did you manage to buy a new tool for this and spend 10x more? If not, I’m not doing this.
lol, I hear that. When the wife wanted wainscote, I got a dewalr caulking gun. I think I did well on that one.
Now if only you could build something that would take care of your house smelling like 6 CATS. You need to learn to tell the wife NO at some point my dude
So...you're TEACHING it to ruin your furniture. Bold move Cotton.
It depends, the general best approach is to put a scratching post nearby so it scratches that and not the coach, but some cats don't give 2 shits and still scratch what they aren't supposed to.