new platform material???

[pdogc]

hello everyone
im a new poster but an avid reader of this forum and i must say you guys are great. i have learned a lot about speedbagging from you guys. i have a quick question about a new material (have not seen anyone use it that i know of) for a platform.... concrete. i was thinking of trying it out by making a custom wire re-enforcment buried in the concrete with bolts attached and sticking out so it would be able to bolt right up to the frame. was thinking of forming it up using plywood for the base, something about 2" thick for the sides, and that wire mesh with caulk sealed bolts sticking out the concrete and plywood for re-enforcement. the top would be troweled to a nice smooth finish and would be the side the bag hits. elevate the whole thing on some paint cans to make up for the bolts sticking out from underneath, pour the crete, trowel the top, watch it dry and you got one solid platform for the price of 2 forty pound bags of concrete and some bolts. im just wondering if i would get a good rebound? cant be much different than a nice solid and expensive piece wood right? lemme know what you guys think

[Speedbag]

Many years ago during my college days in Memphis there was a guy that rented a house that had a basement with a low concrete ceiling. He had a swivel attached to the ceiling with a bag on it. I didn't hang out there much and remember seeing more people hit it than I did myself at the time. (Back then I was probably seeing three or four bags without hitting it...we weren't there to train... ) I can't remember that it gave any different rebound, but it did have a different sound than I've ever heard before or since. I guess an analogy would be like taking a basketball and bouncing it on a quality wood gym floor, then taking the same ball out and bouncing it on the sidewalk. There is a whole different tonality to concrete.

I would also think your concrete has to finished very well or it would tear the bags after a while.

[JasonDMX2]

You could do this just like making a concrete counter top and it would have a smooth stone like finish (ex: granite) if you polished it with a grinder. I'd weld some stand-offs to my mesh so I'd have threads casted into the slab, use several tapcons after it was cured to mount some angle iron, or use a construction adhesive designed for concrete use to mount it to some hardwood to give me a place to fasten the bracketry to.

You'd definitely have some desnity and weight which would result in very little movement of your platform.