Home built rack

[hegge]

After shopping around I decided I could build a rack cheaper and to the specification I wanted. I have a low ceiling so not all commercial racks would fit for me. I used 4x6 posts with 2x6 cross braces. I have 1" pipe that slides in and out for the squats rest and safety and also for the bench rest. I have 2X6s for the bench safety cut at an angle so I can push the bar up off my chest if need be. I also have dips bars that I can slide in as well as a pull up bar. Total cost US $125. I hope it works well. My advice would be to go to a gym first and get the measurements as it works best to measure twice and cut once. So what does every one think?

[simonboyce]

Very cool. I've been planning to make homemade squat stands. Not sure if concrete is the best way to go to make stable bases. What hardware have you used to keep this together? Are those carriage bolts?

[Rob_M.]

Very nice! I love seeing stuff like this.
I, like Simon, intend on making a pair of squat stands out of timber and concrete filled buckets in the next week or so, and I'm trying to think of a way to make some safety/spotter stands.

[papaganz]

Hmm, I wouldn't thrust that wood with a lot of weight :s.

[Skippy]

The fact that it's made of wood shouldn't prevent it from bearing a lot of weight, I have seen sawhorses on the internet with massive weight capacities and they are made of wood. I'm impressed.

What material is the pipe used for the safety pins? Not copper I hope

[hegge]

Each joint is held together by 4 lag bolts and the pipe is schedule 40 steel 1 inch pipe. The pipe has an outside diameter of 1.26 inches and is 0.13 inches thick. I figure I would never lift more than double my weight which would require the rack to hold a max of 325lbs. To be safe when I am not lifting I keep the weight on the ground.

[oi_joe]

mate that looks good to me, the weight is applyed vertically any ways to it should be solid, maybe the only thing would be to use another set of pipe for safety pins instead on the wooden ones. but that looks the dogs bollocks. well done

[Love_Deadlifts]

That is great! It should definitely hold up IMO, just as a test you should load as much weight as you have onto the bar while it's sitting in the rack. Then you should do the same on the safety rack. Not a perfect test but maybe a good one.

[mjh]

Nice rack! hur hur.

No really, creative and crafted with care and attention. Wish I had those kind of skills, English and History were always my forte and some of the mishapped trainwrecks to come home with me from woodwork class would have made a blind monkey proud.

I'm thinking of two options when I get back on "dry land" (ie, home to NZ, just a little homage to mike of the high seas, there). Either shell out for a power rack and weights, and try to find a flat where I have room for them, or build some ghetto squat stands using the bucket of concrete plan. I'm hoping for the first option.

[Rugger]

I'm confused. Where does the bar rest when it isn't on your back?

[Rob_M.]

build some ghetto squat stands using the bucket of concrete plan.

Started mine this morning, out of some bits of 2"x4" I found in the garage, got the uprights done. No way I've got the patience or skill to build an actual rack though, kudos to you hegge.

[helm]

I like your rack, looks really nice! And for your needs it is totally sufficient.

anyway, here's a quote by coach Rip:

I recommend against a wooden squat rack, for much the same reason that I recommend against a wooden car.

[dmesserl]

That squat rack is outstanding. It is precisely what I needed when I started thinking up how to build my own. Yours looks to be more fortified than the one that I built. Very solid, very cool, and mostly I like the fact that it is wood and not steel. Are you thinking of staining it. I think a nice medium darkness stain would make that thing look like a gem. Good to see others doing this kind of stuff out here....

[IDEK]

What is it that you used on those pipes? I am thinking of building one just like yours for summer when I am not in the weight room at school.

[ricepower]

Nice work,

I cannot see where the pegs to hang the barbell are though?

Also the poles above the wooden safety bars, what are they for? Do you take them out when you want to squat?

I would beef up the wooden safety bars, and maybe stick some metal plate/angle iron on them as they will take a beating, especially if you do rack pulls etc. I wouldve also made them removable so you could do deadlifts without having to carry the barbell somewhere else.