DIY GPR378 J-hooks (Lots of pics)

[donforeman]

Its been a while since I built any thing for my gym. I think the last thing was the calf block, at least a year ago.

I had a pretty good excuse though... In between classes I was working on this.

Yesterday I finished it almost six months to the day of spare time but some of it was waiting for parts to come from the UK.


So this morning I started using it to build me some decent J-hooks for the Bodysolid GPR378
Chopping some 1-3/16" 1018




Whoo hooo = Chips on the lathe! Faced all ends and chamfered the ends that slide though the hole in the rack.





A quick jig made up of 80/20 and some brackets. The 1/4 plate was plasma cut a few weeks ago by one of my friends.



Welding the outer part. The holes are for the UHMW

[donforeman]

Blurry pictures of the J-hooks on the rack. I used hacksaw blades as spacers on the jig and about a two hacksaw blade thickness is all the slop I have. It fits very well and its all square because it was welded mostly in the jig.

[morebarbell]

Nice work! (On both the machines and the J hooks)

[Stasher1]

Nice work.

Repped.

[pumping4life]

That is a real thing of beauty. You have some great equipment, as well as welding skills!

[ICEcap2]

Very nice!

If I made them, I wouldn't trust my welds. Yours look great.

[daniel327]

Excellent fabrication skills.

[Andrew_WOT]

Now the real question, do you accept orders? How much for a pair?

[ProtienandIron]

Those look fantastic, good job.

[trimble006]

Great work Don!

[4MEandThem]

Fuquin Bitchin redo of the machine dude. The j hooks are first class too.

[donforeman]

Now the real question, do you accept orders? How much for a pair?

I just got out of school for Christmas break and It took me a month and a half or so just to get these done. I'm not done with my stuff yet. Tomorrow is another set of J hooks and a weight rack maybe the day after after that. I'm sick of setting them in the closet floor. Ivanko posted this rack picture a few months ago and I drew up plans similar. https://www.********.com/photo.php?f...type=1&theater
There is another guy who does custom J hooks for people. Didn't you link me to it a month or so ago? I just am picky and round edges and small details like tig welding instead of mig welding make me happy, but other people probably wouldn't notice or care.

[817boy]

wow those look nice, I can tell you really took your time to make sure that everything was perfect. Good job. Wish i new my way around metal work.

I bought the BWTG Jcups a month ago and have been using them all this week, i will be doing a review on the BWTG Jhooks today or tomorrow (busy weekend for me) so might be sunday.

[RemainDieHard]

Nice! Is that MIG?

[donforeman]

Its Tig welding. I have a mig - its fast, messy and the welder has less control over the process because its automated. For critical or nice items I like Tig welding. You can see the puddle and only add filler as needed. It takes more time with both set up and the actual welding. You can find how to Tig videos on YouTube.

[Andrew_WOT]

I just got out of school for Christmas break and It took me a month and a half or so just to get these done. I'm not done with my stuff yet. Tomorrow is another set of J hooks and a weight rack maybe the day after after that. I'm sick of setting them in the closet floor. Ivanko posted this rack picture a few months ago and I drew up plans similar. https://www.********.com/photo.php?f...type=1&theater
There is another guy who does custom J hooks for people. Didn't you link me to it a month or so ago? I just am picky and round edges and small details like tig welding instead of mig welding make me happy, but other people probably wouldn't notice or care.

Yes, black widow I believe. One guy ordered a pair from him and got two lefties.
But they look identical to yours, not so cleanly done of course, yours is thing of beauty.

[donforeman]

Yes, black widow I believe. One guy ordered a pair from him and got two lefties.
But they look identical to yours, not so cleanly done of course, yours is thing of beauty.

Ah That's not right! I hope he took care of you? So what you need if I remember correctly... is a 2 1/2" square with a 1" pin for a powertec rack? Or is Powertec an odd ball size like 2 3/8"? School has to come first time wise, but if they fit Powertec racks then it shouldn't be too hard to unload a spare set of J-hooks to whoever if they suddenly appear some month in the future.

[TheDude8734]

Beautiful work! About as flawless as a J-Hook can be possibly made.

[jgood602]

Nice Job they look awsome

[Skidmarx]

Nice lookin' hooks, Don.

[boxertim]

very very nice

[STR8OUT]

crap nice welds man! I couldnt weld that nice if I tried forever. Can you post a link to the welder you use? I have only used the Harbor Freight kind, maybe thats why...

[donforeman]

crap nice welds man! I couldnt weld that nice if I tried forever. Can you post a link to the welder you use? I have only used the Harbor Freight kind, maybe thats why...

http://youtu.be/Ha-8ImqaBZM
I cant say enough good about them. I bought my first 185 about 2005. After 5 years the thing literally fried itself due to a faulty part. I wrote the company a nasty letter and they shipped it back and gave me a brand new model that had better internal protection for $300.00 Its now a $2000 dollar welder, so yes I was ok with that!
Its more the process than the welder though. An expensive welder might give you better results, but only if you have the basics down. You tube has a lot of instructional videos.
The one thing with I have learned is get set up. Clean your metal! Make tight joints and then steady the work in a position where #1 you can see the puddle, #2 rest your tricep on something solid. If your arm is hanging out on space very few have enough skill to keep from shaking or jerking. That jerk will be seen in the bead. If you rest your forearm then your limited to short spurts, but its ok if that's all you need. The best position for me is either siting and bracing my tricep on my body or resting it on something else. You have a lot more control and can move farther without jerking. Once your steady then relax and start the weld - watch the puddle. With a mig welder there is sparks and the gun tip in the way so you have to make an effort to look at what your doing. If you cant see the welding process as its happening you cant make those little adjustments in travel speed and direction. With a tig welder its easier to see the puddle but you have more work to do. I just goof around with welding, there are far more skilled people at it than me and many of them post instructional videos on YouTube.

[Stasher1]

http://youtu.be/Ha-8ImqaBZM
I cant say enough good about them. I bought my first 185 about 2005. After 5 years the thing literally fried itself due to a faulty part. I wrote the company a nasty letter and they shipped it back and gave me a brand new model that had better internal protection for $300.00 Its now a $2000 dollar welder, so yes I was ok with that!
Its more the process than the welder though. An expensive welder might give you better results, but only if you have the basics down. You tube has a lot of instructional videos.
The one thing with I have learned is get set up. Clean your metal! Make tight joints and then steady the work in a position where #1 you can see the puddle, #2 rest your tricep on something solid. If your arm is hanging out on space very few have enough skill to keep from shaking or jerking. That jerk will be seen in the bead. If you rest your forearm then your limited to short spurts, but its ok if that's all you need. The best position for me is either siting and bracing my tricep on my body or resting it on something else. You have a lot more control and can move farther without jerking. Once your steady then relax and start the weld - watch the puddle. With a mig welder there is sparks and the gun tip in the way so you have to make an effort to look at what your doing. If you cant see the welding process as its happening you cant make those little adjustments in travel speed and direction. With a tig welder its easier to see the puddle but you have more work to do. I just goof around with welding, there are far more skilled people at it than me and many of them post instructional videos on YouTube.

This is the key to all welding. Relax, watch the puddle, and develop a rhythm. The rest of it can be learned from a book or video.

[Skidmarx]

crap nice welds man! I couldnt weld that nice if I tried forever. Can you post a link to the welder you use? I have only used the Harbor Freight kind, maybe thats why...

Harbor freight welders are JUNK, period. Get yourself a real welder and you'll see what you've been missing.

[jtaliani]

Wow! That is all BEAUTIFUL work! As someone who is also very fastidious, I really appreciate your attention to detail. (I just wish I had your metal working skills and resources). Repped

[iportal]

Those looks amazing, top job!

[AttyGuy]

That's awesome, man.

[weisgarb]

Nice work, Don. They look almost identical to the J-cups from Black Widow.

I went with New York Barbells for my extra set. I initially tried to buy a pair from Black Widow, but apparently the guy isn't keen on email and asked me to call him after my second inquiry. I explained that the phone isn't an option for me, and after getting no response I went looking elsewhere. The NYB hooks seem to do the trick, although I did have to perform a little surgery before I could begin using them.

The rods on the NYB hooks are only 1" diameter, which is 3/16" smaller than the rods that came with the GPR 378 rack. Since the 1 3/16" rods are loose anyway (the actual holes are around 1 3/8"), I figured the smaller diameter wouldn't be a dealbreaker--they'd just be a little looser. Like the set you made, the NYB rod goes through both the front and rear holes, while the GPR 378 hooks only catch the rear. I happened to have two 1.25" outer diameter hollow tubes that were dip handles from an old bench I cut up and salvaged for parts. I decided to fit the sleeves over the NYB rods to make them larger. I don't think it was necessary, but I had the parts and figured I'd give it a try. I "attached" the sleeves by wrapping two layers of duct tape around the rods on the hooks, which allowed the sleeves to fit snugly over them. For those not familiar with this rack, the GPR 378 hook is on the left, the NYB one is to the right.



I discovered the the GPR378 uprights are somewhat warped. The NYB had exactly 3" of clearance, and while they slipped on without a problem in some places, they generally didn't fit. It was weird. I'd have to slam them in place with the palm of my hand on one spot and practically need a hammer to get them off, but if I moved up three holes they would slip right on. This occurred on all four uprights. I don't know if this is particular to my rack or everyone would have the same problem. The GPR 378 hooks have 3 3/16" clearance, so any slight warping wouldn't be noticeable. To fix that problem, I put the hooks in a vice and used a hammer and 1" punch to bend the C-bracket a little wider. I was careful to not put any stress on the weld. Afterwards I sprayed the insides of the hooks with Silicon, and they now slip on and off fine.

You can see from the pics that the NYB work is a little sloppy, but they seem to be doing the trick. I added the black UHMW--they didn't come that way.

[Andrew_WOT]

Great, informative post.
Can you please post the source and item no of that UHMW as well as what kind of glue you used on them.

You can see from the pics that the NYB work is a little sloppy, but they seem to be doing the trick. I added the black UHMW--they didn't come that way.