Building a power rack

[ADLTSWM]

Hey guys, here’s an update on my progress so far. This weekend I wasn’t really able to get a lot accomplished, but I should still be on schedule with completing it by Wednesday (knock on wood).
In my last updated I forgot to show you one of all the holes drilled in the main uprights.

As mentioned before. The holes are 5/8” spaced at 2”. The adjustment is from 18” off the ground to 68”.

So I got to thinking and decided I wanted to add another set of holes on the long side of the uprights. I did this in case I wanted to fab up any sort attachments in the future. The holes are still 5/8” but I have them spaced at 6”.

Here’s the set up I had going with the second set of holes. As you can see, the box catches the shavings and the jerry rigged screen prevents anything from flying at me. With this set up I was able to knock out 96 holes in about 1hr. It’s really all due to the annular cutting. I couldn’t speak any more good about it. Just FYI, the pilot pin does such a good job with centering the cutter. I didn’t even have to make punch marks. I just lined it up to the scribed lines and went at it. After 344 holes the cutter started showing signs of dulling. It’s partly due to the welded seam on the long side of the tubing being harder, but once again. The cutter is awesome! The cutter is made by Hougen by the way.

Here’s a close up of the holes. Very clean and virtually no burrs

I received the rogue j-cup and had a minor problem with fitment. The powder coating adds to the 5/8” rod which prevented them from sliding in. It kinda sucks having to grind it away, but once it was taken off I had no issues putting them on.


Here’s all the flat bar I cut that will either be attaching or backing plates.

[ADLTSWM]

These are the side tubes with the plates tacked on. I’ll burn them on completely after I do a mockup of the whole rack together. I just wanna verify everything fits together before doing any full welds. A couple of you mentioned welding everything and only using bolts on the cross members, but I really want to be able to back it down in case I have to move it or pull it away in storage when I deploy.

Here’s the rear top and bottom cross members. The top cross member is upside down. It will install the other way around.

Well, that’s it for now. More to come soon.

[OffAir]

Well, that’s it for now. More to come soon.

Thank you for the updates!

[darren.dugan]

Looking good so far! Wish I would have used that type of drill when I made mine.

[Sdca7718]

It would be a good idea to offset the side holes so they don't get in the way of the other holes on front. It is what Rogue does to their racks so you can use pull-up bars and crossmembers at similar locations so the bolts don't cross. The side holes are spaced in between the front holes or at least 1" above or below. Nice setup so far, it looks like a r3 with additional storage space.

[MonkeyT]

Hey guys, here’s an update on my progress so far. This weekend I wasn’t really able to get a lot accomplished, but I should still be on schedule with completing it by Wednesday (knock on wood).
In my last updated I forgot to show you one of all the holes drilled in the main uprights.

As mentioned before. The holes are 5/8” spaced at 2”. The adjustment is from 18” off the ground to 68”.

So I got to thinking and decided I wanted to add another set of holes on the long side of the uprights. I did this in case I wanted to fab up any sort attachments in the future. The holes are still 5/8” but I have them spaced at 6”.

Here’s the set up I had going with the second set of holes. As you can see, the box catches the shavings and the jerry rigged screen prevents anything from flying at me. With this set up I was able to knock out 96 holes in about 1hr. It’s really all due to the annular cutting. I couldn’t speak any more good about it. Just FYI, the pilot pin does such a good job with centering the cutter. I didn’t even have to make punch marks. I just lined it up to the scribed lines and went at it. After 344 holes the cutter started showing signs of dulling. It’s partly due to the welded seam on the long side of the tubing being harder, but once again. The cutter is awesome! The cutter is made by Hougen by the way.

Here’s a close up of the holes. Very clean and virtually no burrs

I received the rogue j-cup and had a minor problem with fitment. The powder coating adds to the 5/8” rod which prevented them from sliding in. It kinda sucks having to grind it away, but once it was taken off I had no issues putting them on.


Here’s all the flat bar I cut that will either be attaching or backing plates.

Amusing that you used a ROGUE box to catch the debris. lol.

That UHMW looks bent/curved on the Jcup, or is it an illusion?

Great work, pretty impressive!

[Mech6]

I received the rogue j-cup and had a minor problem with fitment. The powder coating adds to the 5/8” rod which prevented them from sliding in.

Nice work. I wonder if you read other posts in this thread however, since I mentionned this would happen in the beginning. Seems you found a solution however.

[OffAir]

Amusing that you used a ROGUE box to catch the debris. lol.

That UHMW looks bent/curved on the Jcup, or is it an illusion?

Great work, pretty impressive!

IMO it could be due to the pin weld.

[Mech6]

IMO it could be due to the pin weld.

Yes, that's exactly why.

[Skidmarx]

Looking good so far! Wish I would have used that type of drill when I made mine.

Same here. I used a step drill and it took forever

[ADLTSWM]

It would be a good idea to offset the side holes so they don't get in the way of the other holes on front. It is what Rogue does to their racks so you can use pull-up bars and crossmembers at similar locations so the bolts don't cross. The side holes are spaced in between the front holes or at least 1" above or below. Nice setup so far, it looks like a r3 with additional storage space.

Yeah, that’s the design I was aiming for. It’s pretty much an R6 except I only made it 39” deep.

[ADLTSWM]

Nice work. I wonder if you read other posts in this thread however, since I mentionned this would happen in the beginning. Seems you found a solution however.

Yes I did read that comment, but by then the cups were on there way and i was finsihed with drilling all the holes. It's much easier to remove the powder coating off the rods then to enlarge 208 holes.

[ADLTSWM]

Alright guys. It’s been a few days since my last update. Percentage wise I’m at about 85% complete with the whole build. In my last update the upright for the most part had all the holes drilled and the side/cross members were tack welded the attaching plates. I was pretty much to the point of bolting things together, but before that was to happen I had to lay and clamp everything out and verify that all the components were squared up to each other. Once things looked good made the marks and drill all the holes for the bolts.

Here’s one side of the rack bolted to together and standing upright.

Here are both halves together. Man is this thing heavy. I don’t think I’ll have to bolt it to the floor after the plates are stored in the back. I’m figuring that it will weigh around 250+ just alone. When everything is finished I’ll break it down and put it on the scale.

So everything is bolted together and all I really have left is to fab up the pull-up cross member, cut the pin and pipe safeties, final welding and then paint. I know I was estimating to be completed this week, but I have family in town and gonna have to postpone the build until they leave.

[OffAir]

IMO Rack and accessory building really does need a spot on cable. Looks really good, thanks for the updates.

[ADLTSWM]

IMO Rack and accessory building really does need a spot on cable. Looks really good, thanks for the updates.

They do have the "DIY Network", but its always gear towards home improvement. I just stick to youtube.

[Jetigen]

They do have the "DIY Network", but its always gear towards home improvement. I just stick to youtube.

I wish that you uploaded your pictures here. Externally linked images tend to disappear after few years. It's a very educational thread for sure. Using a regular miter saw for cutting metal is new to me. Repped.

[cmarti063]

You think 250 lbs is heavy?! My Hammer Strength rack was over 900 lbs, and my Nebula 3/4 rack is 450 lbs...

Build looks excellent, really coming along. Did you decide on paint or powder coat? Color?

[Mech6]

Alright guys. It’s been a few days since my last update. Percentage wise I’m at about 85% complete with the whole build. In my last update the upright for the most part had all the holes drilled and the side/cross members were tack welded the attaching plates. I was pretty much to the point of bolting things together, but before that was to happen I had to lay and clamp everything out and verify that all the components were squared up to each other. Once things looked good made the marks and drill all the holes for the bolts.

Here’s one side of the rack bolted to together and standing upright.

Here are both halves together. Man is this thing heavy. I don’t think I’ll have to bolt it to the floor after the plates are stored in the back. I’m figuring that it will weigh around 250+ just alone. When everything is finished I’ll break it down and put it on the scale.

So everything is bolted together and all I really have left is to fab up the pull-up cross member, cut the pin and pipe safeties, final welding and then paint. I know I was estimating to be completed this week, but I have family in town and gonna have to postpone the build until they leave.

Perfect.

[tank29]

Looking good!!!...Can't wait for the finish product and future accessories!!!...Repped!!!

[ADLTSWM]

well it's been awhile since my last update. the holidays really put a damper on my progress, but i'm finally done with the rack. i actually finished it towards the end of November. During the last to weeks ive just done a couple of last minute mods and side projects.

heres the end product.


towards the end of making the rack i got to thinking about wanting a hi/low cable machine. At first i searched through craigslist but had to luck in finding one. so after tinkering around and studying the basic design of most cable machines i ended up building my own. its mounts to the back portion of the rack. theres a hi and low attaching points. everything works pretty smooth.


so since my rack will be located in my garage/work shop i decided to do a last minute change to the rack due to space. i was gonna put plate storage pegs in the back side, but to save on final foot print size i just ended up building a rolling plate storage rack. theres 395 lbs loaded and still rolls around pretty easy.


I'm gonna guess that in total with build materials, bar, weights and bench i've spent no more than $1200 for my setup. So if you are looking into having a home gym and are trying to keep cost lost. DIY is probably the best route unless you can find a heck of a deal somewhere. you just got to remember that certain tools/equipment will be needed.

[Northernmoris]

AWESOME job.

[aclockworkoi]

Well done indeed!

[Domicron]

"hey everyone! i'm ADLTSWM and i'm an ******* because i made building my own power rack from scratch look easy."

nice work, but at least make it sound like it was tough...

[ADLTSWM]

"hey everyone! i'm ADLTSWM and i'm an ******* because i made building my own power rack from scratch look easy."

nice work, but at least make it sound like it was tough...

yeah it was easy. i pretty much sat, drank beer and took pictures while the rack built itself. oh wait thats not how it happen....Dude im just saying that with the right tools and experience its not that "tough" and for some its probably easy. i'm sure MECH6 can bust out several in the time it took me to build one. Honesty the only "tough" parts were transporting the steel from the supplier to my house. Jeeps aren't built for hauling and remember to document the progress of the build.

[Skidmarx]

Dude you made a weight rack out of wood, after making a killer power rack out of steel?

What's your deal? lol

[boxertim]

Man that looks nice

[CliveWarren]

Very nice work ADLTSWM. A couple things bother me. Looks like if that's your space you could/should have made it taller to be able to do standing overhead presses (sorry if you're a manlet). Next, on a related note, the pull-down height might be adequate, but the plate loaded stack doesn't have as much travel as I'd like due to short guide rods.

Mostly just jealous though.

[ADLTSWM]

Dude you made a weight rack out of wood, after making a killer power rack out of steel?

What's your deal? lol

Lol I know, but I needed something quick and easy. The thing only took me a hour to build and total cost was like 30 bucks.

[ADLTSWM]

Very nice work ADLTSWM. A couple things bother me. Looks like if that's your space you could/should have made it taller to be able to do standing overhead presses (sorry if you're a manlet). Next, on a related note, the pull-down height might be adequate, but the plate loaded stack doesn't have as much travel as I'd like due to short guide rods.

Mostly just jealous though.

the rack is 90'' tall so there's plenty of vertical room to do standing presses. As for the guide rods on the pull down you are right. the stroke isn't ideal and if i had to chance to redo the rack i'd make the back uprights the same length as the rest, but mechanically it works pretty good and for most exercises the travel is just enough.

[Xone]

expected another crappy wood rack, nice work.