The 'No Excuses Homemade Equipment Crew'

[fishpat86]

Ok here you go TXBRASS. I had this hammer made for me some time ago. I use it on a solid forklift tyre out in my garden. Its less of a swinging motion and more of a shoulder press and drop. Its great for heavy conditioning, and by the end of it every muscle in you body especially you back and shoulders, are ready to drop.

The handle is made out of 2in solid bright steel bar. The head is an 8inch long 4inch diameter bar. The whole thing is about 1 meter long. I havnt weighed it, but I estimate it to be about 40kg. I'll be the first to admit its ridiculus. But its a lot of fun.

I want one for "apprehending" the next person who tries to break into my house!

How much did it cost?

[ProtienandIron]

If I remember right, I think it cost me about £65. If you hit them hard enough it will probably bury them in the ground like the old cartoons.

[fishpat86]

If I remember right, I think it cost me about £65. If you hit them hard enough it will probably bury them in the ground like the old cartoons.

I did some sums and I reckon it weighs 29kgs, please can you weigh it and report back. Imagine their face when you started swing it and taking chunks out of the walls!

[ProtienandIron]

You're probably right. It feels heavier but its probably due to the 2 inch handle and offset weight. We don't own scales but I'm looking to buy some soon.

[Keetman]

I did some sums and I reckon it weighs 29kgs, please can you weigh it and report back. Imagine their face when you started swing it and taking chunks out of the walls!

I saw a History or Discovery channel show where they were comparing ancient weapons and your post here reminded me of what they were saying about the battle axe. Basically, it was heavy and slow and not really that much good in hand to hand combat....however, those who carried them were crazy and wielded them in such a way that highlighted this fact. It was intimidating and more useful as a tool to make the enemy go elsewhere.

That said..... at least for the moment I'm still glad I don't have to rely on theatrics if someone breaks into my house. They'll get a friendly reminder (in the form of a racking shotgun) that they've made an occupational blunder.....then I start giving them some of my possessions...one round at a time.


I do like that hammer, protein. I just use my regular sledgehammer, which is fine for now as I really don't go outside to wo much. I like the one you made though.

[Vermonter]

Ooh, I'm in!

This is something dear to my heart, because it tells the tale of how I got back into plyometric exercise along with my strength training.

It started by installing a simple Pull-up bar on my back porch so I could "Grease the Groove" whenever I went out back. It's also just nice to have something to stretch off of.


Then I got some used tires (free of course) and hung some up to use as a punching bag with my Hockey gloves


I used another spare tire to beat on with my sledge hammer, and it also makes a nice stand to hold my physio ball so that I can do hypers in my rack/smith



I then filled some used bike tubes (again free, yay!) with sand. These are nice improvised weights if you don't have a weight vest (which I do have now), and they can be used to swing around like a bulgarian bag, or to beat on ye olde hanging tire punching-bag.


(Continued in next post)

[Vermonter]

Since I was getting into Plyometric movements, I also made a sand bag log which i could use to toss around my back yard like a heavy medicine ball...log.


I had a old crappy standard barbell I cut up and made some clubs with, again so I could beat up on my hanging tires, or swing around like a maniac


At this point I pretty much took over our two-car garage and decided to work with the garage itself
Here I made a dip station


Here I made another pull-up station/jungle-gym


Here I hung up some secure-straps with improvised PVC and pipe insulation handles, a ghetto home made suspension trainer


and last but not least, here is a wrist roller I added to my captain's chair (which made my dip station obsolete)

[vic84875]

I'm mirin the leg press, How much mechanical advantage does it give you?

Hello,

Almost none. In use; the rotation angle is to small. Is practicly like a linear horizontal leg press, but without the friction of the linear bearing.

Skidmarx; really great job on the leg press !!!!. I am going to build one for me in the next 2-3 months. But i have other design in mind, emulating a 90 degrees leg press. Ronnie Coleman uses one; i believe the DVD is called: on the road, or something like that. Actually, i get the design idea; after have seen the DVD. The design; seen on the video; has a very small foot print.

TXBRASS; bad ass thor's hammers you got there.

Overall, great home made stuff in these forum..

Best regards.

[Vermonter]

Oh, one last thing...
That barbell I cut up, had really long spin-lock ends. I cut off sections from both ends so I could create THE KETTLEPLATE!
I have a pair of Impex (Marcy crap) grip-handled 35 lb. plates which have nice rounded handles, pretty decent for doing swings like you would with a Kettlebell. Using the spin-lock pieces I can add weight to them to make them anywhere from 35 to 75 lbs.
I also made some spacers so that I could load Olympic plates onto standard bars.

[ProtienandIron]

Vermonter is in for number 10. Welcome.

-!!!---!!!- No Excuses Homemade Equipment Crew #10 -!!!---!!!- Vermonter

Excellent stuff you made. I like the idea of using a tyre to stabalise a swiss ball for glute/hams. When I get space, this might be something I do. Jungle gym came out great,

[TXBRASS]

Ok here you go TXBRASS. I had this hammer made for me some time ago. I use it on a solid forklift tyre out in my garden. Its less of a swinging motion and more of a shoulder press and drop. Its great for heavy conditioning, and by the end of it every muscle in you body especially you back and shoulders, are ready to drop.

The handle is made out of 2in solid bright steel bar. The head is an 8inch long 4inch diameter bar. The whole thing is about 1 meter long. I havnt weighed it, but I estimate it to be about 40kg. I'll be the first to admit its ridiculus. But its a lot of fun.

SWEET!!! I've got some ideas in mind..... Thanks a TON!!!

[fishpat86]

You're probably right. It feels heavier but its probably due to the 2 inch handle and offset weight. We don't own scales but I'm looking to buy some soon.

I find it odd that you do not own scales, although I barely step on mine so I guess it was £40 badly spent

I saw a History or Discovery channel show where they were comparing ancient weapons and your post here reminded me of what they were saying about the battle axe. Basically, it was heavy and slow and not really that much good in hand to hand combat....however, those who carried them were crazy and wielded them in such a way that highlighted this fact. It was intimidating and more useful as a tool to make the enemy go elsewhere.

That said..... at least for the moment I'm still glad I don't have to rely on theatrics if someone breaks into my house. They'll get a friendly reminder (in the form of a racking shotgun) that they've made an occupational blunder.....then I start giving them some of my possessions...one round at a time.


I do like that hammer, protein. I just use my regular sledgehammer, which is fine for now as I really don't go outside to wo much. I like the one you made though.

lol, I wake up at the drop of a hat. We had someone try to break in a while ago...

I was woken up by the sound of a load of change hitting the floor and scattering. I thought it was the cat knocking a tub of pennys off the kitchen side. I looked to the end of the bed and she was sleeping there so it wasn't her. I ran to the bottom of the stairs and flicked the light on. It's only about 4 metres to the kitchen door and as I got there I saw the burglar stand up and peg it out the back gate. At this point I heard something at the front door just 9 metres behind me and ran over there to see what was up. There was a burglar at the front as well with a garden cane through the letterbox trying to unlatch the door! I grabbed the cane out of his hands and he ran off as I tried to open the door. Fortunately for us both it was deadlocked so I needed the keys to get out and he got away before I could open the door. I called the police and they were at my house in less than 5 minutes. They advised me to not try to tackle any burglars in the future because I could get hurt or arrested for assault if I did anything!!!

Of course I put some boxers on for the boys in blue, I sleep naked and didn't get dressed to defend myself, lol dem burglars saw my winky

Hello,

Almost none. In use; the rotation angle is to small. Is practicly like a linear horizontal leg press, but without the friction of the linear bearing.

Skidmarx; really great job on the leg press !!!!. I am going to build one for me in the next 2-3 months. But i have other design in mind, emulating a 90 degrees leg press. Ronnie Coleman uses one; i believe the DVD is called: on the road, or something like that. Actually, i get the design idea; after have seen the DVD. The design; seen on the video; has a very small foot print.

TXBRASS; bad ass thor's hammers you got there.

Overall, great home made stuff in these forum..

Best regards.

I just thought that the shallower the angle the force is applied in the greater the mechanical advantage is, as in pushing a car on a level surface versus pushing a car up a hill.

[KBKB]

I called the police and they were at my house in less than 5 minutes. They advised me to not try to tackle any burglars in the future because I could get hurt or arrested for assault if I did anything!!!

It's quite a lot different over here. In some states, you are free to kill someone if you feel threatened with "great bodily harm", whether you're at home or somewhere else.

[vic84875]

I just thought that the shallower the angle the force is applied in the greater the mechanical advantage is, as in pushing a car on a level surface versus pushing a car up a hill.

Hello,

Ignore my previous response. I was short of time.
Also, thinking in spanish, but typing in english, sometimes ****s me, and makes me express my point wrongly.

The car example is ok, and is a good start.

Lets use it for move the talk; to linear leg presses.

The force you apply is F= (m x g) x sen (fi) + Friction force (mostly not taken into account)

m= mass
g= gravity.
(m x g) = is the weight of the plates and is always a force(vector) perpendicular to the ground. (surface of the planet earth)
(fi) = the angle between the horizontal (surface of the planet earth) and the incline plane.

Sen (fi) is always a number between: -1< sen(fi) < 1. (mathematics).
We consider only the positive, For us, 0 < sen(fi) < 1; always.

So, the applying force is: always less than the weight of the plates, and constant; for a linear leg press, the movement is rectilinear (key, keep that in mind).

*Higher angle, means sen(fi) closer to 1, <<<<< mechanical advantage.*
*Lower angle, means sen(fi) closer to 0, >>>>> mechanical advantage.*

Thats why you can lift more weight in a 45º degree linear leg press, than in a 90º degree linear leg press.
Sen (fi=45º)=0.7 ; Sen (fi=90º)=1.

For example, on a 30º degree linear leg press; the mechanical advantage is 50%. Sen (fi=30º)=0.5. Then F= m x g x 0.5

In the horizontal pendulum leg press; the movement is circular not rectilinear. That change the scenario.

The force apply by the bodybuilder is always tangent to the circular movement.

So, the angle, change during the motion (bearing rotation) of the excercise (key).

In the horizontal pendulum leg press; the rotation is too small for the angle change to be very significant.

Nonetheless, the force is not constant during the pendulum motion, as in the linear leg press. The force change with the angle rotation.

For example. In the skidmarks design. The bearing is on top, and the force point of application is down.

(....Assuming that he can rotate the angle between 0º to 90º.....)

So, in that design, the apply force is:

F= Cero: at 0º degrees.
F= Full weight plates at 90º.
F= (m x g) x sen(fi). During the 0º to 90º rotation the force is not constant and increses with the angle variation.

So, the design present a variable mechanical disadvantage during the 0º to 90º rotation. Disadvantage, becouse it is getting heavier as it goes up. (..Anyways, the term advantage or disadvantage is relative to the point of view..)

Anyways, few people gets the full range of rotation. That is why my previous answer was; mechanical advantage or mechanical disadvantage is almost none, most people work in a short range of angle rotation.

Hope it helps you. Take me like 18 minutes to type that in english.

Best regards.

[Skidmarx]

Hello,

Almost none. In use; the rotation angle is to small. Is practicly like a linear horizontal leg press, but without the friction of the linear bearing.

Skidmarx; really great job on the leg press !!!!. I am going to build one for me in the next 2-3 months. But i have other design in mind, emulating a 90 degrees leg press. Ronnie Coleman uses one; i believe the DVD is called: on the road, or something like that. Actually, i get the design idea; after have seen the DVD. The design; seen on the video; has a very small foot print.

I wanted something that had the opposite weightload of the squat, which has the load at the bottom half of the move. I've always been a fan of hammer strength leg presses. Only drawback with this design is you need a shytload of weight. I'm in the process of tilting the whole press at a 30 degree angle so I don't need so much damned weight! Keep that in mind when you build yours.

[twodog]

It's quite a lot different over here. In some states, you are free to kill someone if you feel threatened with "great bodily harm", whether you're at home or somewhere else.

In North Carolina you don't even need "great bodily harm" anymore. They recently passed the "castle doctrine" which allows us to protect our property as well as ourselves.
Basically, we as long as shoot some one, that is on our property (including trying to enter your car when on a public road), in the front,and not the back, then it's okay.

God Bless the U.S. ), especially N.C.

[fishpat86]

Hello,

Ignore my previous response. I was short of time.
Also, thinking in spanish, but typing in english, sometimes ****s me, and makes me express my point wrongly.

The car example is ok, and is a good start.

Lets use it for move the talk; to linear leg presses.

The force you apply is F= (m x g) x sen (fi) + Friction force (mostly not taken into account)

m= mass
g= gravity.
(m x g) = is the weight of the plates and is always a force(vector) perpendicular to the ground. (surface of the planet earth)
(fi) = the angle between the horizontal (surface of the planet earth) and the incline plane.

Sen (fi) is always a number between: -1< sen(fi) < 1. (mathematics).
We consider only the positive, For us, 0 < sen(fi) < 1; always.

So, the applying force is: always less than the weight of the plates, and constant; for a linear leg press, the movement is rectilinear (key, keep that in mind).

*Higher angle, means sen(fi) closer to 1, <<<<< mechanical advantage.*
*Lower angle, means sen(fi) closer to 0, >>>>> mechanical advantage.*

Thats why you can lift more weight in a 45º degree linear leg press, than in a 90º degree linear leg press.
Sen (fi=45º)=0.7 ; Sen (fi=90º)=1.

For example, on a 30º degree linear leg press; the mechanical advantage is 50%. Sen (fi=30º)=0.5. Then F= m x g x 0.5

In the horizontal pendulum leg press; the movement is circular not rectilinear. That change the scenario.

The force apply by the bodybuilder is always tangent to the circular movement.

So, the angle, change during the motion (bearing rotation) of the excercise (key).

In the horizontal pendulum leg press; the rotation is too small for the angle change to be very significant.

Nonetheless, the force is not constant during the pendulum motion, as in the linear leg press. The force change with the angle rotation.

For example. In the skidmarks design. The bearing is on top, and the force point of application is down.

(....Assuming that he can rotate the angle between 0º to 90º.....)

So, in that design, the apply force is:

F= Cero: at 0º degrees.
F= Full weight plates at 90º.
F= (m x g) x sen(fi). During the 0º to 90º rotation the force is not constant and increses with the angle variation.

So, the design present a variable mechanical disadvantage during the 0º to 90º rotation. Disadvantage, becouse it is getting heavier as it goes up. (..Anyways, the term advantage or disadvantage is relative to the point of view..)

Anyways, few people gets the full range of rotation. That is why my previous answer was; mechanical advantage or mechanical disadvantage is almost none, most people work in a short range of angle rotation.

Hope it helps you. Take me like 18 minutes to type that in english.

Best regards.

Longest answer ever! That's also what I was trying to say but without all the equations

Cheers broski.

I wanted something that had the opposite weightload of the squat, which has the load at the bottom half of the move. I've always been a fan of hammer strength leg presses. Only drawback with this design is you need a shytload of weight. I'm in the process of tilting the whole press at a 30 degree angle so I don't need so much damned weight! Keep that in mind when you build yours.

I need to build the most compact leg press in the world to fit my 2.4m x 5m gym.

[adaje41]

wow the stuff in this thread is amazing. I wish I could weld, I got a lot of things I would wanna build my self if I knew how to

@adaje41- You're damn right that gets you in. If I had the space I would build a platform for sure. Dip bars are great too. Mine are the same
but they are just welded on some U bar. Nice gym mate, would be happy yo see some more pics of it.

Thanks

If you're interested, I got some pics here:
http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showth...83&pagenumber=
http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showth...93&pagenumber=

[ProtienandIron]

Nice. I'm still finding my feet on this forum, so I have seen most peoples gyms in the pics thread, but I forget which one belongs to who. Lovely power rack and bench combo you have.

[TXBRASS]

I had the leftover EZ bar that I stold the sleeves from to make my fat grip Thor's Hammers with. Wanted a pull up bar with different grip options on my Icarian power rack so I figured the bends in the EZ bar would work just fine. Unbolted the power rack crossmember and took it, along with the EZ bar shaft into the welding shop. I bent the ends of the EZ bar to 90 degrees and then welded it to the crossmember. After a little cleanup and paint, I now have an EZ pull up bar in the top of my Icarian Power Rack.

[Skidmarx]

Nice. Haveta buy me a torch next. thanks bro

[OhSoFocus]

My homemade (with help) freestanding pullup bar. Homemade 2" fat bar, hammer, and keg in background.

Toddler makes this pic priceless. lol he's amazed

Finished Thor's Hammers: (made from old EZ curl bar and two threaded dumbbell handles)

Im digging these! How do you use em? Hammer Curls? Marching around the basement with oversized boots stomping bigsteps and high arms comes to mind everytime i look at them lol.

Love what Im seeing in here. No excuses indeed, just amazing

[TXBRASS]

To use Thor's Hammers, I hold the grip in my hand, sit on a bench and lean over to where my elbows are supported by the inside of my knees. Then rotate the wrist back and forth so the hammers travel in a rainbow shape (180 degrees). I do both at the same time to where both go outward and inward together. Another variation is standing with the hammers by your side and the weight side pointed down to the floor. Then using the wrist/forearm again, rotate the weights upward in a forward motion to where the hammer becomes parallel with the ground. That's the two exercises I use.....Thor's Hammers are a forearm exercise tool....

[OhSoFocus]

To use Thor's Hammers, I hold the grip in my hand, sit on a bench and lean over to where my elbows are supported by the inside of my knees. Then rotate the wrist back and forth so the hammers travel in a rainbow shape (180 degrees). I do both at the same time to where both go outward and inward together. Another variation is standing with the hammers by your side and the weight side pointed down to the floor. Then using the wrist/forearm again, rotate the weights upward in a forward motion to where the hammer becomes parallel with the ground. That's the two exercises I use.....Thor's Hammers are a forearm exercise tool....

Aahh ok. Ill definitly look to make a set down the line. Thanks for the run down

[ProtienandIron]

TX, that pullup bar is such a good idea. The angles and knurling on it are perfect. What kind of welder do you use, a MIG?

OHsofocus, thanks, its my favourite photo. It looks like hes my training partner. Where hes stood it looks like hes just dumped a set of 32kg kbs down on the floor and is cheering me on. It wasn't even staged, hes just a curious little lad.

[TXBRASS]

TX, that pullup bar is such a good idea. The angles and knurling on it are perfect. What kind of welder do you use, did it a MIG?.

Yep....a MIG (Miller "Millermatic")....same one my dad has had ever since I was a kid...it's a 220 rig and gotta be over 20 years old.....used every day and still works just fine....LOVE MIGs vs stick... The detail and options to me are so much more and much easier/cleaner...

Paint wasn't even on 5 hours last night and my kids were testing it out the pullip bar. They really like it!

[twodog]

[QUOTE=TXBRASS;863598901] The detail and options to me are so much more [QUOTE]

That's a not so true statement, as the stick welders ac/dc have many more options than MIG welders. They can weld diffent metals easily by changing rods, whereas MIG welding is pretty much only steel. I have a stick welder (used for structural and heavy welds, a MIG setup for general work and finer work, and an oxy/acetylene setup for cutting and brazing. TIG is the most useful single setup but hard to learn.

BTW, nice jobs done and I especially love the way that you made the football bar, reps were given.

[TXBRASS]

Ur correct....I just meant that working with smaller steel and detailed work it is easier FOR ME...ha! I guess it's what I know and am comfortable with....

My dad does a lot of stainless work with a new TIG machine and he swears by it.... I've never attempted it, but he said its the way to go as far as versatility.....

He (dad) just built me this 100% stainless steel BBQ pit using TIG and MIG set for SS.....



[QUOTE=twodog;863620591][QUOTE=TXBRASS;863598901] The detail and options to me are so much more

That's a not so true statement, as the stick welders ac/dc have many more options than MIG welders. They can weld diffent metals easily by changing rods, whereas MIG welding is pretty much only steel. I have a stick welder (used for structural and heavy welds, a MIG setup for general work and finer work, and an oxy/acetylene setup for cutting and brazing. TIG is the most useful single setup but hard to learn.

BTW, nice jobs done and I especially love the way that you made the football bar, reps were given.

[buffbrown21]

Unfortunately I cant access my photobucket from work. I have posted pictures plenty of times of my modified rack (which is just some board nailed to a tree), dip bars (also board nailed to trees) and a pull up bar (guess what...thats right, a board nailed to 2 trees). LOL
I will post them later

[ProtienandIron]

Thought I would post up a few squat rack/stand ideas for noobs to DIY.

Bucket n cement squat stands;



<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/1ylUpmRsZn8" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

This is one of my favourite training videos, and should really be posted in the motivational forum. The guy has a great channel, and is very humble.



<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/ltrcyTxLhqk" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Edit; Ooops, how come this is not embedding?