Building my own Power Cage / Rack

[nickwannabe]

Hey Guys,

I am back in Germany and after a small operation now I had time to think about several things

At the moment my home gym consists of mostly functional stuff
I do have a barbell plus 2 dumbbells and around 250 lbs of free weights but i am lacking a rack though

So, as my student wallet isnt big enough, I thought about building my own rack
I already saw several possibilities how to do it but I would like to use wood
reason is that my father is a carpenter and we have this stuff at home for no cost which will serve well

so I have a few questions at the equipment pros here :

What kind of wood would you recommend? Is there any sort which you should avoid?
Does anybody have a plan or something about sizes etc?

So if anybody already did it please post your ideas here =)

Thank you

[MikeKK]

Hey Guys,

I am back in Germany and after a small operation now I had time to think about several things

At the moment my home gym consists of mostly functional stuff
I do have a barbell plus 2 dumbbells and around 250 lbs of free weights but i am lacking a rack though

So, as my student wallet isnt big enough, I thought about building my own rack
I already saw several possibilities how to do it but I would like to use wood
reason is that my father is a carpenter and we have this stuff at home for no cost which will serve well

so I have a few questions at the equipment pros here :

What kind of wood would you recommend? Is there any sort which you should avoid?
Does anybody have a plan or something about sizes etc?

So if anybody already did it please post your ideas here =)

Thank you

About wood, I guess the harder the better. Stuff like oak would work really well, much better than say pine.
http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showth...2074531&page=1
Check this out for the dimensions.
When you build the rack make sure its sturdy enough.
There's also that website where they have a lot of different homemade gym equipment designs just can't find it atm. Just run a quick search and you should be able to find it.

[nickwannabe]

Thanks brah =)

Yeah I mean solid wood should not be a problem , I mean we have many sorts here in stock
for making it more solid there will be few iron bars , like security bars for bench and chin bar

The dimensions should be clear for me right now =)

So I ll keep you all updated on how we will do it

If anybody has some ideas to make it better just write them in here

[joefreas]

I am not an expert on wood but I was going to build one out of steel. I priced out the steel and it came to about $300 then I found one on craigslist for $150 so I decided to go that route.

Check the classifieds. In the US there are cages on there all the time.

[gary9191]

well I've heard that when building houses its common to find houses with hardwood finishings, but softer wood frames (Due to softwoods being cheaper, seems all wrong to me though) But I'd use a hardwood if I were you such as oak etc. I dont know what types of wood you have access to, but If I were building a rack/cage from wood (I've thought about it) I'd get the hardest wood I could afford/find, although there are literally 100's of types available to buy if not 1000's
I think you should avoid the softer woods such as pine, although its cheap and easy to work with.
The hardwoods are generally more expensive, and not as easy to work with, but thats what I'd choose, especially since you have some lying around and you dont have to buy it.
Obviously you have to be very accurate in your measurements, and with your joints, which brings up another point, what kind of joints will you use?
There are Mortice & Tenon, Mitre, Dovetail, Box etc.
Mortice and Tenon is quite strong as it was often used in framework for houses and roofs.
You can also use some sort of binding to strengthen the joints (very high strength wood glues etc)
Also, when making the joints, you should remember that wood has more strength along the grain,(longitude) not across.
You can also add strength with metal bracing around the joints, or wood screws.
there are afew drawbacks to using wood, which can be avoided in my opinion, for example,
wood can expand and contract when exposed to changes in humidity, moisture, heat etc, and can rot if not cared for.
But you can use a good quality wood varnish, which will give it a protective sheild against these things and can prolong the life of the wood.
But if your father is a carpenter I'd guess he knows loads about this kind of stuff, or if not, knows someone who does it.
So he would (I assume) be able to help you with the plans and such, but you may want to think about the design yourself to take your height into consideration. And I'm not a professional, so sorry I dont have any design plans.
there's alot to consider, but once you've decided on the design and drawn up your plans, it shouldn't take you too long.
But you can probably find plans on the internet, or even better, ask a joiner or other type of woodworker for their input on the design.
I hope it all goes well, and good luck.

[Seatard]

Being a carpenter myself, if I were to build a rack out of wood I would use plywood. 2 sheets of 13 ply birch would do it.

I would copy the form of a typical steel rack. Box section plywood uprights and cross members, with consideration for contact points of the safeties, hooks, and barbells, would rival the strength and durability of many commercially available power racks.

[irongrandpa]

I made this wooden rack from 4x4 uprights, 2x10 on the bottom, 2x8 on the top, all joints are notched, glued, screwed, and bolted. It's very solid, has weight storage. I've racked as high as 375lbs. on it and it doesn't hardly budge. I have a Parabody 843 rack in storage because this is more solid, plus has the weight storage. I had all the materials except the 1/2" bolts that I attached the adjustable racking with. If you have any ?, sent a PM.

[LimitStrength]

As long as you don't plan on going heavy a wood rack could work.

Personally if I had to choose something that was keeping me between life and being cut in half by a heavy bench attempt, I would choose the steel.

Save up, do some odd jobs, and get a powerline ppr200x

5 or 6 people a year die from bench press. Usually they are being stupid but why would you want to trade savings for safety.

I'm not saying it's impossible to build a sturdy and effective wood power racrack. However, it's very possible to not build something strong enough or something that will degrade over time.

Better to be safe than sorry, ESPECIALLY if you train alone.

[sherman]

Here is a good URLs for finding the strength of particular kinds of wood:
http://workshopcompanion.com/KnowHow...d_Strength.htm
http://www.woodbin.com/ref/wood/strength_table.htm

Pines, while not as strong as hardwoods, still have compressive strengths of 4,000 to 8,000 psi.

The strength of just about any commercial lumber far exceeds the loads in a power rack. Safety is important, but easy attain with common lumber.

[nickwannabe]

Well in order to understand this further
normally I train at a professional gym where i do have benches, racks, etc everywhere

but like 5-7 days a month I am at my parents' house which is too far from my regular gym
And of course I want to train in these days

Therefore I need a rack because that is what I am missing
and I know that it should be safe, and I guess my dad wants that too
so we will definetely test the rack prior to training with a lot of weight
But I just cannot afford a 500 bucks + rack and I do not want to buy a cheap, crappy one
and I have already seen what wood can do, and trust me this **** is solid, and the parts holding the bar will be metal

Thank you for your answers Definetely I will include your advice and thanks for all the great pics and urls =)

[deiphid]

If my experiences of German woodworking are anything to go by, I would let your Dad take the lead with this project. He should know the strongest wood types and joints for this purpose and he had a vested interest in ensuring it is safe.