Home made equipment

[Emohawkus]

We were visiting my father inlaw last week, he helped me make a cable crossover machine and tought me some metalwork and welding. i'm busy painting it now, very happy with it. I'll post pics when its finished.

[JustLost]

We were visiting my father inlaw last week, he helped me make a cable crossover machine and tought me some metalwork and welding. i'm busy painting it now, very happy with it. I'll post pics when its finished.

Cool. There's something magical and anabolic about homemade workout equipment.

[Emohawkus]

Its finished, ended up costing about maybe $250, $150 steel, $10 cable, $20 cutoff wheels (went through 4 wheels) and the rest nuts/bolts and pully wheels.

[Biggerfoot]

Nice looking! It would be nice to make a unit for lower ceilings!

[booger_dee]

Its finished, ended up costing about maybe $250, $150 steel, $10 cable, $20 cutoff wheels (went through 4 wheels) and the rest nuts/bolts and pully wheels.

4 Wheels? You using a regular 14" chop saw? I only use Nortons and something like would only burn up 1 wheel. I only use it on the solid stuff anymore. They're so dirty. When I started making stuff years ago I was just using a hacksaw. That took forever. I've got as many machine tools as exercise equipment these days.

Good start on that piece. It can become very addicting. Anymore it's actually cheaper to just buy the stuff when you add up the parts and labor. But there's a real satisfaction in building it yourself. And you can customize them anyway you want.

Keep an eye on www.craigslist.org in your area. They have a free section. It's amazing what people give away for free. I'll pick up old equipment, cut it up, and build something new.

[Emohawkus]

The leg supports are 12 guage steel, maybe I was cutting too hard or something, they were a no name brand, yip they sure do make a mess, my father inlaws chop saw is a dewalt, he was questioning why dewalt made things a bright yellow coz it wasnt yellow when we were done , I saved maybe about $200 making my own, I was going to buy one online and the cheapest was $459 with free shipping, he said hell we can make one for half that. I wish I had a welder now, shame he lives so far away from us.

[booger_dee]

The leg supports are 12 guage steel, maybe I was cutting too hard or something, they were a no name brand, yip they sure do make a mess, my father inlaws chop saw is a dewalt, he was questioning why dewalt made things a bright yellow coz it wasnt yellow when we were done , I saved maybe about $200 making my own, I was going to buy one online and the cheapest was $459 with free shipping, he said hell we can make one for half that. I wish I had a welder now, shame he lives so far away from us.

I had a Dewalt abrasive also. Finally got the Dewalt Multicutter. Not as dirty, but still a lot of chips to sweep up. It's got a carbide toothed blade. I've got a band saw in my basement which is the cleanest. I still have a Sears chop saw that I use to cut solid rod over 1/2". I don't want to mess the other saws up with heavy stuff. Blades are too expensive.

You can actually buy a stick welder for around $100. Runs on 110V. They work if you do a couple of passes. But there's a lot of spatter to clean up.

[m4rDuK]

I know that the post is old, but can you explain me how the cable travels? I want to make a similar thing, but just can't understand that part.

Thanks!

[cgc]

I know that the post is old, but can you explain me how the cable travels? I want to make a similar thing, but just can't understand that part.

Thanks!

Dude hasn't posted since 09-09-2007. You may want to PM him and see if he responds (might get a e-mail notification with the PM).

[Essexlad]

I know that the post is old, but can you explain me how the cable travels? I want to make a similar thing, but just can't understand that part.

Thanks!

It looks like a standard high/low cable machine layout;



Uses 2 cables (red and blue on the picture, the black rectangle is the weight carriage). The red one on my diagram is anchored with chain to the frame on the OPs machine.

[Wildtim]

^^^Dont forget that for the above to work you need to have stops on the ends of both cables that block them from pulling back through the pulley when the other station is used.

[m4rDuK]

Thanks!

I'll start this weekend building it!

[Ex-Terminator]

I've pondered the idea of getting two weight bench lat attachments (cheap ones) and rigging them up facing each other as a crossover, using a wooden frame. I don't so much mind the cost of a "real" one because they can be had for under $600.00 or so, but I hate the idea of something taking up nine feet in my garage.