The DIY Thread

[iamsmu]

[tnumrych]

Anyone here try DIYing their own horizontal barbell gun rack? I've been thinking about making one but I'm not sure if it's practical, especially when Titan sells a 6 bar rack for ~70, what say ye?

My plan was to get some 2x4s, an HDPE or UHWM bar on amazon, cutting the 2x4s and the HDPE/UHMW bars same length, screwing those together, then drilling a hole at the edge with a forstner bit or hole saw through both layers, then screwing this finished strip to another 2x4 piece (making an "L" shaped piece), then attaching this to the wall with anchors.

I'm probably not explaining this well. But if you're picking up what I'm putting down let me know how far off I am with my plan.

[iamsmu]

Anyone here try DIYing their own horizontal barbell gun rack? I've been thinking about making one but I'm not sure if it's practical, especially when Titan sells a 6 bar rack for ~70, what say ye?

My plan was to get some 2x4s, an HDPE or UHWM bar on amazon, cutting the 2x4s and the HDPE/UHMW bars same length, screwing those together, then drilling a hole at the edge with a forstner bit or hole saw through both layers, then screwing this finished strip to another 2x4 piece (making an "L" shaped piece), then attaching this to the wall with anchors.

I'm probably not explaining this well. But if you're picking up what I'm putting down let me know how far off I am with my plan.

I've seen something like that. And I've seen dowels inserted at angles. But given how cheap the metal versions are, it's hard to justify making one unless you are bored.

[tnumrych]

Anyone here try DIYing their own horizontal barbell gun rack? I've been thinking about making one but I'm not sure if it's practical, especially when Titan sells a 6 bar rack for ~70, what say ye?

My plan was to get some 2x4s, an HDPE or UHWM bar on amazon, cutting the 2x4s and the HDPE/UHMW bars same length, screwing those together, then drilling a hole at the edge with a forstner bit or hole saw through both layers, then screwing this finished strip to another 2x4 piece (making an "L" shaped piece), then attaching this to the wall with anchors.

I'm probably not explaining this well. But if you're picking up what I'm putting down let me know how far off I am with my plan.

I've seen something like that. And I've seen dowels inserted at angles. But given how cheap the metal versions are, it's hard to justify making one unless you are bored.

With a toddler and twins due any day now boredom is not a luxury I have.

Anyone familiar with this Yes4All brand on amazon? They have a uhmw lined 3 bar rack for $43 that's tempting.

[TimK]

given how cheap the metal versions are, it's hard to justify making one unless you are bored.

As someone who has the Titan version, and has also DIY'd a fair bit of gym stuff, I would have to agree with this.

[TimK]

With a toddler and twins due any day now boredom is not a luxury I have.

Anyone familiar with this Yes4All brand on amazon? They have a uhmw lined 3 bar rack for $43 that's tempting.

Yes4All is generic made in China stuff. But it's a pretty simple item, hard to screw it up too bad. Has some good reviews. Looks like it should do the trick if you only need a 3-bar rack.

[tnumrych]

With a toddler and twins due any day now boredom is not a luxury I have.

Anyone familiar with this Yes4All brand on amazon? They have a uhmw lined 3 bar rack for $43 that's tempting.

Yes4All is generic made in China stuff. But it's a pretty simple item, hard to screw it up too bad. Has some good reviews. Looks like it should do the trick if you only need a 3-bar rack.

Seems you're the perfect person to ask this then since I was also considering the 6 bar Titan version. I can't tell from their pictures, but are the hooks on the Titan rack lined with UHMW or sandwiched/alongside?

[throwinshapes]

With a toddler and twins due any day now boredom is not a luxury I have.

Anyone familiar with this Yes4All brand on amazon? They have a uhmw lined 3 bar rack for $43 that's tempting.

Yes4All is generic made in China stuff. But it's a pretty simple item, hard to screw it up too bad. Has some good reviews. Looks like it should do the trick if you only need a 3-bar rack.

Seems you're the perfect person to ask this then since I was also considering the 6 bar Titan version. I can't tell from their pictures, but are the hooks on the Titan rack lined with UHMW or sandwiched/alongside?

I have that Titan one, its one plate of steel, one plate of UHMW.

[TimK]

With a toddler and twins due any day now boredom is not a luxury I have.

Anyone familiar with this Yes4All brand on amazon? They have a uhmw lined 3 bar rack for $43 that's tempting.

Yes4All is generic made in China stuff. But it's a pretty simple item, hard to screw it up too bad. Has some good reviews. Looks like it should do the trick if you only need a 3-bar rack.

Seems you're the perfect person to ask this then since I was also considering the 6 bar Titan version. I can't tell from their pictures, but are the hooks on the Titan rack lined with UHMW or sandwiched/alongside?

I have that Titan one, its one plate of steel, one plate of UHMW.

Yeah, here's a review with photos showing the construction: http://fitnesstestlab.com/titan-fitness ... ck-review/

[Paul]

Anyone here try DIYing their own horizontal barbell gun rack? I've been thinking about making one but I'm not sure if it's practical, especially when Titan sells a 6 bar rack for ~70, what say ye?

My plan was to get some 2x4s, an HDPE or UHWM bar on amazon, cutting the 2x4s and the HDPE/UHMW bars same length, screwing those together, then drilling a hole at the edge with a forstner bit or hole saw through both layers, then screwing this finished strip to another 2x4 piece (making an "L" shaped piece), then attaching this to the wall with anchors.

I'm probably not explaining this well. But if you're picking up what I'm putting down let me know how far off I am with my plan.

I made mine with two 2x4 pieces I had laying around. Literally, just a pair of 2x4s bolted to the wall.

Hole saw near the edge, bandsaw to finish. Sanded it smooth. Did not use HDPE, just plain wood.

No 'L' piece or anything like that.

If I did it again, I would either use the 'L', put some horizontal 2x4s behind them, or just use 2x6 for a bit more clearance from the wall, but it works fine as is.

[tnumrych]

Anyone here try DIYing their own horizontal barbell gun rack? I've been thinking about making one but I'm not sure if it's practical, especially when Titan sells a 6 bar rack for ~70, what say ye?

My plan was to get some 2x4s, an HDPE or UHWM bar on amazon, cutting the 2x4s and the HDPE/UHMW bars same length, screwing those together, then drilling a hole at the edge with a forstner bit or hole saw through both layers, then screwing this finished strip to another 2x4 piece (making an "L" shaped piece), then attaching this to the wall with anchors.

I'm probably not explaining this well. But if you're picking up what I'm putting down let me know how far off I am with my plan.

I made mine with two 2x4 pieces I had laying around. Literally, just a pair of 2x4s bolted to the wall.

Hole saw near the edge, bandsaw to finish. Sanded it smooth. Did not use HDPE, just plain wood.

No 'L' piece or anything like that.

If I did it again, I would either use the 'L', put some horizontal 2x4s behind them, or just use 2x6 for a bit more clearance from the wall, but it works fine as is.

I was thinking of doing the same thing but I thought the knurling would chip/"sand" the wood which would deposit into the knurling.

[damufunman]

Booo, not that easy for me. Maybe I'm special...

I got an extension for the mini jack and now it works great, don't need to put my full bodyweight to lift the bar:

mini jack extentionator.jpg

Also, figured out why (the top blocks at least) wobble about, apparently I did a shit job putting them together flat and flush:

shoddy block construction.jpg

Now to figure out how to even those out...

[damufunman]

Is the depression in the mat deeper with more weight?

I'm not sure. My gut feeling is that it'll be a minimal difference since it should be roughly the same pressure since more weight has larger surface area to sit on, aside from bar weight. But 415 last week didn't seem totally off, so that's good. I'll try to remember to compare top single and backoff sets.

I remembered to measure this weekend.

225:

225 sink.jpg

and 425:

425 sink right.jpg

So a bit different, ~1/4".

Also, my pads are uneven so the bar sits at an angle. Took some angles and did some trig and it seems the left plates sit about 0.87" higher than the right. Not a big deal, and only ~1/2" where I grip, about an inch or two inside the rings. But slightly annoying to me thinking about it. Oh wells.

uneven bar.jpg

[iamsmu]

Booo, not that easy for me. Maybe I'm special...

Now to figure out how to even those out...

It takes some tinkering to figure out where to put the deadwedge on the plate, etc. Once you find the sweet spot, it's not awful.

Can you unscrew all those, reverse them (to get away from the old holes), set it on something flat, and then screw them back in place.

Are your pads different or is the floor uneven? I suspect that there is some difference between pads, even if that's not what's going on in your situation.

[damufunman]

It takes some tinkering to figure out where to put the deadwedge on the plate, etc. Once you find the sweet spot, it's not awful.

I like the mini jack better now that I have better leverage. Even with a plate the bar still tries to roll back into the depression. Maybe I need to use a larger plate...

Can you unscrew all those, reverse them (to get away from the old holes), set it on something flat, and then screw them back in place.

I thought about it, probably need to do the lower blocks as well. Though I did all the holes symmetrical over the center plane, so it's conceivable they'll still almost line up even after flipping which will make things difficult to not want to self (mis)align. Then I need to find time to actually do it, but it really bothers me so I'll probably end up doing that.

Are your pads different or is the floor uneven? I suspect that there is some difference between pads, even if that's not what's going on in your situation.

Pretty sure it's the pads, I did a much better job with the platform than the blocks, pretty level in 2 directions, and you can actually see the difference in the height of the plates on the pads.

[Paul]

I was thinking of doing the same thing but I thought the knurling would chip/"sand" the wood which would deposit into the knurling.

The bar I use for deadlifts is quite aggressive and likely would mark it up with continued use, but that bar stays loaded 95% of the time. My Cap OB86 PBCK, vintage york bar, and a cheap chrome bar mostly just burnished the hooks. If I notice serious wear I might add something to protect it, but right now I'm not worried.

[Skander]

Quick question: for belt squats, is there any reason to not just hook a belt to a loading pin and stand on blocks? My space is really awkward for a landmine style setup.

For a dip belt, do I need to get something fancy like a pioneer, or will whatever nylon crap off Amazon work? I see that those tend to have a ~200# weight limit- how heavy do people normally do belt squats?

[Ragholmes]

Quick question: for belt squats, is there any reason to not just hook a belt to a loading pin and stand on blocks?

I considered doing it that way, never actually tried it though. I ended up going with the lever style to avoid using blocks.
The pictures/video I saw of people doing it that way had them up surprisingly high to get clearance. I think you'd need a 10 ft ceiling (which I don't have) I was also concerned about the awkwardness of setting up. You would have to set-up the connection short with the weights up on the blocks and then drop them down into the the gap between the blocks. It just seemed awkward, and even more so 3-4 feet up on blocks.
You said you don't have space for a landmine set-up, but if you have the ceiling height then it might be a better option for you. I'm sure it works well, there are lots of people who have found a way to make it work.

[damufunman]

Quick question: for belt squats, is there any reason to not just hook a belt to a loading pin and stand on blocks? My space is really awkward for a landmine style setup.

For a dip belt, do I need to get something fancy like a pioneer, or will whatever nylon crap off Amazon work? I see that those tend to have a ~200# weight limit- how heavy do people normally do belt squats?

I'd be concerned with being able to load enough weight (I've gotten up to 220 x 15+ with a 2/3 lading ratio, so ~150 lbs belt load and will be going higher next time I do them), and having the space for plates between blocks. Do you have 7-9x 25 lb iron plates you can hang (unless your stance is wide enough to accomodate 45 lb plates, then you only need ~4.

As for the belt, I use this: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01I6 ... UTF8&psc=1 D-rings so far have held up fine. I removed the chain and am currently using a daisy chain, but I might go back to the chain, the diasy chain spacing is too coarse and I often end up on stitching which doesn't bend well over the caribiner.

[TimK]

Quick question: for belt squats, is there any reason to not just hook a belt to a loading pin and stand on blocks? My space is really awkward for a landmine style setup.

For a dip belt, do I need to get something fancy like a pioneer, or will whatever nylon crap off Amazon work? I see that those tend to have a ~200# weight limit- how heavy do people normally do belt squats?

Some people do them off blocks/boxes, just seems really awkward to set up and potentially more dangerous, but you can make it work. I would at least want something to hold on to for balance, I think.

I have seen lots of comments about how belt squats with a dip belt are really painful. The Spud or Ironmind belts are much better by all accounts. I have the Spud belt and it's good, haven't tried with anything else though. I've heard the Ironmind is better but it's quite a bit pricier too.