Building Your Own Power Rack
By Stuart Wadley
 The first step is to decide if the plan for
the rack suits your particular needs. For example, are you very tall/short,
are you having bar racks
for the front uprights facing outwards, etc. The plans are adaptable
up to a point, although I would not increase the distance from front
to back by very much without consulting a welder/engineer as this will
reduce the strength of the safety catches.
If you are happy with the plan you can get started for real.
Update
The one thing that Stuart would change is the depth of the cage, he would
recomment you made the upright around 30-40 inches apart. The one in
the photo uses 20 inches between uprights. This will give more room
for squatting, jerks etc.
STEP 1: Itemise your requirements.
Look at the plan and see what and how many lengths of box section you
require.
For example:
2 inch box section
2 x 96”, 2 x 84” and so on. Remember the box section for
the safety catches will be 20” minus approximately one eighth of
an inch due to the 2.25” box section sticking out.
Remember you also need the 2.25” box section for the safety catches
and bar racks.
Flat bar is required for where the bar sits in the bar rack.
Round bar is needed for the chin up bar or bars depending on what you
want. I recommend putting in at least one chin bar of normal size (1” to
1.25”) but personally I like to have a normal size on one set of
uprights and a thicker bar (up to 2”) across the other uprights
to test the grip a little.
You also need 0.5” bar or heavy bolts as pins for your catches
and bar racks.
STEP 2: Visit Supplier
Take your list down to your local supplier and have a look at what’s
on offer. Talk to the supplier about what it’s being used for and
the weights involved. They will give you good guidance but go for as
heavy/strong as you can afford. Then ask the supplier to cut the metal
to your list requirements.
STEP 3: Drilling the holes.
You now need to drill all the appropriate holes in the box section prior
to assembly. Remember you need two holes in each of the pieces of box
section that go from front to back on the floor to allow for your floor
bolts (Perhaps you should buy your bolts at this stage to ensure the
holes are the correct size). This is much easier then trying to do
it after. You really need a good bench drill to do this so unless you
have the tools yourself it is well worth taking it to the welding/engineering
shop to get them to do it. At this point it is worth cutting out the
semi-circles for the chin bars to sit in. Place the bar on the edge
of the box section and draw the semi-circle around it. Then cut out.
STEP 4: Assembly. - Start with the safety catches and the bar racks so that they can be
slid over the uprights before they are assembled. Once welded up these
pieces should be slid over the uprights. Remember to get the uprights
in the right places and the bar racks facing the correct way!
- Take one side of your rack and weld the front-to-back box section
in place at the base and top. Repeat the process for the other side.
- You then have two sides of your rack welded and solid. Take the two
sides and place the chin bars across the top. It may be helpful to clamp
a piece of wood across the bottom of the rack, front and back to ensure
that the rack is straight up and down before you start welding.
- When you are happy the rack is looking good and square start welding.
- Your rack should now be ready to move into position. You will hopefully
have worked out the position for the rack remembering to leave enough
room for spotters, loading, etc. so place the rack in position and mark
the floor through the holes in your base box section. Move the rack away
and drill your holes for your bolts. A local hardware shop should be
able to supply heavy stainless steel floor bolts for you. Bolt the rack
in place and get squatting.
This plan is produced by Powergym, Shetland, a local community weight
training club. The rack has been used safely for a number of years. The
club recommends that all engineering work be carried out by trained professionals.
How
To Increase Your Bench Press By 50 Pounds in 10 Weeks
http://www.criticalbench.com/program.htm
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