Building the Power Rack

Disclaimer, This website is presented for the enjoyment of its readers only. The owner of the website and author of this article are not professional engineers or designers. The fabrication of exercise equipment such as a power rack is an inherently dangerous process for the builder and users. Anyone considering the construction of such equipment should consult the appropriate professionals for preparation of a qualified engineered design. Under no circumstances shall the website owner or author be responsible for any loss or damages, regardless of severity, that arise from the use of information published on this website.

The Power Rack is by far the most important piece of equipment in the gym, after a bar and weights of course. They come in all sizes and can range in price from $400 to several grand, but the investment in a well-built rack will pay dividends well beyond your training life, and that of your kids. The first thing you need to do is find out what options you want in you rack, and there are many, from extra pins, j-hook styles, safety catch design, band pegs, 2x2 or 3x3 steel, monkey bars or straight bar, attachments, the list goes on. I suggest doing plenty of research and going for the best you can afford. You will grow into the rack even if youre not using bands or chains now but it will be more costly to replace a cheap rack later on down the road, especially if you bought one rated at 300 or 500 pounds and now find yourself in a position where that just isnt enough. Should you find yourself in a position that you need a custom built rack, have a look at a basic build I did in my shop over the spring. First is the construction, minimum 2x2 in 11 gauge (.120) steel. Powder coating is nice and durable but paint is fine too. The paint will scratch easily but people should be looking at you, not the equipment. The hole size can be important if you want to add on additional items from different manufactures, and most commercial racks have 1 inch holes on 3 inch centers. Of course, if you are building your own rack chances are that you will build your own accessories as well. The spacing of the holes is important. The closer the holes are, especially in the bench press range the better range of motion you will get. Band pegs are nice for advanced lifters who need to use accommodating resistance techniques but you can always choke the bands around the lower support or dumbbells. One thing to note is that the larger the holes i.e. 1 inch, the larger the spacing in between. Thats why a lot of upper grade racks have moved to a version of the rod and pin design. A full description of racks, options, pros and cons is for another time, so on to my first power rack build. Skills, tools and equipment. You should be proficient at welding. It doesnt have to look good but it does need to be structurally sound. You dont want this collapsing when you fail a max attempt. As far as tools: a good drill press, sharp bits, tape measure, square, clamps and a chop/mtier saw with a metal cutting blade. (A skill saw could be used but it

wont be as safe.) A nice grinder and other metal working tools can make the job easier but is not required. For materials, 2 sticks (48 total feet) of 11 ga. (.120) 2x2 square tubing, misc. flat steel (2x by about 3 feet), Grade 8 bolts, 8 feet of 1 inch schedule 40 pipe, 6 feet of 1.5 inch schedule 40 pipe, 36 inches of steel unthreaded rod, and 1 4x4 sheet of Plywood (4x8 if you want a 4x4 floor under the rack.) I started this build for a gym at my Police Department. With that in mind I made the rack a full 8 feet since we have some taller guys that would like to press inside the rack. I also personally like a deep rack so I measured the inside dimension to a full 3 feet and 4 feet wide for sumo pulls. I also made the holes 3 inches on center because they probably wont be using this for competition training. I had the steel mill cut the 2@24 foot pieces down to 6@8 feet. Not only did I need them cut to 8 feet for the uprights, but they fit quite nicely for transport in a pick up or minivan at that length. The lengths brake down like this, take 4 of the 8 footers and leave them for the uprights. Take 1 of the 8 footers and cut out 2 pieces, 1 @3 feet for the lower cross beam and one @40 inches for the upper cross beam. Do this step for each side so you will end up w/aprox. 2, 20 inch scrap pieces. You should now have 4@8 feet, 2@3 feet, 2 @ 40 inches, and 2@ 20 inch scraps. Now comes the time consuming part, drilling 200+ holes in 2x2 steel. I chose 3 inch centers but I would have done 2 inch centers with 1 inch spacing in the bench area if I had to do it all over again. I also made a jig out of wood that had a pin and a guide hole so that I could locate the next hole by placing the pin in the previously drilled one (Figure 1-3). In practice this worked great except that as time went on, the guide hole got elongated and the hole placement got slightly off, noticeable (1/8 to ) if you put the uprights side by side but not over a distance of 3 to 4 feet. If I had to do it over, I would have made the guide of steel or marked each hole for precise location. Thats just me being anal, as I said the errors I made on this build were not even noticeable once assembled. (Figure 4) To drill the holes I used a drill press with a 2 inch stroke. This meant that after I drilled the holes in the first side, I had to adjust the drill press height to drill the opposite side. A drill press with a longer stroke would have saved significant time and effort. I started with a cobalt bit in inch and then used a step bit to bring it up to my final dimension of inch at 600 rpms (Photo at Right). I used lubricating (cutting) oil liberally and even used some bar oil for a chain saw on the bits to keep them sharp and cutting. If drilling larger holes I would use a slower speed as 600 was pushing it. Start the holes above 9 inches. A typical 45 pound plate puts the bar at 9 inches off the floor so I chose 12 inches as my first hole, again I used 3 inch spacing so do as you wish. I also terminated my holes at 7 feet as this was near the top lockout for any presses inside the rack. For the bottom cross bar I chose to start and terminate the holes 6 inches from the uprights using the same process as the uprights. I chose not to put band pegs on the upper cross members but it would not be difficult to do it the same way as the bottom ones. For the chin-up bar, I used 1 inch schedule 40 pipe. I cut 2 pieces to 4 feet and then cut half the pipe out at 2 inches on each side to give it a flat surface to weld to some angle iron. (Photo at Left)

Caution! It is highly advised that you DO NOT make this cut with a circular saw. The blade will be penetrating 2 inches into the pipe and there is not a good support surface for the saw to ride on. If you do not have a sliding saw and a secure way to clamp the pipe, DO NOT use power tools for this cut! A vice is required! If you think you can hold the pipe steady and push it into a stationary blade, you cant! Any twisting of the pipe can cause the blade to bind or shatter. Use protective gear and follow the manufacturers directions for use of power tools. Just because I did it does not mean it is safe! I highly recommend using a hack saw with the pipe securely held in a vice for these cuts. It may take a bit longer but youll still have your sight afterwards. The angle iron (steel) was cut to a length of 24 inches and the pipe was welded at each end so that when assembled, one pipe was at the back of the rack and the pipe used for chins would be about 1/3 the way back from the front of the rack. Lay the assembled chinup bracket on top of the upper cross members and drill holes through the pipe, angle iron, and the cross member (Photo at Right.) I used the same bit for some grade 8 bolts. At this point you also want to mark the front of the chin bracket, left and right cross members for assembly later just in case your holes arent perfectly uniform, which they probably wont be. Now it was time to assemble the rack. Lay the 2 uprights parallel to each other. The upper cross member is laid on the top and flush with the outsides of the uprights and the lower is placed in between the uprights about 3 inches up from the bottom of the uprights. Make sure your holes are facing the right direction, square the unit by measuring corners and tack weld it into place. Lay the next set of steel on the first assembly and tack weld that set too. After checking everything again, weld all the pieces together. This would also be a good time to weld a plate with a hole in it to the bottom of the uprights so that you can secure the rack to the floor. There is one other addition to the rack to aid in stability; a cross beam was made with some 1x1 square tubing and bolted in at 79.5 inches off the ground (Picture at Left) and a board is mounted between the back uprights to help with lateral movement. I attached a piece of angle iron to the outside edges of the uprights, extending 14 inches down from the top, making a channel on the back side for the wood to slide into and notched the bottom so the board would not slide out (Figure 5.)This also makes a great place to put a design, logo, inspirational quote or a black/white board. I used plywood and just painted it white because thats what I had laying around. (Figure 6) For the band pegs I used some grade 5 bolts and welded a washer on the bolt head side about 1.5 inches down the shaft so that I could secure the bolt with a nut and still have room for the bands between the washer and the bolt head. (Picture at Right)

The safety pins were a deviation on the rod and pin design. Instead of using a full length pin, I used grade 8 bolts so that they protruded into the rod (pipe). To get the most strength possible I made sure that the bolt went into the pipe at full girth, and the threads did not start until about 1 inch on the inside of the pipe. To add a pin catch so that it cannot come out during reps, drill a inch hole into the head of the bolt, attach a bent steel rod and welded it into place (Figure 7). This same process is used in the j hook retaining nut which I will explain later. For the rod (pipe) of the rod and pin design I used 1.5 (1.9 OD) inch schedule 40 pipe cut down to a length of 35.5 inches. You will want the pipe slightly shorter than the 36 inches to help in removal and placement of the safeties. The closer to the uprights the stronger it will be. Now for the J hooks. I used some steel, cut it to 2 inches wide and put a right angle bend 4 inches down and a slight bend 2 inches down from that with a 1 inch lip. I didnt have a press break so I put cuts into the steel, bent it and refilled the metal with some welds. Since the I had was 8 inches long, I used the remaining 1 inch piece as a brace underneath the hook. For the attachment point of the j hook, I ground down the head of a grade 8 bolt and welded it into place. A carriage bolt would have been good but I couldnt get one in grade 8 at the hardware store (Figures 8 & 9, and at Left). After inspection of the hook, I decided to add a 1/8 inch backer plate to the hook and welded it to the bottom brace. The nut was given a handle to tighten down without the need for a wrench. I did this the same way at the catch pin but used a grade 8 bolt with a slight bend (Pictured below right.) To finish things off I added a bracket to attach the unit to the back wall and also give me a storage shelf for some old equipment that we dont use anymore. I cut a 2x4 stud in half and cut a sheet of plywood to 2 feet by 4 feet. I screwed one half of the 2x4 to the back bottom of the Logo board and the other half to the wall of the building. I then laid the plywood shelf on top of the 2x4s and screwed them all together. This made the rack rock solid and I havent even bolted it to the floor yet! (Figure 10.) For the finishing touches I did a paint scheme with the department colors and for the grip on the chin bar, I used some athletic tape I had lying around. Now, since the real test for any choice is having to make the same choice again, knowing full well what it might cost, what would I do different? First, I am really happy with the way this turned out but it could be better. First, I would change the pullup bar setup slightly by having the 1 inch bar at the front 1/3rdof the rack and making the second one a fat bar (1.9 OD) 2/3rds the way back. I would have 2 one inch diameter pipes overhang the side edge

close together for neutral grip pull-ups and put the hole spacing closer, 2 inch centers with 1 inch centers in the bench area. Band pegs at the top should have been done also. For the small amount of time it would have taken, it should have been a no brainer. I would also do a powder coat finish in a commercial/retail environment. The last improvement would be to make the top upper cross members longer (from 40 inches to 60) and use this extra length to bolt the unit to the back wall. You could still put in the shelf if you wanted. Some small changes could be made like eliminating the angle iron on the chin bars and not doing a full angle on the back to hold the Logo but thats just being picky. I am currently designing a mono-lift attachment and auto-spotter for the bench press that I hope to be bolt-on attachments in the near future. I also have a step up/jump box attachment that connects to the 2 front uprights. That is why the front pull up bar is set so far back from the front edge. Feel free to post questions or comments in the forum.
Disclaimer, This website is presented for the enjoyment of its readers only. The owner of the website and author of this article are not professional engineers or designers. The fabrication of exercise equipment such as a power rack is an inherently dangerous process for the builder and users. Anyone considering the construction of such equipment should consult the appropriate professionals for preparation of a qualified engineered design. Under no circumstances shall the website owner or author be responsible for any loss or damages, regardless of severity, that arise from the use of information published on this website.

Lift Heavy, Grim Deaths. Figures 1,2,&3, Hole Spacing Jig.

Figure 4, 5, &6.

Figure 7, 8, & 9.

Figure 10 & Additional Photos.