peterd51
happy to be here!
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Hi Guys,
I work away from home sometimes and as I try to do about 30 minutes of exercise each evening I decided to make an exercise bench that I could drop down to fit in the car-boot. I also wanted a device that would allow specific exercises such as chin-ups and calf stretches.
This is what I came up with:
One end is the same contruction as the market stall table that I decribed the other day (a four sided 'box' construction) except it doesn't have pockets for the rails to drop into. The rails slip directly into the legs and I do any 'heavy' lifting at this end...I wouldn't want it to collapse! For this reason I've added an extra box section to the top of the legs to support the plywood base around all four edges.
The other end piece is also modified as there's no 'top' so I can do chin-ups and not catch my knees. It's also wider as I needed the upper legs far enough apart to get my shoulders inside and I wanted these upper legs to sit directly into the lower legs rather than a pocket, again to reduce the risk of collapse. I've had to use double 'pockets' to allow the main rails to be parallel.
Also note that the bottom rail is doubled up so I can get my toes on it to do calf-raises/lowering. I also added a couple of pieces of flat plate 'on edge' under this double rail to give a little more support.
The upper legs are straight box sections with an in-line 'pin' and the upper cross-rail is actually steam pipe (25mm diameter, 4mm thick) again to support the weight.
I didn't have a single piece of pipe long enough, only off cuts from making my car roof-rack, so I joined them with a 6" length of tube up the middle to keep the two edges level and to give added strength. I left a small 'butt' gap and filled it with weld so I know I got penetration on the inner tube.
When I did my first chin-up the far end of the bench lifted so I added a couple of stabilisers that slip into pockets near the bottom of the legs at the 'open' end of the bench...you can see these in the 3rd photo above.
The main rails are 1" box with 20mm box 'pins', cut to a length of around 3'6" to support me from head to bum.
After using it a few times I added a modification where I cut the 'closed' end legs down by an inch, welded a couple of nuts onto squares of plate with holes in them and welded these into the lower end of the legs. Another couple of plates with bolts welded on gives me two adjustable levellers. You can see these in the 2nd photo above.
All the metal was old market stall, cleaned up enough to weld so it cost nothing but I really must get around to painting it soon!
The bench top is made from a piece of plywood (cost £1.50 from a car-boot) with some 2" foam (cost £4 off the market) and some vinyl fabric (cost £5 off the same market) so I can wipe it clean.
I drilled holes in the wood and droped bolts in to clamp the metal bits underneath and these stop the top sliding off the frame...the longer bar clips over the side rails and supports the end where there's no upper rail. I put the foam over the wood and used a bit of old bed sheet to hold the foam in place, stretched it over the foam and stapled to the underside.
The last job to do is to cover it with the vinyl but before I do that I plan to sew a seam about 6mm diameter (possibly with some string inside?) that will nicely fit the top of the foam...this will allow a nice 90 degree change of direction on the vinyl without forcing the edges of the foam down (does that make sense?).
I haven't done this yet as I daren't ask my wife if I can borrow her sewing machine, she'd go beserk! Anyway she has a a four-stitch-overlocker, or something, far to complex for a man to use so I bought my own sewing machine from a charity shop for £15...
I needed one anyway to repair the skirt on my hovercraft (hovercraft details are on my web-site www.padco.net, if anyone's interested).
I hope this has given someone the inspiration to get started on that fitness routine that they been putting off!
Just 15 minutes of 'weights' per night (different muscle-group each night) and then a few sit-ups, 30 minutes total while you watch a bit of TV around 9.00 or 10.00pm.
Full sets of weights are cheap off ebay, mine cost me £35, or there's plenty of kit around the car boots, hardly used. Actually to try it out I initally used a couple of plastic milk bottles filled with water, 1 litre = 1 kilo, etc.
Regards
Peter
I work away from home sometimes and as I try to do about 30 minutes of exercise each evening I decided to make an exercise bench that I could drop down to fit in the car-boot. I also wanted a device that would allow specific exercises such as chin-ups and calf stretches.
This is what I came up with:
One end is the same contruction as the market stall table that I decribed the other day (a four sided 'box' construction) except it doesn't have pockets for the rails to drop into. The rails slip directly into the legs and I do any 'heavy' lifting at this end...I wouldn't want it to collapse! For this reason I've added an extra box section to the top of the legs to support the plywood base around all four edges.
The other end piece is also modified as there's no 'top' so I can do chin-ups and not catch my knees. It's also wider as I needed the upper legs far enough apart to get my shoulders inside and I wanted these upper legs to sit directly into the lower legs rather than a pocket, again to reduce the risk of collapse. I've had to use double 'pockets' to allow the main rails to be parallel.
Also note that the bottom rail is doubled up so I can get my toes on it to do calf-raises/lowering. I also added a couple of pieces of flat plate 'on edge' under this double rail to give a little more support.
The upper legs are straight box sections with an in-line 'pin' and the upper cross-rail is actually steam pipe (25mm diameter, 4mm thick) again to support the weight.
I didn't have a single piece of pipe long enough, only off cuts from making my car roof-rack, so I joined them with a 6" length of tube up the middle to keep the two edges level and to give added strength. I left a small 'butt' gap and filled it with weld so I know I got penetration on the inner tube.
When I did my first chin-up the far end of the bench lifted so I added a couple of stabilisers that slip into pockets near the bottom of the legs at the 'open' end of the bench...you can see these in the 3rd photo above.
The main rails are 1" box with 20mm box 'pins', cut to a length of around 3'6" to support me from head to bum.
After using it a few times I added a modification where I cut the 'closed' end legs down by an inch, welded a couple of nuts onto squares of plate with holes in them and welded these into the lower end of the legs. Another couple of plates with bolts welded on gives me two adjustable levellers. You can see these in the 2nd photo above.
All the metal was old market stall, cleaned up enough to weld so it cost nothing but I really must get around to painting it soon!
The bench top is made from a piece of plywood (cost £1.50 from a car-boot) with some 2" foam (cost £4 off the market) and some vinyl fabric (cost £5 off the same market) so I can wipe it clean.
I drilled holes in the wood and droped bolts in to clamp the metal bits underneath and these stop the top sliding off the frame...the longer bar clips over the side rails and supports the end where there's no upper rail. I put the foam over the wood and used a bit of old bed sheet to hold the foam in place, stretched it over the foam and stapled to the underside.
The last job to do is to cover it with the vinyl but before I do that I plan to sew a seam about 6mm diameter (possibly with some string inside?) that will nicely fit the top of the foam...this will allow a nice 90 degree change of direction on the vinyl without forcing the edges of the foam down (does that make sense?).
I haven't done this yet as I daren't ask my wife if I can borrow her sewing machine, she'd go beserk! Anyway she has a a four-stitch-overlocker, or something, far to complex for a man to use so I bought my own sewing machine from a charity shop for £15...
I needed one anyway to repair the skirt on my hovercraft (hovercraft details are on my web-site www.padco.net, if anyone's interested).
I hope this has given someone the inspiration to get started on that fitness routine that they been putting off!
Just 15 minutes of 'weights' per night (different muscle-group each night) and then a few sit-ups, 30 minutes total while you watch a bit of TV around 9.00 or 10.00pm.
Full sets of weights are cheap off ebay, mine cost me £35, or there's plenty of kit around the car boots, hardly used. Actually to try it out I initally used a couple of plastic milk bottles filled with water, 1 litre = 1 kilo, etc.
Regards
Peter