DIY Parallettes From Plywood - Three Sizes

I have recently started to get more serious about calisthenics and parallettes are a great tool. They save your wrists and they are a great beginner's tool since you don't have to be too high off the ground when you inevitably fall and fall you will!!!

The second picture shows the inspiration for the project - i tried to find this company and i think they are defunct based on the website but i am not trying to rip off their work or photos - I used a lot of what i had a round but I did buy a 48" oak 1.25" dowel for the handle portion. these can and should be modified as you need, large for lift and press training, short and small to toss in a gym bag, whatever you want.

Materials:

3/4" plywood- any will do, sanded and baltic birch are nice upgrades but not at all necessary.

1.25" oak dowel- any similarly sized hardwood will work, i did not want to turn my own and use my 'fancy' woods so this was cheap and available at Lowes.

glue- i like titebond II

Tools and supplies::

clamps- i used some spring and C-clamps

drill and spade bit- i used my drill press but a hand drill could easily be swapped in

saw-i used a band saw but a circular saw in the 6-10" size range and a jig saw can be used too

sander-i used a bench sander but a palm sander and good saw work could do just as well

1/8" drill bit for screw holes

4 x 3" deck screws (per set of P bars)

there are three sizes of Pbars i am making in this write - up.

Small- 3" base. Bar is about 2.5" off the ground. Length of the bar is 6"

medium- 5" base. Bar is 5.5" off the ground and length is 12"

large/tall- 12" base, bar is 11.5" off the ground and length is 18"

I cut plywood scar pieces into 5" and 3" pieces and then cut them down according to the pieces i needed:

these images are best for the Small project but the application is the same for all. you cut the glued up wood to the desired size and mark the hole location for the dowel.

Use a 1.25" spade bit to drill .5-.75" into the material. use the stop on the drill press or mark on the drill blade with masking tape so you know where to stop.

then decide on the shape. For the Small i opted for an agular top, the Medium i went with a soft radiused top, all up to you.

once you have the shape cut out, clean it up on the sander.

fill the hole in the plywood with good wood glue and then gently insert the dowel. I then held the dowel with one hand while pressing using a hand drill with the other to set the long screw into the dowel. always remember to predrill to avoid splitting.

then use a flat surface as a reference to be sure they are level and set on the same plane,

then clean up the wet glue as it is much easier than dry

these are a lot of fun and can be a tremendously hard piece of workout equipment, please use them within your abilities and ENJOY

i have not completed the large ones just yet but i will add the finished results here - thanks!

do not attempt ninja moves unless you are a ninja