DIY Gym Bars Holder

Hi everyone!

In this ible I will show you how to build a cheap Gym Bar Holder saving your money.

I went in my favourite sport shop searching a bar holder to keep my 3 bars organized better because I used to keep them on the floor, but I found just one too big for my little gym and it was expensive too.

So I thought to build it by myself using some scrap metal. I Googled it searching some ideas and I finally choose a simple shape. A flat metal piece with 3 empty tubes welded on it.

Let's go to the next step to see materials and tools.

MATERIALS:

- a flat large piece of metal

- three metal empty tubes

- a flat metal bar

TOOLS:

- safety gloves and safety glasses

- welder

- drill

- flat file

- round file

- cutting wheel and sanding wheel

- drill bits

- screw and it's relative rawlplug

For the base we need a metal panel thick enough to be strong and sturdy.

Initially I wanted to use the panel of the first photo, but then I noticed to have a piece of metal that was thicker (1cm) so I decided to cut and use that one.

All I had to do was simply remove the rust from it with the sanding wheel and than cut the flat part with the cutting wheel.

P.S. Sorry! for some unknown reason I lost the photo of the cutted piece :P

As you can see in my project (photo#1), my gym is 2,4m high; since my longer bar measures 2m, the left space measures 40cm. (2,4m - 2m = 0,4m)

The thickness of my base panel is 1cm so I decided to cut the tubes (the future bar holders) 25cm long. In this way I'll have 14 cm of maneuvering space. (40cm - 26cm = 14cm)

In order to choose the tubes of the right size, we have to measure the diameter of the bars with a caliber. I measured them in the smaller section, where I usually add weights. (see photo#2)

I have three bars: two with the diameter of 2,9cm and one (the EZ bar) with the diameter of 2,5cm; so I looked into my pile of scrap metal tubes and I finally choose two tubes with the inner hole of 3,5cm and 2.7cm.

Now we need to cut them 25cm long as planned and file the cut parts to make it safer. (photo#5)

NOTE: When I insert the two longer bars (2,9cm of diameter) into their tubes (3,5cm), the gap between them measures 0,6cm. If I had to buy them, I would have bought one with the inner hole of 3,2cm to make it more tight, but I used just scrap pieces, so I choose the most appropriate for me without buying it. I also decided to choose this tube because even if there is this gap of 0,6cm it's still safe, sturdy and it doesn't move a lot.

I welded the cut pieces on the base putting the smaller one in the middle.

This for two reason: 1st simply for the aesthetic and 2nd because in this way I tried to balance everything. (the longer one weighs 12kg, the EZ weighs 5kg and the last one weighs 10kg; so I put the lighter in the middle and the heaviest at the sides).

After welding them I filed all the welded parts with a circular file.

P.S. I know... the welded parts are a little ugly and not perfect as they should be... but this was the first time that I welded something so... not bad! :P what do you think? (obviously they are safe! I tested them jumping above them ahahaha)

To make the bar holder more strong and sturdy, I decided to add a "L piece" (photo#3) that will keep it in place and it will prevent any possible future falls.

So I cut a flat metal bar in two pieces 5cm long.

I drilled a hole in one piece to fasten it on the wall with a screw and a rawlplug, and I cut a curved line to the other one to adapt it to the central tube and to weld it better.

I welded those two pieces together creating a "L" and I welded this "L" to the central tube.

Now the bar holder it's finished and we just need to secure it on the wall.

Simply drill a hole in the wall with the right bit, insert the rawlplug and then tighten the screw.

P.S. As you can see in photo#3 I initially forgot to countersink the hole! This is a fast update that I made the day after the building to make it cleaner... ;)
I simply enlarged (or better countersinked) the hole with my countersinking drill bit and finally I re-screwed in the screw.

Well done! We have finished it saving money! This really important for me because I'm a student and I don't work, so I have always to save money.

Now my gym is better organised and I also avoid to break any tile when I put back the bars. ;)

Thank you for reading my Instructable. ;)
Feel free to comment and ask if you need to know something!

manuelmasc