I am now to the point where gymming it is less and less practical. Coaching, teaching, and the kids’ activities have left me with less and less time to travel to a gym (the closest place to work out is 12 miles away).
I am working on setting up a place to lift in my garage and was wondering if anybody knew where I might find blueprints/plans for things like power racks and benches.
I teach at a vocational high school, so I have access to excellent fabrication facilities…
[quote]driveblock wrote:
I am now to the point where gymming it is less and less practical. Coaching, teaching, and the kids’ activities have left me with less and less time to travel to a gym (the closest place to work out is 12 miles away).
I am working on setting up a place to lift in my garage and was wondering if anybody knew where I might find blueprints/plans for things like power racks and benches.
I teach at a vocational high school, so I have access to excellent fabrication facilities…[/quote]
I made my own powerrack but honestly by the time I spent $250+ on materials and about 30 hours of my time I should have just bought one for $600 (this is canadian money). Probably cheaper in the US though. Mine is heavier however not that I will ever be loading it to 1000lbs but I’m sure it would take it.
Oh…and I didn’t have the luxury of blueprints. I just got the dimensions and pictures off the internet and winged it. I did buy the bench though.
mig
We started a gym in our basement for the same reason several years ago. I am interested in blueprints also, but have not run across any.
Consider the home gym as a long term investment that you can develop through the years. With the money you will save by not paying gym dues, you can collect some excellent equipment. The bonus side to buying rather than fabrication is safety- ie, how sure are you that the equipment you make will be safe yet not take up too much space? Start with some free weights & build from there.
If you’re not real picky often times you can get decent stuff from the classifieds or a used eq dealer like 2nd Wind or Play it Again. In the classifieds you get this type of stuff pennies on the dollar.

I’m building my own squat stand/bench press at the moment. Here is a quick picture. I’ve still got to finalise section sizes and overall proportions.
It’s very simple, but it is all I need.
I live in a small unit so I’ll have to store it disassembled next to my car, broken down it’ll fit in the back of my shitbox car.
Mild steel is cheap and it won’t take long to weld up. If there is enough interest I might put together some drawings and release them for free on the internet.