Power rack

[Thurstan]

Hi guys i took a shot at drawing a power rack in sketchup. I want to build it now.
But i have a question about what materials would be best to use? like thickness of the steel etc. Im thinking about taking 50mmx50mm with 3mm thickness. Do you guys think that is enough to hold alot of weight?

[ironmangq]

I would shoot for 3/16 wall ~4.8mm. I have seen a lot of these things and they arent real heavy wall but in my opinion it never hurts to overbuild a little anyway especially if you plan on putting a lot of weight on it. I've seen what happens when 500lbs ends up dropping on to the safety pins and its not fun when they fold in half (1" solid pins) Looks like a solid design except for having no support under the middle uprights. That tube on the bottom will flex a lot under load so I would add a 3rd set of "legs" under that.

[Thurstan]

Thats a very good id. An extra pair of legs would make it alot stronger and making the contstuction stronger isnt gonna hurt any1 . 4.8mm does sound a little overkill but i guess you are right. I wouldnt want it to fold in half while im in it. . Better safe than sorry

If i use a thickness of 4.8 i probable be able to make another system for the safety bars aswell. since it will support alot more.

[RoosterBuster]

Would gussets help at all on the bottom?

I have used quite a few racks that were pretty shaky, always wondered why they wouldn't throw some gussets in the corners.

[SovXietday]

Bring the lower support bars up higher, say about mid thigh level (For me that's about 2'). It will not only make the rack more stable, but it will allow you to have an "escape" if you are unable to lift the weight while squatting. In other words, it leaves enough room from the floor to where the bar stops going down for you to get out from underneath.

I would also use something like 2"x4" (4" side being vertical) and angle the bars back slightly for the actual rack.

Also, using 2x4 will allow you to build weight storage into the side of the rack, which will make it much more stable.

At least, that's how I'd do it.