Galvanized Axles

Okay here they are in their raw glory! Not as pretty as Rogues (or my taped beauties) but from a maintenance standpoint these are great. Sold one already and a couple of boxes are interested as well.

Baby Axle

Well had 4.5' leftover so built a baby axle - 36" between collars. Can't fit a ton of weight on it but with the competition plates could actually load it two 45's no problem.

Prototype axle bar complete!

Okay so finally got the collars and the bar is complete. I like the way it turned out - perfect for home gym use. I'm in the process of making some for a couple of local boxes but instead of tape found a reasonable source for galvanized pipe. Will be much better from a maintenance standpoint. The tape on the part of the bar where you load weights is pretty nice though to make up for the smaller diameter of the pipe (1.9"). The bumper plates fit more snugly (but not tight) and you can use standard sized collars to hold the plates on.

This one is 6' so in between the 5' and 7' I will make for the boxes. Too much waste at 6' (standard pipe length is 21'). I will make a 4.5' with the length I have leftover I'll have my daughter use it... :)

Gin Gym Tour

Well I've added all kinds of stuff to the Gin Gym thought I'd give a quick tour:

(click photo for panorama view)

 

Rogue S-2 (spotter arms, Matador), Pendlay Nexgen bearing barbell, Pendlay comp bumper plates, Hi-temp training plates, Rogue landmine, DIY dog sled, DIY axle, DIY bandbell, Sorinex FNGHD, assorted slam balls (20#-50#), kettlebells (9#-70#), (2) Abmats, iron plates, dumbbells, and bands.  Lockers were from my wife's old work - she wanted them as a keepsake...  They just accumulate junk inside of them but she wanted them what was I supposed to say?  Fits the motif... :)

 

 

16' of monkey bars, climbing wall, bunch more barbells (how did I accumulate so many?), kayak

(click photo for panorama view)

C2 rower (model D, PM3), Precor treadmill, DIY pullup bars, Rogue rings, DIY rings, 11' climbing rope 1.5", medicine balls (12#, 14#, 20#), more bands, Clock Gone Bad, DIY jerk boxes, assorted jump ropes

 

 

 

 (click photo for panorama view)
 

Schwinn Airdyne AD6, DIY plyoboxes (12", 16" 20" stackable), battling ropes (in the white bag on the blue plyobox)

Not pictured:  DIY reverse hyper (can be seen farther down this blog), Lifecore rower (got it before I knew the C2 was the CF standard), Rogue dip belt

Axle taped

Well, the blue tape I wanted looked more purple to me so I went with the red. Still waiting on the collars. I do like the color added to the pipe - dresses it up some. Yes, it will get dirty but oh well. I'm pricing some galvanized as well. That will be tape free and better for chalking (although with the tape you don't need to chalk).  Feels good!

Start of Axle Bar

Here is a shot of the bar before the tape and collars. I've included a shot of the collars as well for reference. Right now I'm just using another set of lockjaw clamps as my stop.

Next DIY Project - the Axle Bar

As much as I love Rogue's stuff, shipping to California unfortunately makes the cost of some of their stuff higher than I'd like to pay (and I've bought plenty of stuff from them).  And being a DIYer, I like to build things myself where it makes sense and doesn't exceed my capabilities (and I have the right equipment).

Here is my next project - super simple really and I'll be able to save myself a little bit of money.  The differences are basically no powder coat (I'll use colored athletic tape to jazz things up a bit) and the collars/stops are steel collars that are secured with a set screw vs. a welded on stop.  I prefer the look of the collar personally - it looks a lot more like the material used for the sleeves on a typical barbell.

Got inspired watching the Regionals with them using the axles and figured it would be nice to add to the ever increasing volume of equipment in my garage... ;)  Will be good for grip stuff too!