Hi! I was wondering if their is any way to build a gymnastics bar for home use. I have been looking around and I am considering buying a 1.5 inch wood. I would some how need to figure out how to build a base and the 2 supporting legs. Anyone have any ideas? I plan on constructing it first then finding out whether it would be safe or not. I would want the weight limit to be 100 pounds. If anyone has built a bar please let me know how thanks!!
Being a woodworker, I pondered the idea for a while, ended up just buying it (blue one off Ebay). This one is fairly good, esp for very small kids, but required modifications beyond the avg 60 lbs 8 - 9yr old.
Couple of issues I found first hand after researching, and buying.
Bar length. Needs to be at LEAST 56" wide -- or wider. Otherwise can't do leg cuts (L3 & L4), and the risk of hitting the support post is higher.
Height: Should be fully supported at (at least) 56" high. Any lower and you can't do glide kips properly, or worse - it'll force bad or incorrect form with can be expensive in gym time to correct.
Bar strength - Gymnastic (FIG spec) bars aren't solid wood. They are a fiberglass core, with a hard maple (Acer saccharum) veneer. This is for strength and rigidity across it's length. A 1 1/2" solid hard maple bar at 60" would flex almost 2" at the center with only 50 lbs of downward force. Not good. In fact, that's scary. This is the main reason why some of the cheaper "home bar" systems are so narrow. A 48" solid wood bar would only flex about 3/4" at 50 lbs which is fine for pre-schoolers. Also - practicing on a non-spec bar would be like practicing a beam routine on a 2x4. It's not the same - so why bother. Unless she can do the routine - as expect at the gym, there is no point.
Last on this: 1 1/2" Hard maple dowels arent exactly cheap -- or easy to find. You need to go to a real lumber yard -- not Lowes or HD. Pine would snap easily and Oak will splinter.
The support system needs to be ancored or engineered so that both side supports hold as a single unit, rather then individual post. This problem is common with ALL purchased home bars. Weight isn't the only problem. The problem is it's base support needs to be wide enough to hold the vertical axis AND the weight times enercia of the gymnast - which could be well over 120 lbs for a typical 8-10 yr old doing a front hip circle. (physics of motion).
On ours, we FILLED the base tubes with concrete AND added steel cross supports to each side, effectively strapping both "legs" together. The straps are flat steel, and they run under the mats. The bar was about 75 lbs total before the modification. Now, EACH support is about 120 lbs. This made it at least usable.
Safety issues. You've heard about em, read about em, and are warned.
Imagine this: Your DD does a squat-on, and then jump to the floor. Sounds like fun right? Sure. Now image if one or both of her feet hook UNDER the bar, instead of on top. This means she's headed right to the floor - face first. Something like that could be life-altering. Scares the ..... you know what ... out of me. Even with rules, it doesnt mean she (or worse...a friend that has no training) will try anyway.
I mean, saying "I told you so!" doesn't help with her broken arm or face.
Which comes to my last observation: Mats.
2" (min) soft mats aren't optional - they are an absolute, don't try it without it, requirement. Fan-fold mats wont do it either. Those are made for tumbling... not protect from falling. Basically, they are too hard to provide much any protection.
This however is the EASY part. So after reading all this, and your still interested, PM me. I can share how to make your own mats that are as good as the gym (if not better) for FAR FAR less then you could ever buy.
