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Temporary Parallel Bars - ideas needed


Robert Chapman
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Robert Chapman

Hello - does anyone have any clever ideas of how to attach / lash / clamp these parallel bars to my stall bars (pics attached).  I need to able to remove them so my wife can park in the garage :)

The P-bars are made of sched 40 1 1/4" PVC, with a 1" galv. pipe inside for strength.

The stall bar dowels are 1.5" diameter.  This is a "work in progress".

Notice I also have some wall studs I could attach to.  The main need for stability is in the direction perpendicular to the wall.

Thanks!

-Mitch

IMG_1167.JPGIMG_1168.JPG

 

 

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Douglas Wadle

Don't glue the ends into the end-elbows.  bolt the end-elbows into the wall behind the stall bars.  then stick the cross bars into them when it's time to exercise.  Easily slide out and remove when wife needs to disrupt your workout space with her car!  Would not use this set up for any dynamic movements, only for strength based exercises.  Cheers

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Robert Chapman

I like that idea!  But how exactly would I bolt a pvc elbow to the wall?  Do you mean in the same position as shown in the photo, with a bolt running below the pipe, right through the lower side of the elbow?

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Don't glue the ends of the horizontal supports into the elbows. Turn the elbows facing each other and link the two with another length of pipe.

Get two brackets to fit that other length of pipe to the two wooden supports behind the stall bars. Eg that "other length of pipe" will be parallel to your bars.

Drill a hole through the elbows and the horizontal supports and fit a split pen or similar so that you can remove the horizontal support and leave the "another length of pipe" in place against the wall.

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Douglas Wadle

Drill a lag bolt through the downward facing part of the elbow, then drill directly into the wall studs.  Or put a half circle bracket over it and screw it into the studs.  The only downside of Coner's idea is that the studs are in the way.  

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You could drill a hole through the studs for a length of pipe to connect the parallel bars to, and then reinforce the studs around the hole, similar to the reinforcing around a window or other wall opening.  Attach the elbows to that pipe and then don't glue them in.  If you needed to make secure them you could then drill a hole through each elbow and through the parallel bars and buy a couple of bolts to run through the holes to secure during use.

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Robert Chapman

I went ahead with basically Douglas's idea but using couplings instead of elbows.  I also added vertical pins to secure the bars when they are in place.  I think it's going to work great.  Thanks for all the replies.

 

IMG_1190.JPG

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  • 1 year later...
Michaël Van den Berg

I realise I'm resurrecting an old thread but I love this setup. I've been wondering how to build parallel bars that can be integrated with my stall bars and yet be easily disassembled. I'll give this a try.

Any tips re: ideal height of the setup and length of the horizontal bars (considering the strength of the PVC tubing) vs. requirements of the Foundation exercises?

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Nick Murray

 Eventually, someone is going to try to do Korean dips on a setup like this and will hurt themselves. I'd use metal pipe, minimum wall thickness about 3mm, an elbow joint for the uprights and metal pipe clamps (maybe lined with something) to attach to the stall bars. At the end of the uprights you will need something wide and strong for stability.

Even then, the torque on the stall bar horizontals will be quite significant, unless the parallel bars are attached to the building structure.

The metal pin in the picture above is likely to fracture or tear the PVC tubing if it is subjected to any significant force. Or worse, the pin may bend and the horizontal bar may pull out: the longer the horizontals, the more the PVC will bend and load the top and bottom of the metal pin in different amounts.

Even a small dynamic movement can apply multiples of your bodyweight to an apparatus.

I post a bit about safety issues, as I've read here about injuries people have had where stall bars have fallen off the wall (there are a couple of form check videos showing broken horizontal stall bars, for example) or people have tried inversions on "doorway pullup bars". 

If people insist on using PVC tube, please use a panel mat under the bars. They are not expensive.

----

As far as height goes, "real" parallel bars usually start at armpit level and can be set at heights up to 2 metres or so. It IS easier doing some things with straight legs, rather than having to bend at the knees.

For length, you need probably twice the length of your elbow to the tip of the middle finger, for things like Russian dips.

Width apart is elbow to middle finger PLUS the width  of your other hand.

 

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