The boy has decided he needs a weight set.......

[frkelly74]

So we made a start toward locating one that maybe someone had sitting around. Craigs List was my first search area and there were two outfits available on this side of the state. One was a little flimsy looking thing up by Freeland and the other was quite a bit of equipment in Port Huron at an attractive price. I messaged them and then noticed the posting was 29 days old. I did not get an answer. So then we went on over to the Dunhams store and there is so much empty space and three employees wandering around looking kind of dazed. ( Plenty of 22 ammo there by the way ) So when we finally flagged down one of the wanderers to see if there was any hope of buying a rack, bench, and bar with plates he said the truck hadn't been there for three weeks, but he would try the bay City store for us and called them. NADA. Everyone is apparently thinking that Planet Firness is going to be shut down again is the theory that the boy voiced and I think he may be right.

So my thought was how about building a setup ourselves. I can get metal and 2X4 / 4x4 lumber and build a bench that would support an elephant if it needed to and I can cast lead weights with a hole in the middle of any practical weight necessary. I would be lending the boy my lead although he did find it kind of fun to go mining for lead at the range. The idea like the proverbial lead balloon went no where but down. My wife even said " what a cheap skate idea" . I quietly explained that it would not be cheap at all and indeed she was free to look for whatever might still be available. If the boy needs a weight outfit , we can make it ourselves instead of waiting for the Chinees to send some ot the scrap iron we sent to them back to us at retail prices. I was a little disturbed by the response..

Anyway, there was plenty of 22 ammo........ among all that empty floor space.

[mozeppa]

he could buy a chest style or upright freezer to bench press....oh.....wait....can't find one of those either!:veryconfu

[Winger Ed.]

Too funny.

Reminds me of when I worked for a commercial Plumber for awhile.
We had a call for a leaky spa tub at a company that had its own fitness gym for their employees.

All these exercise nuts were in there with a room full of machines.
One hippie looking kid came to chat and told us we needed to get into a exercise program to work out.

My boss told him, Oh yeah,,, Here's some exercise for ya.. Grab that tool box and carry it up them stairs over there.

I did pretty well at not laughing when the kid couldn't hardly pick it up off the floor.

Then my boss went on and told the kid, we didn't need to run on one of those treadmills like a gerbil either.

[Kylongrifle32]

Check the local scrap yards. You should be able to buy the plate weights for around 25 cents a pound. They should have bars and barbells setting around also. I work for a recycling center and we have weights pretty much most of the time.
In my area there are also some stores called play it again sports that sell the weights for 50 cents a pound. That's 1/2 the price of Wal-Mart at $1.00 per pound. Then as you say just build your own bench.
Good luck in your search

[Gtrubicon]

My first set was 3lb coffee cans full of cement, with a bar in between, dumbbells we’re out of soup cans, same idea. They worked well. Use your frugal reloading mind set. Splitting wood will build more mass than a weight set ever could. These ideas from my father helped me to be part of a state championship football team, twice and a state level wrestler. My dad and I got to spend time making them together, better than the patches on my letterman jacket.

[richhodg66]

When I was about 17 and into lifting weights, I made two dumbells each with a 12" piece of one ich diameter iron pipe. Dad was an avid caster, so we had a lot of lead around. I took an old cast iron plumber's pot he had and melted down a pot full up to the rim, stuck the pipe in to the bottom until it cooled. Melted another batch and ladled the hollow handle full, they another pot up to the rim and stuck the other end in to the bottom until it hardened. Did it the same way for the other one. They came out real close to 40 lbs each and were real close to each other in weight. That was good enough for a lot of the exercises I was doing at the time.

Funny, even after moving half way across the country, my folks still had them and I found them in the shop when I was clearing out all his reloading and casting stuff. Apparently, he never needed lead bad enough to melt them down. I have them here now, even though I don't work out anymore, but I'll keep them around, handy for weighting anything down I may need to.

[NyFirefighter357]

Weights are going for $2lb here the equipment also got expensive as Covid set in and the gyms closed. Any equipment you find in buy ads is going to be at a premium. You might ask friends and family many people have that old weight equipment in the basement or garage.

[elmacgyver0]

Just drive around the neighborhood on trash day.

[rancher1913]

try "searchtempest" its a site that searches all the craigslists and ebay that is in a given geographic area. you can set it for say 100 miles and it will find all the listings inside that area.

[StuBach]

So we made a start toward locating one that maybe someone had sitting around. Craigs List was my first search area and there were two outfits available on this side of the state. One was a little flimsy looking thing up by Freeland and the other was quite a bit of equipment in Port Huron at an attractive price. I messaged them and then noticed the posting was 29 days old. I did not get an answer. So then we went on over to the Dunhams store and there is so much empty space and three employees wandering around looking kind of dazed. ( Plenty of 22 ammo there by the way ) So when we finally flagged down one of the wanderers to see if there was any hope of buying a rack, bench, and bar with plates he said the truck hadn't been there for three weeks, but he would try the bay City store for us and called them. NADA. Everyone is apparently thinking that Planet Firness is going to be shut down again is the theory that the boy voiced and I think he may be right.

So my thought was how about building a setup ourselves. I can get metal and 2X4 / 4x4 lumber and build a bench that would support an elephant if it needed to and I can cast lead weights with a hole in the middle of any practical weight necessary. I would be lending the boy my lead although he did find it kind of fun to go mining for lead at the range. The idea like the proverbial lead balloon went no where but down. My wife even said " what a cheap skate idea" . I quietly explained that it would not be cheap at all and indeed she was free to look for whatever might still be available. If the boy needs a weight outfit , we can make it ourselves instead of waiting for the Chinees to send some ot the scrap iron we sent to them back to us at retail prices. I was a little disturbed by the response..

Anyway, there was plenty of 22 ammo........ among all that empty floor space.

Frkelly, I commute between Lansing area and Saginaw several times a week. I’ll try and keep my eyes out for you. I know I frequently see sets on side of road or in yard sales.

[TCoggins]

Frkelly - I have a set in my basement. If you’re interested, it would only cost you a trip to Traverse City. It is a Weider (I think), rack system, with the bench, pull-down, pectoral, legs, etc. I cannot get motivated to use it at home, so I go to a gym. It’s just taking up space. I’m at work now, but can get details for you tonight.

Tim

[TCoggins]

I just found info on my phone, it is a Weider Club C650. If you google that, you will get an idea of what it is.

Tim

[john.k]

I could just imagine telling my old man I needed to work out......sacks of seed potatoes ,hay bales to stack,firewood to cut ,split and stack,...no way ,I would make myself scarce from school out to dark .Idle hands were always found work to do.

[RU shooter]

I could just imagine telling my old man I needed to work out......sacks of seed potatoes ,hay bales to stack,firewood to cut ,split and stack,...no way ,I would make myself scarce from school out to dark .Idle hands were always found work to do.
I sorta said that to my dad when I was 17, 3days later I was the most junior helper/slave on a block laying crew ! Can still remember all those old Italian guys yelling at me for more mud ! More block !

[jsizemore]

I started out the same as the last 2 posters. By high school I added weight lifting and continued through military enlistment and college. It all started with hauling feed and fertilizer and picking melons and stacking hay. In between farm work was construction. At 14 I was hauling 2 buckets of plaster upstairs and carrying floor scrapings down. 3 sheets of 1/2" plywood up the ladder was fun too.

[MrWolf]

...3 sheets of 1/2" plywood up the ladder was fun too.

Especially when the wind blew. Been there done that on roofs.

[Gtrubicon]

A hod carrier separates the men from the boys. Mixing mud, carrying it, keeping things clean, being yelled at by the journey men, it builds character. You either have it in you or you don’t. Lifting weights was cool before I was an apprentice, after my apprenticeship I figured work strong was better than gym strong any day of the week.

[jsizemore]

The weight lifting gets you to working in single planes. Construction makes you have to work in others. Busting rock strengthens tendons. Rarely do you get to bench 425 at the jobsite.

[Win94ae]

You know someone with a weight set or machine, that doesn't use them. You need to identify one of them.

Having the proper equipment and instruction is paramount!


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qkmg4iIDKvs

[waksupi]

We had a dandy one when we were younger, It was called making hay! 1000 reps a day!

[Don Purcell]

We had a dandy one when we were younger, It was called making hay! 1000 reps a day!

Yep, at 2 cents a bale. Of course that was back in 1972 when $20.00 would buy something

[frkelly74]

265061265062

Here are a couple of pictures of the new to us weight training rig as set up in our cramped basement space. Thank you Tim.

[akajun]

Before you go building or buying anything, check out the Rogue , Again Faster, and Get Rx'd websites and get bumper plates instead of iron weights, for 10lbs and up anyway. You want a quality bar, ( yes cheap Chinese bars will bend and break, not fun) and bumper plates hold their resale value better than iron weights. Plus you will have no floor damage if your son has to bail on a squat or other unsupported lift. Roge has package pricing which is pretty good.
As far as racks , benches and rigs, 3" 1/4"thick box tubing is what I built my squat rack/pull up rig out of and used 1/2" plate to make my J cups. You don't want one of those to fail and you don't want the rig flexing when your doing pullups. Forget wood.
For you bench 16gauge 2" box tubing should be fine.