cable cross over machines
- Thread starter ldj
- Start date
Not yet, but I am planning on building one soon. I might be moving to a larger house with a three car garage, so I'm waiting to build it until then.
However, it should be pretty simple. Do you have a power rack? I considered building a small one as an attachment to a power rack, but I think I'm going to build a stand alone one. There are some resources online to order the parts you need, and building weight stacks is pretty easy.
However, it should be pretty simple. Do you have a power rack? I considered building a small one as an attachment to a power rack, but I think I'm going to build a stand alone one. There are some resources online to order the parts you need, and building weight stacks is pretty easy.
I'm also considering adding one to my homemade squat rack. I want to find exactly the right pulleys and swivel setup first, then I'll figure out how to mount them - which should be easy. As Tot said, weight stacks are simple. I assume to use plates, and hope to find a good stack of dimes for it somewhere.
FireFighter
New Member
I built my own in my basement.
I used castor wheels, you can pick them up for about $2.50 each.
I then bought two pulley wheels for a garage door.
I also bought cable wire that was wrapped in a plastic coating.
I had to buy a space due to the pulley not being as thick as the castor wheel.
The most expensive parts was buying handles.
The castor wheels were bolted to the floor joists with four heavy duty screws.
They have a great smooth feel to them. The only down side I can find is that the weights have a tendency to swing a bit when you pull them up at a faster pace.
I used castor wheels, you can pick them up for about $2.50 each.
I then bought two pulley wheels for a garage door.
I also bought cable wire that was wrapped in a plastic coating.
I had to buy a space due to the pulley not being as thick as the castor wheel.
The most expensive parts was buying handles.
The castor wheels were bolted to the floor joists with four heavy duty screws.
They have a great smooth feel to them. The only down side I can find is that the weights have a tendency to swing a bit when you pull them up at a faster pace.
FireFighter
New Member
and here's a pic of a garage door pulley
Thanks for the idea of power rack but I wanted to make it more like 1 that you stand in the middle of with plenty of distance to thow my arms around without hitting anything and any ideas as to making an easy moveable(slide up & down) pulleys on the side so as to give move options would be helpfull as I have a few ideas floating around the old brain box but any other thoughts always welcome
thanks for the feed back so far lads so far if it all works out I share the idea with any one who wants to know
Firefighter: we need a pic of the assembly to understand what you did.
Idj: I agree with you, and I'm kind of thinking that using the room itself is more amenable to freedom. I can see using a couple of 4x4 posts attached to either side of the room with some eyebolts screwed into them at different heights. The pulleys would be attached to a swivel and a hook that would, of course, go into the eyebolts.
The next trick would be to take care of the cable lengths some way, because the higher you put the pulleys, the shorter the cable gets.
I'll figure it out soon enough.
If one were to use a 3 pulley setup with moveable weight carriage, like the cheaper ones here:
http://www.fit-senior.com/acatalo....22.html
...your high and low pulleys are the actual cable "ends" when pulling the other cable. I was thinking of something more simple - with remote weight stacks. The advantage of the 3 pulley system is that it halves the load per arm: if you have 60 lbs on each stack, you are lifting 30 lbs. per arm. Just like the ones in the gym. With a single pulley 1-1 ratio, your 60 lbs. is actually 60 lbs., so you'd use half the weights this way. We could use several different cables of differing lengths for each pulley station...and away I gooooo......
Idj: I agree with you, and I'm kind of thinking that using the room itself is more amenable to freedom. I can see using a couple of 4x4 posts attached to either side of the room with some eyebolts screwed into them at different heights. The pulleys would be attached to a swivel and a hook that would, of course, go into the eyebolts.
The next trick would be to take care of the cable lengths some way, because the higher you put the pulleys, the shorter the cable gets.
I'll figure it out soon enough.
If one were to use a 3 pulley setup with moveable weight carriage, like the cheaper ones here:
http://www.fit-senior.com/acatalo....22.html
...your high and low pulleys are the actual cable "ends" when pulling the other cable. I was thinking of something more simple - with remote weight stacks. The advantage of the 3 pulley system is that it halves the load per arm: if you have 60 lbs on each stack, you are lifting 30 lbs. per arm. Just like the ones in the gym. With a single pulley 1-1 ratio, your 60 lbs. is actually 60 lbs., so you'd use half the weights this way. We could use several different cables of differing lengths for each pulley station...and away I gooooo......
That would be the reason for using a pivot to rotate your pulleys and keep them in line with the cables where you can. I think larger pulleys would be better than small. I'm not sure about coated or bare cables, but bare could fray easier and cut you. I've seen the coating curl off the cheap machine cables.
Lol: My very favorite curls are with upper pulleys on a cable crossover and curling to the ears. Doesn't hurt my joints. Pec work you cannot prove to me to be any different on one than on a pec deck if you set up right. I even invented a wild exersize that blasts the pecs in an iso that works better than db presses. Using a crossover.
Lol: My very favorite curls are with upper pulleys on a cable crossover and curling to the ears. Doesn't hurt my joints. Pec work you cannot prove to me to be any different on one than on a pec deck if you set up right. I even invented a wild exersize that blasts the pecs in an iso that works better than db presses. Using a crossover.
FireFighter
New Member
I actually gave the cross overs to my father-in-law when I bought a new weight machine that had them on it. I'll have him take a pic and email it to me ASAP.
I must really say though...the movement is very smooth and the rotation of the castor wheel is really nice.
I'll do my best to get a picture up soon.
I must really say though...the movement is very smooth and the rotation of the castor wheel is really nice.
I'll do my best to get a picture up soon.
the_dark_master
New Member
You could do this...
FireFighter
New Member
Sorry it took me so long to get the pictures. My in-laws live about 45 minutes from me and today was the first day they've been in town.
FireFighter
New Member
The bearings on the caster wheel allow it to swivel side to side smoothly until there is a weight put on it and the bearings of the garage door pulley really do give a nice smooth roll to it.
I hooked this to the celing using 4 lag bolts in each one. The cable is actually used for dog leashes if I remember right.
To hold the weights I used some of the extra cable and made a loop.
I hooked this to the celing using 4 lag bolts in each one. The cable is actually used for dog leashes if I remember right.
To hold the weights I used some of the extra cable and made a loop.