Stall Bars

Please read all of the document before

purchasing your materials, you might want
to use different measurements.

I will list the prices of the materials I used

as a guideline at the end of the document.
(in CAN$)

Cut list for stall bars

Quantity Part name Thickness Width Length

2 Upright 1 4 8 *or more

2 Angle block 1 4 12
16 Dowel 1 1 36
3 Backer boards 4 38 *

Cut list for pull-up/dip attachment

Quantity Part name Thickness Width Length

2 Horizontal 1 2 28 (+1 or +2)
2 Angle support 1 2 48
2 Dowel 1 1 36 *
1 Spacer (can be an extra 1 1 36 *
dowel)

Measures with an * will be adjusted during the build depending on certain variables, consider
them temporary
 Notes on choice of lumber, measurements and thickness

I chose maple for the uprights because of its strength and birch for the dowels because that is
what the supplier had available. Ash, oak, beech or another hardwood would also be fine. Pine
and poplar would probably work for lighter guys and gals. I bought 6/4 lumber and milled it to
dimension at a woodshop where I used to work. If you do not have access to a woodshop I
strongly recommend having the wood prepped at a local lumber yard or getting it from a local
woodworker. Construction lumber can also be used if you cant find hardwood. The backer
boards used to bolt the assembly on the wall can be of any kind of wood, I used recycled boards
from a renovation I had worked on. My uprights ended up being just under 1 thick due to
defects in the wood having been milled out, if it happens dont worry about it, its still very solid.
I used 8 long boards because my ceiling is 8 high, if you have more room and want taller bars
make sure you buy longer stock and extra dowels.

Step 1

The first step is to glue the angle blocks on the uprights. I cut mine with a 30 degree angle and
used 2 fluted dowels (3/8 inch regular hardware store ones) to make the glue joint stronger.
Biscuit joiner would work fine too. If you dont have any of those dont fret, a glue joint is strong
enough by itself. Clamp that up at least 30 minutes. I sanded the joint later, just prior to
assembly.
 Step 2

Then you need to cut your uprights to final length. Mine are 92 in length for a 94 ceiling
height. You might want to keep an extra inch of space for your head (either in this step or the
next) if you plan on making the pull-up attachment, my head just barely touches the ceiling
when doing chin-ups.
 Step 3

Next step is the measuring and marking, clamp both pieces together and mark the back edge
because you will drill those later for screws. I started measuring from the top so that the bottom
dowel would be the irregular one if ever I cant keep my spacing. Top pic shows my first dowel
hole is 3 inches down, then an 8 inch space (easier on the wrist when using the top dowel and
this is where I put my pull-up attachment when doing chins and pull-ups), after that I marked
every 6 inches (3,11,17,23,29 etc), the last space is 5 instead of 6 and then another 5 to the
floor. If you plan on making the pull-up attachment make sure you use 6 inches c/c up to the last
2 dowels so that the measures I give for the attachment work. I never use the bottom dowel as
support for dips because it ends up not being level because of the 5 inch instead of 6. You can
see on the next picture that the last spacing is a bit less than the rest.
 Step 4

Transfer these markings down the inside of the uprights with a square. Make sure you mark a
line long enough on the top dowel for the offset one. Make sure you mark the inside face of
both pieces so that you have a left and right side.

Step 5
Mark 2 from the back edge (if using a drill press only mark one hole and set a fence for 2) .
Set the depth to about 1 deep. Drill the 1 holes with a forstner bit. If you are using a hand
drill mark the 2 from the back edge at every hole location and make sure you have a
reference for depth so you dont go too deep.

Step 6
Mark the offset hole at the top with 5 in between holes (6 c/c) and drill hole.

Step 7 (Drill in step 10 if you have an extra long drill bit with countersink)
Mark and drill for the screw holes on the back edge. I had mine from the inside face (so
slightly offset towards the inside to account for the hole not being all the way through).
Preferably use a tapered bit with a countersink for a #8 screw.

If you have an extra long one like these (very much worth the money)
(http://www.leevalley.com/en/Wood/page.aspx?p=40392&cat=1,180,42240,45531,42240)
found at Lee Valley you can do this step when assembled and save some time by drilling through
your dowels at the same time. If you have one of those bits, sand your uprights and dowels
now with 120 grit or higher sand paper and soften all the edges.

Step 8

Now is time to put together the assembly (witch you will have to take apart if you do not have
an extra long drill bit like I mentioned in step 7). Fit your dowels (sand the tips if some dont go
into the holes easily enough, or use a small block plane or rasp, I had to sand about half of mine
on one end of the dowels). Once put together and clamped I numbered the holes and dowels
and marked them with a small line so that when I disassembled it I would put back the dowels in
the same holes and line them up properly with the screw holes. When assembled and clamped
(I used 4 clamps) I measured in between the uprights, got just under 34. At this time you need
to make sure your assembly is square in a few ways. Have the stall bars face down, then
measure in an X (top left with bottom right and top right with bottom left) and make sure those
2 measurements are the same by playing with the clamps or having one corner against a wall
and pushing on another one to get the whole thing square (equal both measures within 1/8 is
good). Also make sure your uprights are not in a V shape front to back either with a square or by
making sure you have 34 both in front and in back (or whatever your measure between the
uprights is).
 Step 9

Now cut the 3 backer boards to length (measure your assembly, mine was 36). I put mine 12
41 and 71 from the top of the uprights to the top of each board (make sure they are
between dowels so you can screw them to the wall later). Place the board and drill a hole in
each corner (about 1 inch from the edge and centered in your upright) and screw them with #8
screws (I think I used 2 or 2). This will let you remove the clamps for the next step.

Measures with an * will be adjusted during the build depending on certain variables, consider
them temporary

Step 10

When everything is good and the clamps removed, I re-drilled in all of the screw holes I had
already made to start drilling the dowels (my drill bit was barely big enough to go into the
dowels to mark the spot for drilling again when disassembled). I used a 5/32 bit (see drill bit
size for shank-hole size at the end of the document) to make sure my screws would pass nicely
through.

This is where you save time if you have an extra-long drill bit with countersink (well worth the
money) because you can drill once and screw everything together and be done.
 Step 11
Make sure you have numbered and marked your dowels, holes and backer boards before
taking apart. I then took everything apart to drill into the dowels. I used a 1/8 drill bit (see drill
bit size for pilot hole at the end of document, I didnt have a 7/64 for hardwood)and drilled all
the way through each dowel on both ends with a hand drill trying to drill as straight as possible.

(not a picture of the stall bar, just an example of numbering and marking)

Step 12

Sand your uprights and dowels with 120 grit or higher sand paper, soften all the edges. Make
sure to keep your numbers/markings to be able to put everything back in place.

Step 13

Put everything back together, line up your markings so your screw holes on the uprights line up
with the ones on the dowels and clamp lightly just to pull the dowels in their holes properly.
When you screw your backer boards on, everything should automatically be square and at the
right width if you took the time in step 8 to do it properly. Now screw the dowels with #8 3
wood screws.
 Step 14

Now is time to put it up on the wall. Use a f@ck*ng stud finder to find the studs in your wall.
Mark at the corresponding height of your backer board (just above every board). I had 2 studs
on the width of my stall bars. Place your stall bars on the wall, drill holes in the backer boards
and use 4 #8 screws to attach to the wall. You can use twice as many screws, use bigger screws
or lag bolts if you want, mine is holding up nicely with these for my personal use ( I weigh 185
pounds). Make sure you test it before starting to train on it.
 PART 2 PULL-UP AND DIP ATTACHMENT

Notes
The measurements given in the cut list at the beginning of the document are the exact measures
I have used, you might want to keep an extra inch or 2 on the horizontals for safety. The final
adjustment to make sure your accessory is level when doing dips will be made by adjusting the
placement of the metal hooks. When I made this I was in the dark, some decisions I made might
not have been the best ones or even necessary, feel free to try different things if you want. If
you want to do it exactly like I did, know that it works very well and is stable and solid enough. I
spent almost as much time building this as I did on the stall bars (almost 2 days yeah I know).
The metal hooks were custom made by a local metal worker/soldering shop. They used thick
by 1 wide steel bar to make them. The holes and countersink are for #10 screws. The hooks are
5 long and obviously have a 1 radius to wrap around the dowels. The stock I used ended up
being just a bit too wide (2) with the hooks attached to easily slip in between the bars, I
had to cut off the corners above the hooks to make it easier to install. You can choose to use
2 wide stock if you want, it should be solid enough.

I opted for having the angle pieces on the outside, but it could have been the contrary, having
the horizontals on the outside. I wasnt able to figure out if having the bottom with a snug fit
was really better than having the hook end with a tighter fit. If anyone tries it the other way
around, let me know. Just adjust witch dowel you cut to what length and adjust the spacer
length to match. Same for the screw holes, make sure the pull-up dowel is screwed into whatever
pieces are on the outside.
 Step 1
In the angle piece both holes are centered in the width. Measure for the pull-up dowel 1 from
the end of the angle piece. The hole for the U shape at the bottom of the angle piece is drilled
about 13/16 from the end so that it is just at the edge of the board. The draw 2 line parallel to
the side and cut the bottom out so you have a 1 U shape.

I drilled all the way through on all holes because I had mistakenly marked 2 left sides (on the
horizontals) but found it easier to measure the length at witch to cut the dowels that way so I
suggest you do the same for all the holes.
 Step 2
In the horizontals the pull-up dowel is also 1 from the end. The second dowel (dip dowel) will
be placed depending on your shoulder width and preference, mine is 21 away c/c from the
front one (so 22 from the tip). On the horizontal ones I thought that placing them a bit higher
to have more wood under might be better so they are 1 from the top instead of centered. Its
hard to see on the picture but you can see its a bit higher than center. You can also see this was
before I cut off an angle on the corner to help with installation.

Next we will be cutting the dowels and spacer to length

 Step 3

One dowel will be of the width between your stall bar uprights, mine was 34. Test fit it in
between your uprights.
 Step 4
The other dowel will be 34 (or your measure) minus the thickness of your 2 pieces of
wood. Mine was a hair over 31. Test fit by placing your 2 pieces of wood and dowel in
between your uprights.
 Step 5 (spacer can be made in a few different ways)

The spacer will be of that same measure (a hair over 31) if you use screws or fluted
dowels to fasten it in place. Mine is centered in the width and 4 center from the bottom of the
angle piece. I used fluted dowels but screws would be as good.

If you use an extra dowel as spacer and drill holes all the way through you will use the
other dowels measure (34). This is as good as the previous method. Use #8 screws to hold in
place (same as the other dowels in the next steps)

Step 6

Now put everything together and test fit on your stall bars (no metal hooks yet). Watch
your fingers!

Step 7

If everything seems ok, time to drill screw holes to hold your dowels in place. The pull
up dowel is screwed into the angle pieces only (letting the horizontals move around) and the dip
dowel is screwed into the horizontals. Use 2 #8 screws. I drilled from the underside for
aesthetic reasons (use either a taper bit with countersink for #8 screws or 5/32 for shank hole
and 1/8 for pilot hole). See previous pictures for reference.
 Step 8

To determine where to place the metal hooks you need to install the accessory on the
stall bars at dip height and put a 24 carpenters level on the horizontals and mark on your
horizontal pieces where the center of your dowel is resting. As you can see on a previous picture
mine is at the tip of the 28 horizontal piece. I recessed the metal hooks deep into the
horizontal pieces using a 1 forstner bit and chisel, I tried to have it flush with the surface. If you
do not want to carve a recess for the hook, it will change the width of your horizontal piece by
and so will change where you need to place it to be level. Once done mark and drill only
one screw hole (I used 1 #10 screws here) for the metal hooks in case you made an error and
test fit it again on your stall bars. You might need to cut the corner above the hooks to make
the installation easier. You can see I cut thick on a couple of inches long.
 Material costs estimate

Dowels: about 4,25$ each plus 25$ shipping

Uprights: 35$ each for rough lumber (add milling fees)
Metal hooks: 10$ each

Materials CAD $ USD $ Pound Euro

Dowels x16 4,25$ 29.25 $3.25 $22.35 2.58 17.74 3.04 20.92
Uprights x2 70$ $53.48 42.44 50.06
Metal Hooks x2 20$ $15.28 12.12 14.30
Total 119$ $91.11 71.73 85.28
Total w/ accessories 189$ $144.59 114.17 135.34

The material for pull-up station I had lying around from previous projects (except
dowels) but Id say worth another 70$ or so.

Please feel free to contact me on facebook for any questions you might have or to send me
pictures of your finished project!

If anyone wants to make this document into another better format please feel free to do so and
let me have a copy of the improved version.

https://www.facebook.com/benjamin.renaud.790