Reply With QuoteWhy not just put a couple of blocks of wood or even a piece or 2 of mdf/particle board under your bench?
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Okay to Drill New Holes in a Power Rack
So there's a bit of an issue I have with my new bench and power cage. The height of the bench + my arm length doesn't match up well with any of the holes on the power rack (which doesn't have a lot of holes on it to begin with). I want to drill in a new set of holes for the safety catches in between the ones that are just a bit too high and the ones that are just a bit too low. I'm wondering if anyone knows if this will compromise the structural integrity of the rack at all (as someone stated on my log when I mentioned the thought of doing this)? Others have recommended just raising the bench, but anything sturdy enough to do that with would probably be costly, and I've already dropped a decent amount of money (and still need another bar).
EDIT: Title was supposed to have a "?" at the end.
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Why not just put a couple of blocks of wood or even a piece or 2 of mdf/particle board under your bench?
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Without seeing the rack, knowing what brand it is, the thickness and tinsel strength of the metal, the distance between the holes, and the size of the holes you wish to drill, it's impossible to say. A lot of generic powerracks have as many holes as the structure will tolerate while still bearing the weight they advertise.
My rack has 1" diameter holes, with 2" of space between them, so it adjusts at 3" increments. Sure I'd love it to adjust to 2" increments, and I thought about drilling some new holes, but after taking a close look I'm not sure how stable it would be afterward. I just use the hole that is slightly lower and have worked out the best way to setup and unrack.
If you really need to do this and don't want to adjust the bench, or shim the rack to a different height, then I would take it to a welding/fabrication shop. Let them take a look at it, figure out how much weight it will hold and how may holes you can put in it, if any. And if they don't think it can take extra holes, see if they'll cut the holes and reinforce the area around it for you.
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I put 90x35mm pine under my bench to get the correct height.
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Here are some pictures of the rack.
http://i278.photobucket.com/albums/k...-18-39_376.jpg
http://i278.photobucket.com/albums/k...-18-13_431.jpg
http://i278.photobucket.com/albums/k...-18-47_563.jpg
http://i278.photobucket.com/albums/k...-18-47_563.jpg
http://i278.photobucket.com/albums/k...-19-09_369.jpg
http://i278.photobucket.com/albums/k...-19-14_579.jpg
It's Bodysmith by Parabody. Nothing special of a brand, but it seems solid. I don't know why, but I'm thinking of plywood as being something that would wobble. I know next to nothing about construction material, so I could be thinking of something completely different. Oh and would I put a whole sheet of it inside the cage so my feet will be on the same level or just the narrow part of the bench?
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A thousand times this. It's a lot easier and bound to be safer.Originally Posted by toonttm
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I drilled holes in my rack, no problems. Hole spacing was like 6.5" before I added a couple of new holes. They definitely don't drill as many as the structure will allow. They drill as few as possible because they are cheap racks and drilling holes costs money.
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Wow, that is a whole lot of space between holes. Just from looking at it, I would think it could support more holes easily. Just remember to measure twice so you only have to drill once. Get good measurements and get the right tools for the job so you don't butcher it. And only puts the number of holes you actually need just to be safe.
Starting Strength Coach
I have the same rack and also have thought about adding some holes - probably one hole between the two existing holes. I have no doubt the rack is strong enough for this. Having said this I don't know if I'll ever get around to doing it and I've been using wood under my bench to get the pins at the right height.
If you do add holes let me know how you do it. Seems to me you'll need to use a hand drill and drill a smaller hole first.
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Going to say it again..drilling holes will most likely cause no great harm to the structure, as long as you only drill one hole...but it would be much simpler to just measure how much height you need, then measure the floor inside your cage and buy a bit of wood to fit. Funny thing about drilling holes is that once you start doing one you'll be tempted to do more! and also getting the hole in the correct position is quite hard - especially if you lack any idea of 'construction material'. If putting a floor in the cage then mucks up your squat height then attach the wood to the bench 'feet' or even just lay a piece of wood larger than the bench feet under the bench feet. I say all this while I am planning to drill some holes in my brand new cage, for a different reason though, as I can't OHP inside the cage so I am going to drill one hole to allow me to put one set of supports outside the cage so I can OHP. But I know I have one shot at getting this right and I have the correct tools to do so. First job will be to totally disassemble the cage and lay the uprights flat, then punch centres before drilling with a decent power drill, if i stuff it up there is no coming back to fix it.
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