Parallette Construction

[Eric Allen Kerr]

Parallette Construction -

Plans for constructing the parallettes can be found here, http://www.drillsandskills.com/skills/cond/

I’m not the handiest guy in the world so after having built my own set I thought I would expand on the instructions in case it might aid other do-it yourselfers.

Material List:
9’ section of Schedule 40 PVC + various connectors
Handy Pack (PVC Cement + PVC Primer)

Tool List:

>Things you will want

-File
-Paper towels/newspaper/shop rags/spot on the lawn you don’t mind killing
-A well ventilated workspace

>Things you will want if you cut the PVC to length yourself

-Vise
-Thick bladed PVC saw/hacksaw with a blade designed for cutting PVC


My Cost:
$26.26 (material + having it cut to length – 14 cuts @$0.50/cut).

I chose to use 1.25” Schedule 40 PVC. 1.25” seemed to approximate the thickness of the handles on the parallel bars and pommel horses that I’ve used better than the 1” PVC pipe.

Someone on the boards mentioned using Schedule 80 PVC. I assumed this meant pipe of greater wall thickness than the Schedule 40. Having played around with the finished parallettes and at 190 pounds, I think Schedule 40 is sufficient for my needs. Also, I didn’t find any Schedule 80 pipe at Home Depot, so it and perhaps the appropriate connectors (T joints and elbows) would likely be specialty items. I’ll defer to someone with more experience with PVC to confirm or refute the difference between Schedule 40 and Schedule 80 and any implications that might have for purchasing and assembly.

It was cheaper and easier to have the guy at Home Depot cut the PVC to length then it would have been for me to purchase a vise and figure out how to bolt it down to my workbench (I already have a hacksaw with the appropriate blades). Granted, the final cuts would have likely been somewhat straighter, but I’ll take cheaper and easier in this instance since it seems to have worked out well.

De-bur the cut edges of the PVC pipe with a file. Since I had them in my tool kit, I used a Mill Bastard (flat file) for the edges and a Round Bastard (round/rat-tailed file) for the inner diameters of the pipe.

Then wipe down the surfaces that you are going to primer and glue with a damp cloth.

Assemble the components to make sure you have all the pieces and everything fits together reasonably squarely. If you are really smart (I wasn’t) you can square the thing up and then draw alignment marks on it with a Sharpie to aid in keeping it square as you piece the glued sections together.

The PVC cement and primer smells abysmal therefore, make sure to work with it in a well ventilated area. Caution -- The primer is purple and will readily stain anything it touches. I’d suggest laying down a bunch of newspaper or shop rags to protect the floor of the area where you are working, and wear some clothing you don’t mind getting messy.

The applicator for the primer is basically a cotton ball therefore it always retains too much primer at first. To avoid having the primer run all over the place, it is a good idea to start primering the interior of the connector, rather than the outside diameter of the length of tubing that will be inserted into the connector (watch where you are pointing any open ends of the connector!).

You can primer the necessary locations all at once and start applying the PVC cement to locations that you are ready to assemble, or you can primer each connection independently. I did it independently so that:

1) The end caps kept the primer from running all over the place and

2) I didn’t have to place any of the primered ends on the ground to chance picking up any dirt or sticking to anything.

The primer does not take long to dry. Once dry you can begin applying the PVC cement.

The PVC cement also uses a cotton ball applicator, which makes it too prone to dripping. Fortunately, it seems to prefer to stick to the primer rather than anything else. The PVC cement dries quickly so you’ll want to have all the primered pieces lined up and ready to go.

Insert the ends of the tubing into the connectors with a twisting motion (as I said earlier, if you were smart and drew locator marks on the pieces, aligning the pieces is a cinch, if not, you are just going to have to eyeball the alignment). Applying pressure to both pieces, hold them together for a 30-count to prevent them from backing away from each other. While a bit tricky while holding both pieces, you’ll want to wipe up any excess PVC cement that squirts out from the joint using a damp cloth.

Rinse repeat until you have a set of assembled parallettes.

I’m not 100% sure about drying time. In the end, I let mine dry for about four hours before testing them out.

A picture of the finished product is attached.

http://www.crossfit.com/discus/messages/26/26799.jpg



(Message edited by eric_kerr on July 06, 2006)

[Travis Hall]

i couldn't find any schedule 80 when i was making paralette's either. no one at reno depot, rona, home depot, canadian tire or a bunch a random other places i went to had even heard of it. i had to show them the schedule 40 written on the pipe and ask if they had some with 80 written instead. all clueless! does this stuff even exist? maybe you need to have a plumbing license before they take you to 'the back' of the store...

so i also went with schedule 40. it works fine. i'm 160 and have stood on one paralette right in the middle and it felt sturdy. if you're worried, just buy a wood dowel of appropriate width and slide it through the main bars for extra strength.

good job on detailing the directions, eric!

t.

[Eric Allen Kerr]

Travis,

From a Google search

(refers to conduit, but I think that is close enough)

What is the difference between sch 40 and sch 80?

Schedule 80 Conduit will have a thicker wall. OD's will remain the same. Schedule 80 conduit is listed and identified for the areas of physical damage. If you are concerned with impacts or crushing after the raceway has been installed than schedule 80 conduit should be used.

>just buy a wood dowel of appropriate width and slide it through the main bars for extra strength

Nice idea on the dowel :-)

Oh, I should have added a Sharpie under

>Things you will want

Thanks,

If you want sch 80, go to the electrical department, it is grey sch 80 pvc conduit. I got mine at home depot.

[Sean McDaniel]

A couple additional notes:

PVC cutters (look like large vice grips with a pruner-type blade) are not very expensive, and make very clean cuts. No bench vice or filing of burrs required.

Also, I've had a set of parallettes for several months now that have worked quite well without having been glued. The advantage, other than the lack of mess from primer and cement, is that I can break them down, or turn the bases sideways for easier storage. They have never shifted on me while in use, and I'm not a tiny person.

Schedule 80 is difficult to find, and usually comes from a contractor plumbing supply, not a general public store like Home Depot. I buy it in bulk when I find it, since I use it for handles on Scottish hammers for Highland Games. It's pretty much overkill for parallettes, though, and even though I had it available already, I didn't bother using it for them.

[Adrian "Hank" Garfield]

Offhand the only reason I would think about sch. 80 is to thread the pipe and fittings to screw together, and easily take apart.

I also don't glue mine for ease of storage, but if I used these with clients, I would want the most stable thing possible, while also being able to take it apart and put in a car.

I don't have the link handy, but there was a company mentioned that cut and threaded sch. 80 online. I think I got it through CF, so someone here should know.

[Eric Allen Kerr]

@Kent Breazeale

>If you want sch 80, go to the electrical department, it is grey sch 80 pvc conduit. I got mine at home depot.

Makes sense about the conduit, given the link I found.

@Sean McDaniel

>PVC cutters (look like large vice grips with a pruner-type blade) are not very expensive, and make very clean cuts

Now that sounds like a heck of an improvement over saw cutting the PVC!

@adrian "hank" garfield

>Offhand the only reason I would think about sch. 80 is to thread the pipe and fittings to screw together, and easily take apart.

That would be nice for storage and transport.

>I also don't glue mine for ease of storage, but if I used these with clients, I would want the most stable thing possible, while also being able to take it apart and put in a car.

Both you and Sean touched on this. I tried mine out before gluing them together and I didn't get a warm fuzzy feeling about trying to do hand stands on them in that conditon. + My daughter loves to push them all around the house. I even showed her how to do a handstand on them and she tried to imitate me. I wish I would have had the camera in reach for that scene :-)

>I don't have the link handy, but there was a company mentioned that cut and threaded sch. 80 online. I think I got it through CF, so someone here should know.

If someone has/can find the link that would be a good resource to know of for those who want to transport or make the paralletes have the smallest storage footprint possible, or just avoid having to use the PVC Primer & Cement (I feel certain that the fumes burned out at least 3 of my precious brain cells during the making of my parallettes).

Incidentally, here is a pic of a PVC Cutter, in case you were wondering what they look like. Be advised, that some can handle up to 1" PVC, some can handle up to 1.25" PVC etc.,.

http://www.crossfit.com/discus/messages/26/27058.jpg

Thanks,

[Travis Hall]

this might be obvious, but i'll write it anyway:
all you really need to glue are the elbows to the grip part, and then the 4 bottom 'T' parts. this way they are still super sturdy, yet easy to break down and store. they don't even need to be taken apart necessaily. you can just turn the bottems in so the paralettes becomes compeletly flat.

t.

[Jeff Davis]

Schedule 80 parallettes:

http://maxfitusa.com/photos/619758073.jpg

We had a pipefitter working out with us for a short time and he built these for us from parts from his jobsite. They weigh a ton. Useful for alot of stuff.

(Message edited by JDavis on July 12, 2006)

(Message edited by JDavis on July 12, 2006)

[Adrian "Hank" Garfield]

just to follow up, this is the only site i know of right now that sells sch. 80 online and threads them.

http://www.usplastic.com/catalog/product.asp?catalog%5Fname=USPlastic&category%5 Fname=13670&product%5Fid=1173&cookie%5Ftest=1