I'm comissioning a piece of equipment I know only as THE THING. Bare with me here, because it's a little hard to describe.
Basically, imagine a set of stall bars, with parallel bars leading out from the top, connecting to another set of stall bars at the other end. (Whether I'll actually need 2 sets of stall bars remains to be seen.)
The entire thing is made to be freestanding, with exercises performed in the interior of the structure, which in theory will stop it falling over (although I'm unsure if there will be enough lateral stability during say, hanging windshield wipers.)
My reach extends to 93 inches overhead, so I figure the thing should be 93-100 inches tall, so that I can perform pullups, hanging leg lifts and such on it without hitting the floor. It should probably also be around this long, so I can perform human flags on the inside without hitting the far side. (2 points here: My arms will be further apart as is necessary for flags, so my overall height will be shorter, and if there is no ladder on the far end I can just poke my feet through.
As is standard, my cross bars will be 1+3/8 to 1+5/8 inches wide, spaced 5-8 inches apart, and the top bar will be offset by 2-3 inches. (Oh yeah, there will be a top bar between the two parallel bars.)
Standard width for competition parallel bars is 17-20 inches, and I figure I'll have them built to whatever in this range is closest to my shoulder width. However, I know stall bars are usually twice this wide, and I don't know enough about stall bar specific exercises to know if my narrower bars will be a problem. If so, I will have to have them made a separate length.
I also am unsure what layout the final base will have. I need to be able to place heavy weight on them in order to perform natural leg curl variations, and these bars may not always be placed on a level surface.
I also don't know what materials I really want this thing made out of. I live in Europe, and the recommendations I've seen so far say either Ash or Beech, but I don't even know if I want it made out of wood. It will be outside during rain, snow, sun ect and I intend to use it for the rest of my life if possible, so I really need a durable, weatherproof material here. Perhaps metal would be appropriate, but I wonder how that would affect my grip during the winter months.
Finally, The whole thing needs to be able to come apart to be transported. I'm assuming it will need to unscrew at the joints, or perhaps a folding arrangement would be possible, but it's outside the scope of my expertise to consider how. Actually, if a folding arrangement is possible, I would like to fold it down along the ladder portion as well, so the whole thing would only measure about 50 inches long. This would allow me to fit it in my car, and transportation would be much easier.
So that's my THE THING. I need any and all advice you can give me in regards to the issues raised above, as well as others I may have not considered.
Edit: Oh yeah. Traditionally, the vertical beams on stall bars are 2x10, maybe 2x12 right? This is impractical for the P-bars on top, which I assumed would be the same width as the dowels. Can a couple of bars that thin support this structure with as much stress as I will be loading onto it, or will the break? I'll essentially be pushing on them with my entire bodyweight along a 100 inch lever arm, with a kind of twisting, sideways force.
