Stand-Alone Kee Klamp Gym

Hello. I have an interesting set of requirements that I'm trying to satisfy with an indoor parkour-style gym (like this: http://www.simplifiedbuilding.com/blog/freestanding-portable-parkour-pipe-structure/).They are:

* Indoor, and can not screw into walls or floor in any way (apartment)

* 6' x 8' space limit, height is 9'

* Must support my GB workouts (6' 1", 181 lbs) (dips, rope, rings, stall bars, etc)

* Must support my 4' 1" (and growing) daughter's gymnastics, including high bar and ring work

So I designed a Kee Klamp-based gym that includes:

* Parallel bars (adjustable, default 20"), 5' long and 6' high (doubles for swinging)

* 8' high bar (rope climbs, pull-ups, rings)

* 7' stall bars (steel)

* 8' long and 5' wide overall

* T connections are all easily adjustable

So it's a pretty substantial piece. The problem is, I specified everything on Simplified Building and it is about $1200, including about $300 for 10 sets of angle braces to ensure it doesn't sway. Shipping is another $400+. This seems like a lot for a home gym, but then it is very high quality and complete re-configurable. Still, I was hoping it would be more like $800.

Any ideas on what I should do? Is this a good value?

How many angle braces are really necessary on a 6x8 rectangular structure that is 6-8' tall? There are 8 vertical posts and only 6 horizontal connectors before my stall bars are added at one end.

Is there a reasonable way to save on shipping charges? E.g. maybe there are Kee Klamp dealers in California or something. I have a mini-SUV.

I'd also like to know if anyone has made a similar structure and what your experiences were.

Thanks!

I made parallel bars out of imitation kee klamps(I got them from Farmtek.com) and pipe from lowes and they are good. A little wobbly, but I'm not doing anything crazy on them.

As for dealers, I would talk to someone from kee klamp directly. A little drive would be more than worth knocking off that shipping.

Key clamp style setups are actually fairly expensive, and if you don't bolt them to something, also wobbly.

There are a number of similar products you can find in the US, iirc, Alvin Key Clamps is one.

I do not recommend using the Aluminium style if you plan to disassemble yours. Mine froze up almost immediately.

Considering the cost, It may actually be just as good to find a local welder, or engineering shop and just have something made.

No Free Lunch brings up a good point - could I just order the clamps online and use pipe lengths available from Lowe's/Home Depot? That would save virtually all the shipping and much of the cost issue. Also I have been thinking about the corner braces and believe I could use fewer...once I've gone through another iteration or two I'll post here for feedback.

As for using a welder, I want something I can easily disassemble. I am not using aluminum - I'm planning to use 1" (Size 6) pipe, which has a 1.305 outside diameter. I'll need to measure the hardware store pipe and see if it has a similar diameter.

Thanks for the feedback. Anyone else?

Any thoughts on using wood for some of the components, instead of all steel pipe?  This might be better option for outside, but there may be some alternatives or cost savings.   While it would be nice to have some pipe for as vertical elements, for certain moves, perhaps it is not necessary that all the support columns be steel.  

As I've been researching, it appears that galvanized pipe or possibly black pipe from Lowe's or Home Depot will also fit into key clamps. Any problems with using either, galvanized or black plumbing pipe?

If I buy full lengths and cut it down I can surely save plenty on the pipe. When I compute pre-cut pipes I get around $700 for galvanized pipe. I need to check pricing on black pipe and see how realistic it is to cut it down (if savings would exceed price of the saw, or if I could rent a saw, or have Lowe's cut it for me).

Then I would order only the clamps online, saving a ton on shipping. The clamps alone would be about $550 + $80 shipping.

One difference with this plan is that I'll put the entire thing on 1 or 2 layers of 3/4 plywood and screw down the vertical posts.

Thoughts?

Damien

- Key clamps are made to work with standard plumbing pipe, it's always going to be more economical to source your own locally.

- 1" tubing is a on the border for being strong enough for supports, 

- Plywood mounting will certainly make for a more stable set-up

I have been trying to find a local vendor, not only to save costs, but also to be able to get my hands on the product first.  I have not had any luck with the major consumer stores, like Home Depot, Lowes, or OSH.  I am thinking of an outdoor structure, but one that can be un-assembled or re-configured.  

Wolf with one Ear said:

I have been trying to find a local vendor, not only to save costs, but also to be able to get my hands on the product first.  I have not had any luck with the major consumer stores, like Home Depot, Lowes, or OSH.  I am thinking of an outdoor structure, but one that can be un-assembled or re-configured.  

You'd probably be best off contacting any of the aforementioned clamp companies directly and then finding out any dealers locations. You might be able to get a local hardware store to put in an order for you on discount.

So I got impatient and sourced everything locally. It was a major hassle, but after visiting 2 Home Depots and 2 Lowe's I got it all together and built today. I am still planning how exactly to add stall bars, and my parallel bars are half done. Still, not a bad weekend :-)

Note, pipe looks cheaper if you assume Lowe's free pipe cutting will let you get the 10' price of $22. Didn't work for me - threads didn't work so I had to buy standard lengths. Cost me about double as expected for pipe.

Also it can be hard to find black pipe flanges, and galvanized cost $11 vs $6.50, so it adds up when buying 30+ pieces.

1" black pipe easily supports my 180 lbs across a 5' span. 3/4" is fine across 2'.

Any comments or questions?

I attached photo and video to my last post - can you see them? I don't see them when viewing in the forum.

I cannot.  I am viewing on Chrome.

OK let me try this again - a pic should be attached.

Here's a link:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/r4r6ze899thbjj6/jungle_gym.JPG?dl=0

Excellent.  I like the look of the wood elements.  I may try something similar for outdoors.  It would be nice not to have to put posts in the ground, but I will need to anchor it.  Thank you for sharing.   

If you have a platform you don't need to go into the ground. Maybe a flat deck? You can weight the floor, plus the weight of the structure will hold down the deck. Now you may not want to do a high bar routine at 180 lbs, but for mostly pulling straight down it is fine. I have spare weights around so I hold down my structure with that.

This looks great. About how much did it end up costing?

Sorry for the late reply. I had kept all my receipts and planned to add them up, but now I lost track. I'd say it was close to $1,000, including tools and such since I started with nothing. I have extra materials, too, which I am using to build a combo monkey / stall / parallel bars  (vertical for stall, across the top for my daughter monkey, on the ground for parallel) which will add about $100.

The flanges are a lot - you can save a lot by getting black iron instead of galvanized. I didn't want to wait so I paid the $11 per piece for 10+, whereas the black iron are > $6 each. So that can be $50-$100 in savings if you're patient and buy them over a couple weeks - I cleared out the 1" flanges at 4 local HD and Lowe's when I built mine! :-)