So this is a little off the beaten path for me, usually I am posting about one of my plugins, but here goes anyways. Since Covid started a couple years back I've had to give up on going to the gym and instead have managed to cobble together a fairly decent personal gym in my garage. I've got a treadmill, a couple benches and some dumbells and other free weights. It actually isn't too bad of a setup.
The only thing I have really been missing is a decent lat pulldown machine. I was about to purchase one on Amazon but after reading a lot of reviews it seems that a good quality machine will come at a not so good price. That being said I thought it might be interesting and fun to try and build one instead with my teenage boys (get them off their games for once). Here is my first crack at a design:
(https://aws1.discourse-cdn.com/sketchup/optimized/3X/5/7/571a2e494e24c4dc4c38f9978dd7cc845dd4c236_2_528x500.jpeg)
My biggest issue or concern is rigidity and stability. Don't need this thing toppling over on me or one of the kids. I also haven't shown the hardware in the model yet but it will be pretty simple, a couple of pulleys, wire rope and the 10 lbs pulldown bar.
The link to the model is below if you care to take it for a spin:
https://3dwarehouse.sketchup.com/model/6ecb6e6a-715a-4946-9820-21105f31be5f/Lat-Pulldown-Machine
Comments?
P.S. When it comes to strength and rigidity my concern is largely due to the amount of weight I typically pull (120 - 175 lbs) on a machine like this. I will probably construct it with glue and screws, but it may need more bracing with OSB or plywood.