Making a suspension bar

[greenmands]

Should I use a hollow metal tube, a dowel rod, or should I pound a dowel rod into a metal tube ?

 

[h_i_s]

hmm. i don't know. i think the correct choice should depend on how heavy the suspendee would be? If weight may pose an issue, common sense would tell me to go with the stronger metal bar. Plus, the density/strength when choosing which type of metal to use should be concidered. Some types of metal bend give/easily ... just because it's metal does not guarantee it is the strongest of materials.

my Master made spreader bars from thick wooden dowels which double fine when used for suspension, and they support me well. i do weigh under 100 pounds though.

 

[DVS]

Should I use a hollow metal tube, a dowel rod, or should I pound a dowel rod into a metal tube ?

You might check out Walmart for their metal coat rack that fits in the back seat of a car. It's not bad for a simple spreader bar. It 's ajustable, and it has D rings on the ends for attachming to ankle cuffs.

No, it's not the strongest thing out there, but it's cheap and it works, in most situations. And, if you want to go ahead and make your own, it could be used as a templet or prototype for yours.

Also, in the past, I've used old boom handles and attached D rings from the neighborhood hardware store. If you're always going to use these on one person, you can secure the D rings in one spot on the broom dowel and it might work just fine for ever and ever.

 

[Joe Schmoe]

I made one from heavy guage steel tube, approx. 36 inches long and approx 1 1/2 inches diameter, with heavy eye bolts at both ends on the top and bottom of the bar. The top eye bolts have approx 18 inch lengths of log chain attached. The chains on the eye bolts are used to hang the bar from either single or double points overhead. I use a metal horseshoe bolt to join the two chains together at the top for single point.

 

[rosco rathbone]

Spec: all joints to be welded full penetration 7018 electrode

 

[Sheaf_Beast]

Spec: all joints to be welded full penetration 7018 electrode

One could quibble. 60,000 tensile or 70,000 or 80,000 or even 110,000.


Hense a rod labeled 60xx= 60,000 tensile strength rod.


Safe bet, if your gonna suspend someone, make the break 50 times their weight.


Call me old fashioned or just plain overkill, but *anthing* I have ever built has never failed.

 

[greenmands]

I hate posting twice.

 

[greenmands]

At least I don't want to end up like the two models I saw at a pay site.
In the beginning of the photo set, they were definetly hanging above the floor by their wrists. In the second half of the photos, they were standing on the floor. One had a cast on her right forearm and the other had a cast on her left forearm. Both had bruises. Off hand, I'd guess that what ever frame they were hanging from came down on top of them. *ouch*

 

[DVS]

You know, for some reason, I misread this thread title. I thought it said spreader bar! Ha! Well, my suggestion to go to Walmart won't work, obviously. That coat rack thing won't hold any weight.

Have you thought about electical conduit? I don't know how crafty you are, but there are several differnt kinds of tubing out there you could use. And as some of the other posts have mentioned, your weight threshold will be the deciding factor.

Someone mentioned welding? Now that's further than I would go. I just have a large hook screwed into the ceiling beam. I guess I like things simple?

 

[greenmands]

I just remembered I have a chin-up bar in my closet. A drill, some eye-bolts...
It might work. I know it'll take my housemates weight. He's 6'2" and weighs about 275

 

[h_i_s]

You know, for some reason, I misread this thread title. I thought it said spreader bar! Ha! Well, my suggestion to go to Walmart won't work, obviously. That coat rack thing won't hold any weight.

Have you thought about electical conduit? I don't know how crafty you are, but there are several differnt kinds of tubing out there you could use. And as some of the other posts have mentioned, your weight threshold will be the deciding factor.

Someone mentioned welding? Now that's further than I would go. I just have a large hook screwed into the ceiling beam. I guess I like things simple?

Hey! We have one of those big plant hook thingies in our bedroom ceiling too! *coughcough*

 

[Joe Schmoe]

A drill, some eye-bolts...
It might work.

A couple of washers with each and some Loctite on the threads and you should be good to go.

Worked for me.

 

[heckle]

Are you going to use the bar as a main suspension point or to attach the suspendee from? When I do suspensions, I use 3/4 closed eye bolts that are put through the middle of a rafter as the main suspension point. And then I use rope and pulleys for the lift. Of course this is for inverted suspensions.

If your wanting it for attaching your suspendee to, your better off making it big and heavy or even purchasing one specifically designed for this task. But keep in mind that with suspensions, ALL of the bits and peices need to be checked each and every time you use them!

 

[rosco rathbone]

One could quibble. 60,000 tensile or 70,000 or 80,000 or even 110,000.


Hense a rod labeled 60xx= 60,000 tensile strength rod.


Safe bet, if your gonna suspend someone, make the break 50 times their weight.


Call me old fashioned or just plain overkill, but *anthing* I have ever built has never failed.

Use 80s if you plan on sodomizing an elephant....

 

[Netzach]

When you say suspension do you mean "look ma, no toes" or do you mean "I have my hands up over my head?"

No offense, but I would not use a wooden anything for the former under any circumstances, nor anything *not* screwed THROUGH a structural beam. Hate to be a downer, but when someone tugs or jerks their full weight (never happens in a scene, right?) even that 90 pound person is suddenly exerting 360 pounds on the rig. I'd rather invest in the proper equipment than court a broken arm or far worse, neck, with a round of suspension bondage gone wrong. Full suspension=edgeplay. Every time.

I've seen rings and such put into doorways, which seems like a not-terribly-bad home idea if the person's feet remain on the ground or their legs are being pulled up but they are lying on the ground. For full suspension, if there is no screw going all the way through a supporting beam, no.

The ring I'm hanging on in my av is attached to a giant ass room sized wood frame, and an airline cable coming off an automotive hoist. I'm very confident in this beast and I've used it a lot and know my way around it. The ring was purchased from a site that specializes in rope bondage and is the type often seen in rope photos.

These are the things people hurt themselves doing the most and the worst, not the complex cutting whipping and branding kinds of things, in my experience. The best riggers I know are very paranoid about equipment. At a party, I personally will only work full rope suspensions with metal equipment that I know my way around, or wooden equipment that I know my way around if I know that that piece was made for suspension specifically by someone who knows what they are doing.

(Most wooden racks fail this test.)

Someday I want to learn how to do the bamboo-tripod thing, but I'll leave that till I have someone brilliant to show me how.

So I would be making my bar out of metal, and probably investing in the craftsmanship of someone who's been doing this for years rather than trying to weld it myself or anything, though I do know how to weld. (badly)

 

[Sheaf_Beast]

Use 80s if you plan on sodomizing an elephant....

thumbup for positive thinking

 

[rosco rathbone]

thumbup for positive thinking

1 3-ton chain fall on each limb ought to do it....

 

[greenmands]

After checking on the break load of various dowel rods, I think I'll spend the cash and get a 40 inch long, 3/4 inch square bar of 1140 stainless (or something close) . Then visit a friend that has a drill press to make the holes. Plus some padded non-slip handles to mount shoulder length apart .
Thank you all for the input.

 

[DVS]

After checking on the break load of various dowel rods, I think I'll spend the cash and get a 40 inch long, 3/4 inch square bar of 1140 stainless (or something close) . Then visit a friend that has a drill press to make the holes. Plus some padded non-slip handles to mount shoulder length apart .
Thank you all for the input.

I don't know where one might get it, but I'd bet aluminum tubing (square is more rigid and it comes in different thicknesses) would be both light and sturdy. Of course steal will be better, but there is the weight of it falling and hiitting you in the head, if there's an accident. Aluminum will still hurt, but it makes much less of a gash than steal. Just an option I thought I'd bring up. Murphy's law always follows me around.

 

[greenmands]

I don't know where one might get it, but I'd bet aluminum tubing (square is more rigid and it comes in different thicknesses) would be both light and sturdy. Of course steal will be better, but there is the weight of it falling and hiitting you in the head, if there's an accident. Aluminum will still hurt, but it makes much less of a gash than steal. Just an option I thought I'd bring up. Murphy's law always follows me around.

Sir, IMHO Murphy was a f***ing optimist. If I can find an aluminum bar I'll give it serious consideration. I'm now looking and pricing chain hoists for this. I don't trust rope for this since it would be left in the basement for prolonged periods of time.
Thank you Sir