Medicine Ball Rack ideas?

[harryball]

You guys may remember the Plybo Boxes, see Show and Tell. Those have done very well and I have a repeat customer. I'm also making risers for them that boost the box height by 4" or 8". If you have a school nearby (especially a private school) it's not a bad gig. Remember http://www.talkshopbot.com/forum/messages/17997/30600.html?1211823722


They have asked me for a Medicine Ball Rack. So far I've not hit on any ingeneous ideas. If someone has some ideas and would be willing to share them I'll make the final design public domain if it is successful.

They want something that will fit nicely into a corner and hold 6 to 8 balls. It should be "light" in appearance i.e. not a full cabinet system but something with minimal appearance. It should not have "eye pokers" on it, you'll understand when you see some of the links below. It can be secured to the wall.

The balls range from about 13" to 15" in diameter (I think 14" is an official size) and from 4 to 15 lbs.

Equiped with eye pokers or not corner friendly.
http://www.lifestylesport.com/medicine_ball_racks.htm

Again, eye pokers and not corner friendly
http://www.performbetter.com/SearchResult.aspx_Q_CategoryID_E_378

Don't spend too much effort, I'm just fishing for ideas I can sketch and present. In the end they'll probably purchase 4 of these and the budget is in the $100 to $200 range. That means simple is the key.

They are trying to avoid the "eye pokers" in the design since these are close to the exercise floor.

/RB

[zeykr]

How about stack of small square shelves with holes cutout in center for balls to sit in. Legs attached at each corner either straight up or prettier would be tapering toward the top - kind like a big cd tower or pyramid.

[wooden_innovations]

How about something like this?


2417
2418

[dubliner]

How about a coke can dispenser type, although with six balls on top the bottom one would be stuck there :-(

[coach]

How about lazy susan style with 2 tiers.
3 or 4 ball bearing rollers maybe would support the table. I saw them on woodcraft web site.
(Ball Bearing Work Rollers)

[chiloquinruss]

If you will excuse the very poor artwork how about something like this? The angle at the bottom would help to keep the balls from sticking together. Russ
2419

[harryball]

Interesting ideas all....

I don't know if the bottom ball would come out of any type of feed system with 80 to 90 lbs on top of it... that's a lot of weight. For basketballs though... great idea.

A lazy susan system would probably break the budget.

I like what Rodney has drawn... I'm thinking 2 balls wide instead of 3 and as narrow/thin as possible with it anchored to the wall. Not glamorous but it is simple. I might even be able to cut the sides and cut holes then feed conduit through for the supports...

/RB

[jseiler]

lazy susan...would 7 bux break the budget?

http://www.sciplus.com/singleItem.cfm/terms/1058

John

[harryball]

I admit, that's less than half what I've seen them for... have to factor in the labor and build but that's closer to budget.

/RB

[landdesign]

Ron I was going to use this design to make planter racks for my wife. the design might work well for you because if you use two parts it will fit in a corner... three on a wall and all four it will stand in the middle of the room.

Erik
Ball Rack

2420 (35.4 k)

[harryball]

Ingenious... I may have to cut one of those just to look at it. Have you actually cut one of these? I noticed the slots are .75" which won't work for 23/32" ply but would work for MDF.

I'm not sure if the holders would withstand the constant weight either, but I'm sure it could be reinforced.

/RB

[landdesign]

my company builds a lot of flat pack designs. we do all our cad work so the the Master is sized to .75. then when it comes to cutting we size the slots to the plywood thickness + .02. I'm pretty sure if its cut out of reasonably good 3/4 ply it should be able to hold the 15# weight without too much trouble.

I have been wanting to cut this for my wife for a plant stand on the back porch and last night I saw your post. gave me the motivation to do the cad work. I'll cut a sample out of .125 ply to make sure I didn't do a oops!

Erik

[harryball]

I prefer to do all my test cuts out of final pre-finished stock... you know my last good sheet too. Makes things far more interesting. ;-)

I think I may give this thing a shot just to see it and give it to my wife as a planter if nothing else comes of it. I love snap/lock together stuff.

/RB

[landdesign]

all right Robert.... now why did you let me deign a house with no front door. I cut a prototype this morning and dang if the last piece couldn't go in.... HA! for it to work I would have had to teliport it in. I spent the day fooling with it and I finally got it done. I'll post a new file tomorrow after I noodle it one last time. sure glad i was using the cheap pre finished ply to test with


Erik

[knight_toolworks]

what about a simple corner shelf design? with side rails to support the weight? though should be cheap and fast to make.