Homemade Pitch Device?

[Sesh Delight]

I have plates, however the sidings on them are not symmetrical. The plates at my gym are similar - no flat sidings.

So, I'm left with no choice I guess but to assemble my own. Any suggestions? The first thought that comes to mind for me is nail two pieces of sawed 2x4's together and hang weight off of it.

Thanks!

[JayPierce]

The grip just isn't the same with wood. But, if you bolted a piece of iron flat stock to each side, it'd probably work great.

[Guest Bullitt]

Wood blocks are cheap and can be painted with Rustoleum Texture paint but are never quite right as to texture but can be made up in different widths etc fairly easily with some glue and a belt sander.

I ended up buying a very nice 54mm 2HP metal setup from Chris Rice (Climber511 on the board) for a very reasonable price. He also has 1HP blocks he can make you. Also, Fat Bastard Barbell has some nice adjustable pinch blocks.

[climber511]

If your interest at this point is just stronger hands - any thickness is going to work for you. Two 2x4s is 3" - pretty darn wide really. The advantage of a euro setup is it's adjustability. Everyone has a width that works best for them as far as pinching the most weight possible for contest purposes - once you find out what that is - it's pretty easy to make yourself something to match to train with. Pinch is isometric in nature and strength developed at a certain width only carries over in a fairly narrow range to each side of the width trained. Just as information - the most common widths used in competition are 48 and 54 mm or 2" and 2 1/8". And that 1/8" can make a rather large difference. You might try these first - and round the edges well - sharp edges and cuts stop many people from training the lift as hard as they should. If you can weld (or know someone who can) - making up a steel block is pretty easy and not all that expensive.