Introduction: Install a Hanging Bar/Trapeze at Your Office

By supamoto
About: I like to make things for the internets. I also sell a pretty cool calendar at supamoto.co. You'll like it.

Any office can be dramatically improved with a trapeze. It's a fact. Instructables used to have a small trapeze bar to hang from in a previous space. It was a great way to stretch and move around a bit before going back to whatever had to be done. Sadly, there has been no such bar in the office for almost two years. This needed to be fixed so I went about installing one.

DISCLAIMER: This is not the safest and most professional setup by far. The goal was to have a bar for stretching/hanging and pull-ups. This is not meant for swinging and trapeze despite the photos below of Josh on the bar.

Step 1: Get the Gear

You'll need:
- 4 eyebolts. Two for the ceiling and two to attach to the bar
- rope
- 30" 1.5" diameter maple bar

Make sure that the eyebolts and rope are rated for much more than the weight that you're going to be applying to it.

Step 2: Drill Some Holes

Break out your drill and drill holes in the joists and the bar. Make sure you drill straight and through the center.

Step 3: Screw in the Eyebolts

You may need to use a tool to get some leverage, but simply screw those bolts in!

Step 4: Time to Get Knotty

We used a few different knots to attach the rope to the ceiling and to the bar. We'll start with the ceiling knot, the bowline.

Simply tie a bowline to create a sturdy loop. Feed the other end of the rope through the eyebolt and back through the loop. That's it!

Step 5: Getting Knottier

The next knot we're using here is a figure-8 knot. Tie a figure-8 knot and leave a couple feet on the end.

Feed the rope through the eyebolt and then run it back through the knot to double it up. Before you really yank on it to tighten it, check the height of the bar and the evenness of the two sides.

Step 6: Finishing It Off

With the extra rope that's coming out, tie a double overhand knot. This will keep the extra rope in place and provide a knot that would stick in the figure-8 knot in the unlikely event that the figure-8 would start to come undone.

Step 7: Hang Out and Enjoy the View

Hang from the bar, do some pull-ups or chin-ups, and enjoy yourself. I don't recommend swinging like it's a regular trapeze since that requires a much safer setup. If that's your intention, do more research before attempting an installation.