We all understand the importance of staying fit all the time, and a treadmill is one of the best pieces of equipment one can use to achieve this noble goal. However, the issue is that a treadmill does not come cheap, and for those who want to run but have no access to their gyms or cannot go out because of lockdowns, a home treadmill is often the only viable alternative.
The good news here is that you do not need to spend so much on purchasing a home treadmill. You might not have considered this before, but you can make your own at home. This piece will provide you with the needed details on how you can achieve this goal.
Homemade Treadmills
Since you are making it from home, you should not expect the same finishing that comes with the one from a factory. Hence, you should see it as a kind of improvisation, and if it saves you cost, and it functions, you are good to go. You may also need to cope with the noise, but that should not be much of an issue for you.
Items Needed
You will need the following items for your homemade treadmill:
- Screws
- PVC pipe
- Hot glue gun
- Wood
- Roller bearings
Steps in Building Your Treadmill
Step 1: Setting up Workspace
Have your tidy workspace. Ensure it is spacey, clean, and there’s nothing too sensitive around.
Step 2: The Frame
Get the frame sorted. The first move here is to get plywood that is about the same length as a treadmill that you have in mind. You can arrange in such a way that you will have enough space for the rollers in a way that the carpet remains in place.
If you want to strengthen it for more weight capacity, you can add two 2X4s to expand the width of the frame. These extra items will also work as braces that add to the stability of the treadmill. You can also drive your screws or do hammering of the nails to put the frame in place with the track placed on it. Fix the spot on the two sides of this frame and secure a pair of the 2X4s of the same length of the track you have in mind.
Step 3: Getting the Rollers in Place
This is not a hard step at all. You do measurement and cutting off two pieces of PVC pipes so that they can fit into the width of the track in two places. Fix a 4×4 post in the two pieces of the PVC pipe. Put a mark in the center of each point of the end of the wood in the PVC pipes.
Make a guide hole in the marked points before putting the PVC pipes at either end of the frame, and this will keep the carpet fixed in place so it does not obstruct your exercise. Arrange the center of the PVC pipe in a way that the frame sides align, then drill holes across the frame.
Put in small copper tubes to function as the bearings. Then put long nails via the pilot holes in the posts in the PVC pipes to secure them as the PVC pipes spin with ease.
Step 4: Fixing the Carpet
Measure the carpet in a way that it has the same length as your track. You must make sure that the length is so that it can easily cover the two rollers and the track. There should be some additional length left on the carpet, so you can modify it later if you want to. Cut the carpet with some extra length so you can have an overlapping section. Sew the two ends using a bag needle and fishing line. That is the final step, and you can run!
Looks like a good start at a how-to tutorial, but it’s just a sketch, it lacks vital detail