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Old 12-30-10, 08:30 PM  
tlchello
 
Join Date: Apr 2003
Location: Canada
Plans for PVC or other portable ballet barre?

My hubby has offered to make me a portable ballet barre. I have been reading online about some made from PVC piping but wanted to see if anyone here has made one like that and how it worked out. He was thinking of doing a wall mounted one but I would like to be able to move it between 2 rooms. Any tips or advice or plans you would like to share before we start planning the build?

TIA.
T.
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Old 12-31-10, 12:40 AM  
cfgcanada
 
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Join Date: May 2008
Location: Winnipeg
My husband made me one (see avatar pic). It works fine for my purposes - however, it's not made for "hanging" types of exercises. It's very light and can be moved from one side to the other with just one hand, which is very handy when switching sides. And as a bonus, it also serves well for hanging rugs on to dry that don't wear well if put in the dryer. Hamlet (dog) has to have his "islands" to walk on.
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Old 12-31-10, 09:25 PM  
tlchello
 
Join Date: Apr 2003
Location: Canada
Fiona,

Did your husband follow any plans for it?

T.
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Old 01-01-11, 04:00 AM  
Nelly G
 
Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: Netherlands, Europe
Fiona,

Could your husband tell how he made it or give a description?

My husband want to made me one as well. Thanks in advance!!
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Old 01-01-11, 04:12 AM  
juberann
 
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Oregon
Nice, Fiona! what a great husband you have! Looks alot like my CardioBarre that I spent a small fortune on. I plan on bringing my CardioBarre into my family room and leaving it set up in there. I usually disassemble the legs and store it but have made excuses more then once on what a hassle it was to bring out, now with it in my family room (and ready to go at all times) I won't be able to make excuses anymore
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Old 01-01-11, 10:10 AM  
Orlita
 
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Join Date: Dec 2006
I have a nice, thick bamboo pole from the gardens where I work, which I hope to use as a barre, maybe with 2 wall-mounted hook supports, so I can put it away easily. This may be a nice option for others -- though I don't know where you could find bamboo that thick.

I also have a Fluidity barre, but it's so heavy that I rarely drag it out from under the counch.
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Old 01-01-11, 11:12 AM  
donnadc
 
Join Date: Dec 2005
My hubby made a PVC ballet barre for our daughter to do her ballet stuff.
I just measured it and here's the stats:

PVC Ballet Barre

2- 60” horizontal pieces
2- 10 ½” upper vertical pieces
2- 25” vertical legs
4- 13” horizontal cross legs
4- PVC T’s
2- PVC elbows
4- end caps

He used 1 ½” inch inner diameter (I.D.) PVC that came in 10’ pieces.
I believe you can make it with 2 - 10 foot pieces.

The whole top section is cemented together with PVC glue and the legs are cemented together, but he left the legs uncemented to the top so that it could be taken apart for storage.
My daughter's 11 yrs old and about 5 ft tall. So, you may want a taller or shorter barre, depending on your height.

I 'stole' the idea from a guy that sells them on ebay. Here's his instructional video on how to put it together.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ziyoAaysbFc

I hope that makes sense. Good luck!!


Edit: Oh, would like to add, like it was said above, you can't really put your weight on it.
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Old 01-01-11, 12:15 PM  
cfgcanada
 
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Join Date: May 2008
Location: Winnipeg
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nelly G View Post
Fiona,

Could your husband tell how he made it or give a description?

My husband want to made me one as well. Thanks in advance!!
I'm sorry - I don't seem to have made (kept?) any specific plans. I recall I had some notes that I had made on the size I wanted. I had initially taken the instructions off the web from someone who sold a barre package in pieces and gave instructions on how to put it together. Similar to the video donnadc mentions, but I think I found something written out. I had just decided what size I wanted (i.e. 4 feet long, etc. and went from there). If you watch the video, you can decide what you need and then just work out some measurements for your own body height, etc.
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Old 01-01-11, 06:47 PM  
Nelly G
 
Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: Netherlands, Europe
Thanks for the answers and the link!!!

What a great husbands we have!!
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Old 03-04-11, 01:19 PM  
Lorelai
 
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: Missouri
Thread revival!

I was going to get a Fluidity Barre, etc, off of Craigslist for a steal of a deal, and was so excited about it. We settled on a price, exchanged phone numbers, and set up a day and time to meet (this evening, actually). Late last night I happened to check my email, only to find that she'd found a buyer willing to pay more than our agreement and basically sold it out from under me. It was the first barre that I've ever seen for sale used in my area, so I'm feeling pretty crushed. I was really excited.

So my boyfriend has offered to build me a ballet barre. I'm disappointed not to have the hefty Fluidity, but at this point, I really need a barre of some kind, and he's really handy. I just watched the YouTube link that was provided upthread regarding the PVC barre, and I'm wondering if it's as sturdy as it looks. I have no illusions that it's going to be light, which is great, but I'd like to know it won't fall apart if I lose my balance and lean on it. Any thoughts would be great! Also, most sites recommend four foot long barres... for those of us doing videos, do we really need that much length? Would it upset the balance to make it shorter? I don't have tons of space, and would like to be able to break it down easily as well. I've also ready conflicting information about how high the barre should be; even some video instructors seem to have different opinions. Thoughts from our resident barre experts?

Thanks everyone; it would really make my day if you could soothe my initial misgivings about a PVC barre if you could share some of your stories.

I really do feel like this community is good for the soul.
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