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DIY Dumbbell Rack – Wooden Design!

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by
January 23, 2025
Zoe Hunt

Our old weight rack was out of room. Since getting it a few years ago, our dumbbell collection has expanded and now a bunch of our dumbbells were scattered around the floor. 

When trying a new workout program, I saw the prettiest wood dumbbell rack in the background. I made some tweaks to the design to make it more compact to fit our space, but the concept was the same: a pretty DIY wood dumbbell rack! 

This DIY weight rack features a flat top so you can quickly and easily grab your most used dumbbells. Then the bottom shelf is angled to make grabbing those larger weights a little easier. 

DIY dumbbell rack made of wood

Overall, I’m thrilled with the design. It’s pretty straightforward to build, it looks great, and it’s functional. We have everything from 5-50lb dumbbells sitting on our wood weight rack! 

Alright, let’s dive in and start DIYing! 

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How to Build a Wooden DIY Dumbbell Rack 

Recommended Tools:

Shopping List: 

Dimensions

This weight rack is 50 ¾” wide, 23 ¾” tall, and 15 ¾” deep. 

make this DIY weight rack photo of finished dumbbell rack in home gym over a picture of a 3D rendering with dimensions

Note: our weight rack is actually 16 ¾” deep…I misread my dimensions and cut the first piece too short. Since we had to cut into a second sheet of plywood no matter what, we decided to leave it at 16 ¾”. The plans are optimized though to require just one sheet of plywood if you actually cut the pieces to 15 ¾” wide. 

STEP 1: CUT YOUR PLYWOOD TO WIDTH 

Cut your plywood into (3) strips of 15 ¾” x 96. You’ll have very little leftover. We used our Kreg Rip Cut to make these repeated cuts without measuring in between. 

Then cut one of your 15 ¾” pieces in half at 48”. We used our Kreg Accu-Cut for the remainder of our plywood cuts.

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STEP 2: GLUE PLYWOOD PANELS

Before adding glue to your plywood panels, I recommend getting out all of your clamps and placing a tarp underneath your wood to prevent glue from dripping onto your floor. 

Add a generous amount of glue to one of the 96” pieces of plywood. Spread the glue so that the plywood is fully covered. 

Place the second sheet of 96” plywood on top of the piece, making sure that the “good” side (aka the pretty side) of the plywood is facing out. 

Line up the plywood and clamp the two pieces together. It’s okay if you aren’t able to perfectly line up the 15 ¾” sides. Focus on making sure the boards are flush on the 96” sides. 

Wipe off any glue that’s seeping out the sides with a wet rag and then let it stay clamped for at least 30 minutes. We recommend letting it sit for a couple of hours or even overnight if possible.

Repeat this process with the two 48” pieces. 

clamping two pieces of plywood together

Note: ideally you would have more clamps than we did and could have a clamp close to each corner!

STEP 3: MAKE YOUR REMAINING CUTS

Now that the glue has dried, trim off any edges that weren’t perfectly lined up. If you do have to trim the width, make sure to trim the width on both the 48” and 96” pieces so that they are equal.

Now make the following cuts out of the now 1 ½” thick plywood:

For What?LengthQuantity
Top50 ¾*1
Bottom Shelf47 3/41
Sides22 1/42

*Most plywood is not exactly ¾” thick. We ended up cutting our top piece about 1/16” shorter than what’s shown here. We stacked our side pieces on top of each other and found that together they were only 2 15/16” thick rather than a full 3”, so we adjusted accordingly. 

Now cut your 1x4x8 into two pieces that are 47 ¾” long. Cut your 1x3x4 down to 47 ¾”. 

Note: our top shelf held 5, 10, 15, 20, and 25lbs dumbbell pairs. If you are planning to use it to hold heavier weights than that, we recommend using a 2×3 instead of a 1×3 for extra support. 

STEP 4: DRILL POCKET HOLES

Using the 1.5” settings, drill 6 pocket holes on either side of the bottom shelf. Normally, 3-4 pocket holes would be enough for a piece that’s 15 ¾” wide, but we added in extra pocket holes since this board is going to be holding up heavy weights around the clock. 

drilling pocket holes with Kreg 520 into thick plywood

Grab your 1×3 and one of your 1x4s and drill two pocket holes on either end using the ¾” settings. These holes will secure the boards to the sides of the weight rack. 

Now drill 5 pocket holes on these boards along one of the long edges. These holes will secure these support boards to the shelf above that it is supporting. 

STEP 5: APPLY EDGE BANDING 

I’ll be honest – the back of our weight rack is ugly. We opted to not apply edge banding to any of the back edges of the dumbbell rack, so you can see glue drips staining layered plywood edges. It lives against a wall, so that’s fine by me. If you want your weight rack to be prettier from all sides, you can apply edge banding on the backs as well. 

back of weight rack showing layered plywood edge

Here’s what we applied edge banding to: 

  • Front of the sides (one 22 ¼” side) 
  • Front of the bottom shelf (one 47 ¾” side) 
  • Front and sides of the top (one 47 ¾” side and both 15 ¾” sides) 

STEP 6: INSTALL THE BOTTOM SHELF SUPPORT 

Since the bottom shelf is at an angle, we wanted to add a support down the middle to “hook” the weights onto. The angle isn’t really enough for them to slide off, but this helps keep them in place and lined up. 

We placed the top of our support board 10” from the front of the bottom shelf support, but we recommend placing your largest weight on the bottom shelf piece to confirm if that works for your dumbbells. 

measuring for support board for middle of weight rack

Essentially, we want the weight to still be fully on the shelf when it’s pressing on the top of the support. Since it’s easier to grab the further forward it is, it’s better to err on the side of being too far forward than too far back. 

Once you have your distance marked, use a generous amount of glue and 1.5 – 2” nails to secure the board. Make sure you are placing this board on the side that does NOT have pocket holes on it. 

nailing support board to plywood

We used a total of 8 nails on this board. Really these are just a clamp to hold it in place while the glue dries. 

STEP 7: INSTALL THE BOTTOM SHELF 

Before we begin this step, make sure that the side of your plywood with edge banding on it is facing forward and it is always positioned as the front when you go to install. 

Mark 7.25” from the bottom of the side along the front edge. Mark 11.25” from the bottom along the back edge. We installed our bottom shelf so that the front/top point of the shelf was flush with the front of the sides. 

securing bottom shelf of weight rack with pocket holes and glue

Using glue and 2.5” Kreg screws, secure the bottom shelf to the first side piece. Then secure to the second side piece. 

STEP 8: INSTALL THE TOP

Using glue and 2.5” nails, place the top onto the side pieces and secure it. The top and sides should be flush on the front, back, and sides edges. 

nailing top of DIY dumbbell rack

Wood filler is notorious for not matching wood, especially with lighter stains, so be sure to place your nails in a straight line so that it looks more like an intentional design detail than haphazard nailing. 

STEP 9: INSTALL THE SUPPORT BOARDS 

We used glue and 1.25” Kreg screws to secure these support boards. For both of the supports, we positioned them 7.5” from the front of the weight rack. The bottom support is installed at the same angle as the bottom shelf. 

securing support boards under DIY weight rack

STEP 10: FINISH YOUR DIY DUMBBELL RACK 

To finish our DIY weight rack, we filled all of the nail holes with wood filler and sanded with 220 grit sandpaper. 

DIY dumbbell rack sitting on workbench in garage

We used a water-based pre-stain wood conditioner and then Minwax water-based semi-transparent stain tinted to Driftwood. The key with water-based stains is to work quickly and to apply enough. 

Rather than just using a rag, I’ve gotten better results by applying the stain first with a brush and then immediately wiping the excess off with a rag. 

Work in small sections. Do NOT try to apply the stain to the entire piece before wiping off the excess or it’ll dry and you won’t be able to wipe it off! 

We ended up applying 2 coats of stain because the maple did not absorb much color on the first round of staining. 

After letting it dry, we applied 2 coats of Polycrylic Max in a satin sheen. 

There you have it! Now you know how to build your own DIY dumbbell rack! Personally I think this wooden weight rack is way prettier than the standard weight rack and it’s just as functional. I’m all about trying to add more beauty into every area of life – something about it just makes me so happy! 

close up of finished wooden weight rack
Make this weight rack made from plywood
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