How to Build a Stripper Pole at Home

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By Leah Waddill
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A pole installed!

Climbing and swinging around on a stripper pole is not only a fun way to tease your man, but also an awesome workout that is a ton of fun!

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

Three ten foot 2x4s
A 1.5" diameter pole
Two 1.5" diameter flanges
5x5 piece of plywood or MDF or whatever else you might want to make your stage from.
A drill
About 35 Wood screws at least 2.5" long
Metallic Spray Paint
High gloss Finish Spray point
Fine grit sand paper
A rag and paint thinner.

Step 1

First get your supplies together. Home Depot or Lowes should have all the materials you need. The poles range is price dramatically from $10-$50 or so. The one I bought was only about $12 made of galvanized steel.
Step 2

You can either cut them yourself or you can have the store cut your 2x4s into six 5' long pieces. Also have your floorboard cut into a 5'x5' piece. If you've already made the measurements, you can have the pole cut now, or you can wait until you build the base, make the measurement, then have the pole cut/cut it yourself.
Step 3

How the boards should look before you start drilling/screwing

When you get home, place your 2x4s into a row of 3 boards, then the other 3 boards on top of those in the opposite direction (see picture!). Make sure the boards are square or the top/stage won't match up well.
Step 4

I went overkill with 3 screws, but 2 would have been enough.

Start by putting 1 screw in each of the 4 corners. I only used 1 screw so I could double check and make sure my frame ended up square. Then go back and put in 2 or 3 screws at each joint. If you have trouble with wood splitting or the screw head stripping, drilling pilot holes can make things a lot easier.
Step 5

The overkill screws I used

Once you have the frame together, screw your plywood/mdf (or whatever you decided to use for your stage) to the frame. Put screws every 6" or so, but that is a little bit overkill :-)
Step 6

My base put together

When I built mine, my stage was actually made of 2 pieces of plywood, but a single piece would be more stable and less dangerous.
Step 7

This is how the pole will attach to the ceiling.

Now that the base it build you will want to get on a ladder and use a stud finder to find studs in the ceiling. While not required, I put a small piece of the extra plywood that I bought as an extra anchor to the ceiling. A 2x4 would probably be equally if not more effective. The main thing is to hit the studs to give lateral strength to the pole.
Step 8

Cheap Paint Thinner

Move the base into the room where the pole will be. Make an accurate measurement from the base to the ceiling to determine the exact length the pole needs to be. Subtract 1-2" from the length of the pole to make sure there is room to include the flanges (seen in previous pictures). Once the pole is cut, it must be cleaned with paint thinner since oil is usually used when cutting the pole.
Step 9

I used a medium grit sandpaper which was a little bit much. The pole would have ended up better iff I used fine grit.

After cleaning the pole with paint thinner, use some fine grit sandpaper to finish cleaning up the pole and giving the spray paint something to stick to. If you have a threaded pole you can just screw the flanges to the pole. If the pole is not threaded, sand down the ends until the fit in the flanges.
Step 10

These are the paints I used. They worked well, although there certainly could be other better products.

Put even coats of high gloss metallic spray paint first. After 2 coats of the metallic paint, put 2 coats of a high gloss finish. Also paint the flanges in the same manner if they were not attached to the pole already.
Step 11

I painted my base, although you could stain it if you wanted.

Once the paint drys, take the pole into the dance room with the stage. The pole should be a tight fit between the top anchor and the base frame. Start screws into the top anchor, but don't tighten then up completely. Use a level, and make sure the pole is perfectly vertical in all directions and meets the base in the center. Tighten all the screws!
Step 12

The pole installed! YAYA!

Dance the night away!