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The posts are the entire foundation of the ring. As you saw earlier, they need to be six feet high, and 4 * 4 inches in length and width. The posts NRW uses are made out of metal.
You need to find someone who can fasion these posts for you, unless you have the resources to cut metal. A good place would be a person who makes mailboxes and the like. Ask him to cut for you, four pieces of metal, each identical, with square ends. Cut four slots on each posts, each posts with the exact same cuttings. The slots need to be 51/2 inches high and 11/2 inches wide. On the left There is a reason why the slots are fasioned in this manner. It is because, when the posts are aligned as if they were standing as part of the actual ring, they would correspond in a way that the boards could be slid into the slots at the correct places, as to give the ring a square shape. Also, in this manner the boards can be arranged in the way so that everything else in the ring fits correctly.
As you can see in the picture, the slots would all be lined up so they face eachother. You will see how this corresponds with the rest of the frame later on. But before then, you need holes drilled into the posts. Have the metal worker put holes (so all posts are identical) through the posts, through the corner closest to both slots, all the way through the opposite corner. See the picture for more detail.
Drill the holes large enough so that a large bolt can go through them, this is important when the turnbuckles come into play. Drill the holes through one corner, then the other, so that on each post there are holes at 39.6 inches, 55.2 inches, and 71.0 inches up the posts. These will be the hights of your bottom, middle, and top ropes, respectively. Now the work on the posts themselves is done. However, they will come into play many times later on. |
The pieces should be six feet high. However, this is not all you need. These posts do not have any holes cut in them to put the boards through. So you need to ask him to cut a few places for you. The first thing you need him to cut are the slots for the frame boards.
is an image of a post, with the slots roughly where they should be. They should actually be right next to the corners of the posts. The bottom slots should be about an inch up from the bottom, and the top slot should go no further up than two feet.
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Now, before you get to the actual frame, you need to do something two just TWO of the 2" * 6" * 16' planks of wood. You need to attach 2" * 6" metal joist hangers. You need four of them for each of the two boards. If you don't know what they are, just ask someone in the hardware store, they will point you in the right direction. They basically hold up pieces of wood, going across between two other pieces of wood, so you don't have to fasten them- they can be lifted in and out of the joist hanger easily.
You need to fasten the joist hangers in regular increments across the 2" * 6" * 16'.
The joist hangers come with holes that you can fasten to the boards. Attach the joist hangers, by nailing them in with the ring shank nails, so that the bottom of them is roughly two inches below the actual board. Once four of them are fastened on each of the two boards, you are finished with this step, and can start on the frame itself. |
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Now the lumber must be used. For the basic frame of the ring, you are going to need eight of the 2" * 6" * 16' boards, two of which have the joist hangers attached.
This step does not requre any form of fastening. During this step, you will just be placing the boards in the appropriate places so they form the frame. The first thing you need to do for the frame is set the boards inside the first two sets of posts. The parts you assemble now will be the left and right side of the ring. First do the left side. Place the 2" * 6" * 16" boards inside the slots, pushing them all the way in (you may want to do this with the posts lying down. Also, make sure that when you push the posts in the slots, the OTHER set of slots is facing UP. This is very important. The board that has the joists on it should be the top board, and the joists should also be facing up. Do the same with the other two posts, and two other boards (making sure, once again, that the top board is the other board with the joists on it.).
Now that you have two sides of the frame done, you need to stand them up. Have one person take each post, and tilt them up until they are standing. The joist hangers You must hold both of these sides directly across from eachother. Now comes some difficult work. You are going to need to adjust each side so that the rest of the boards can go in the remaining slots. You need to scoot the sides so that they are roughly 16' apart from eachother. Now, have any other helper take the remaining 2" * 6" * 16" boards, and put them in the slots, so that they are up against the boards that are already in.
This is the most difficult part of the whole ring. The people holding the assembled sides must hold them still while the other members insert the boards in the other slots. You may need to kick or push foreward on the bottom of the posts to get the boards to go in all the way. Once the boards are all in, they should look much like the picture to the left, However, once the boards are all in the correct places, the frame should look something like this:  Congratulations! The frame of the ring is now (shakily) standing! The next step is to make the frame stable. |
should be facing directly across from eachother. The picture to the left is how the left side should look if it were standing. Note the joist hangers facing towards the right. The other side should be the exact opposite of this.
which is a top view of how the boards should be aligned once the boards have been inserted in the appropriate slots. With this configuration, you should have a square shape, with all of the boards fitting correctly. The frame will be very wobbly at this point, but it should be able to stand on its own. Keep in mind that there is nothing anchoring the boards in the slots.
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Now, you need to stabilize the frame, so you can get on with the rest of the ring.
Firstly, you need to make sure the ring is level. Use a level to find out which sides are not level, and raise the corners by placing bricks or concrete blocks, and small wood scraps underneath. Make sure the ring is as level as you can make it. This will help your ring become much sturdier in the future. Now, you need supports for the posts. Right now, the posts are probably all leaning at least to some degree. You need to get some large wood scraps, or maybe some poles, or anything long and sturdy for this. Basically, use the ground and the holes in the posts to hold the support in place. Position it like it shows below.  Now the frame should be much sturdier, or the posts should at least be straight in the air. If the frame is still a bit shaky, don't worry, it will solidify once it is put together in its entirety. Just make sure the posts are straight up and the frame is level before you go further. |
Now, you need to insert the crossboards. The crossboards are the four remaining 2" * 6" * 16' boards. Remember those joist hangers you put in? Well, the frame should look something like the picture below, with the red dots representing the joist hangers.
 The crossboards will actually be going across between the joist hangers on either side of the frame, to get an end result such as the picture that can be seen below.  Now the crossboards are in place, resting, going across the open space in the middle of the frame. The joists will NOT be lying on the flat side, but on edge, in the joist hangers (this is the only way the joist hangers permit, anyway.). The crossboards will actually be the boards that will support the surface planks and plywood for the most part. They are "free floating" within the joist hangers so they can move up and down-- An effect which is important, in the step below. Below is a image of a close up of what a crossboard resting in a joist hanger should look like, roughly. 
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First, you need to collect all of the tires you need. You will need at least 36 of them. First of all--Don't buy them! There are many places where you can get them for free: Local gas stations! Just about every gas station has a huge stockpile of used tires that they are itching to get rid of. Just ask the manager of the gas station if you can take some, more than likely he'll be glad that you can get rid of some of them for him. Now all of the tires finally come into play. Basically what you will be doing is stacking the many tires underneath the crossboards. You need to stack them so that they raise up the crossboards about two inches up from the bottom of the joist hangers. Arrange them in stacks of three, and three stacks per crossboard: One at the left, one in the middle, and another at the right. If you did it correctly, the crossboards will be elevated within the joist hangers, yet able to be pushed down when pressure is put upon them.  At this time, the tires should be resting on the tires completely-- The joist hangers should now only serve as guides to keep the crossboards in place, and sitting on edge. |
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The surface planks are the boards that will be sitting on top of the crossboards. For this operation you will need the ten 2" * 4" * 16" boards.
First, you must arrange the planks in the appropriate configuration. You need one board at the very left, right up against the post, and one at the far right, up against the other post, of course. Then, you need two boards to pose as the main center surface planks. So far, the configuration should be:  Next, you must put the other six boards in equal configuration between the boards you have already placed...  And they are ready to be fastened! The weight of these boards should be enough to lower the crossboards the point where they are resting on the frame, and not merely the crossboards. If not, then have a helper sit on each crossboard as you fasten it, to weight it down. To fasten it, you will need a hammer, a philips screwdriver, and the 4" screws. Screw in one screw on each end of the surface planks, down into the frame. See the picture below for an example. 
Screw in the planks, one screw for each end of the planks. You now should have all of the boards anchored down so you cannot "uproot" any of them. Probably at this point there is only an inch of space left on the joist hangers, where the crossboards are resting. |
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Now you have to put the large sheets of plywood on the ring. It is very important, at this time, that you position the boards correctly. However before you actually put the sheets on, you are going to need to cut a few of the pieces.
You will only need to cut four of the pieces, and the cuts will be relatively small. You need to cut out a "notch" four inches in from both sides, into the corner, so that the four pieces you have taken will fit in correctly with the posts. So cut out a small notch, 4 inches by 4 inches, into the plywood, as seen below:  Remember, you need FOUR of the pieces of plywood cut like this, since four of them are going to be up against the corners of the ring, where the posts are. Now comes the time to position the plywood. This is not a haphazard procedure at all-- If the plywood is facing a certain way, it will be very easy to break, even by walking on it. Remember those surface planks? The ten boards you anchored down to the frame not too long ago? Well, you are going to place the plywood on these. It is important that you place the plywood going sideways, and not in the same direction as the crossboards! In the picture below, there is a rough "before and after" drawing. On the left is a picture, with the orange lines representing the 10 surface planks, with the lines of how the plywood will be positioned. On the right, the blue rectangles represent the positioning of the plywood when the pieces have been placed.  The plywood is in place, now it needs to be anchored in. For this operation you are going to need the 2" screws. All you need to do is put two screws into each piece of plywood. You put the screws through the plywood, and put it so it is anchored to the two middle surface planks.  With the plywood anchored to the two middle surface planks below, the basic surface of your ring is complete! You should be able to walk around on the surface of the ring without any problems. You could probably put some padding on to test out the bumps as well. |
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Now that the surface is done, you need to put padding over it. There are many things you can use, such as gym mats, amateur wrestling mats, lots of blankets...anything you can find. However, one of the best things to use is carpet padding. Businesses and people throw carpet padding away a lot, and it can be found in many places, especially behind carpet and furniture stores. But if you are going to get throwaway carpet padding, make sure you know what the source of it is-- Don't take it from dumpsters that have anything else inside them, look for dumpsters labeled "Carpet Padding Only." Or, if you want to, you can just buy the carpet padding. Most hardware stores carry it, and sell it by the square foot, at different thicknesses.
Basically, just take whatever your padding is, and put it over the plywood sheets so it covers the whole area. Test it out. If you need more in certain places, then add more. You also may want to duct tape all of the padding together so it doesn't shift, if you have multiple pieces of it. |
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Now, since your ring is most likely outdoors, you will need to cover it in some way.
The first issue is the posts, which will rust if you leave them out. Get two cans of rustoleum paint, and paint everywhere on the posts you can. Once you finish one can, start on the next. If you have any more, put some extra coats on to make sure rain doesn't ruin your ring! Next up is the wood all around the ring. If you are concerned that the wood will warp, then just put some wood guard on the places that you feel are vulnerable, just like you would do to a deck or any other wooden surface. The other problem is the padding. The last thing you want is for your padding to get soaked. Cover the padding with the (at least) 16ft. * 16 ft. tarp. Use the other small tarps to cover areas that are still exposed. To sum up, tarps are always handy. Use them to cover any and all exposed areas on the ring, it will help you out immensly, so you don't have to constantly repair certain aspects of the ring. Just cover any exposed areas of the ring, including the tops of the posts, so water doesn't get inside them. Basically, when you cover the carpet padding with the large tarp, this will serve as the canvas of your ring. Stretch the tarp out tight, and tie it down so it is as tight as possible. If the padding is how you want it, the ring can be wrestled on (without ropes, of course!) just as you would normally. |
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Before you put the ropes on the ring, you may want to tie up a few of the small loose ends. After wrestling on the ring a few times, the tires may have shifted out of alignment. Use a jack (yes, that tool you use to lift up cars) to lift up those crossboards way underneath the ring. Once they are lifted, you can rearrange the tires. It will be a bit cramped underneath the ring, but it is easily possible to rearrange the tires you want if you have the jack.
Also, you might want a ring apron so no one can see all of those tires under the ring, etc. Just buy some non-see-through cloth, and wrap it around the sides of the ring. Easy, eh? Maybe you want the ring to be sturdier? In that case, you can put supports on the sides of the ring, such as below: 
Basically, this just provides some more support for the actual frame of the ring. You may want to decorate the ring, paint it certain colors, or anything else. Just remember to choose the right kinds of materials for everything. |
Now you need to attach the turnbuckles. For this operation, you are going to need eye-hooks, and of course the turnbuckles. First, what you need to do is attach the eye hooks, from inside the posts. You need to put the screw end of the eye-hook into the post, and reach inside to put on a washer, then a nut to screw it on. This will hold the eye-hook to the post.
 Now, attach the turnbuckles themselves. Just hook the open-ended hook side of the turnbuckle to the eye-hooks. Simple, eh? 
Next, attach the ropes! Just thread the ropes through the closed end of the turnbuckles, and tie them off at one corner. Once the ropes are through, use the turnbuckles to tighten them by twisting the center shaft.  |
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Well, now the ring should be complete! Just buy some tarps to cover the ring whenever you aren't using it, and use any extra materials you have left to help strengthen the frame.
Also, you may want to duct-tape over the ropes, or maybe wrap them with rubber foam to make them thicker. Or you could paint the canvas, or posts to your liking. Either way...you're done! |
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If you did this entire ring in one try, the total cost of everything should be approximately:
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