My Search For An Inch Dumbbell...

[chop163]

Here's a link to the slater's loadable monsterbell:

http://www.slatershardware.com/monsterbell.html

and for their concrete handle:

http://www.slatershardware.com/steeltostone.html

You can use an 8inch stone mould/basketball/soccer ball if you throw a little lead in the mix.

[Incindium]

If someone could find a source for those steel balls that the Gracie Bells and my homemade Inch replica are made from we might be able to make some reasonable prices replicas.

[mobsterone]

I know that some replicas have been made with steel balls, cannon balls and even massive bearings.

[Magnus]

I know that some replicas have been made with steel balls, cannon balls and even massive bearings.

The Gracie bell's made from bearings, I believe.

[Adam Moyers]

Does anyone know where you can get these giant bearings?

[Jaz]

Thanks for the replies by the way. That was a bad week for me, (midterms). I was in a rotten mood.

Anyways i was definately thinking that using concrete would change the physics of the lift, thats always something to think about.

Anyone know if Jedd Johnson ever sold the ones he made? (or produced more).

While searching the net i saw some of his.

[Jaz]

Here's a link to the slater's loadable monsterbell:

http://www.slatershardware.com/monsterbell.html

and for their concrete handle:

http://www.slatershardware.com/steeltostone.html

You can use an 8inch stone mould/basketball/soccer ball if you throw a little lead in the mix.

Which one is most similar to the inch? Do you know what the handle thicknesses are?

The one they call the "8 inch" says that it loads up to 200lb with lead shot. That sounds perfect. Shipping will be cheaper because its not loaded, and you can load it to whatever weight you need. (although getting the bells to have equal amounts of shot, and getting an accurate measurement is tough. Not to mention that the shot will bounce around inside unless its full (you could always use a filler i suppose.)

I just had a crazy idea that is 99 percent not going to work. Take 2 kettlebells, saw off the handles, grind the bottom so that its perfectly round. And then weld on a handle.

I used to know a guy who was a machinist. I should talk to him and see if he can let me know how much one of those could be fabricated for.

I was also looking for large ball bearings online and was unable to find anything .

[Jaz]

Heres a site for custom ballbearings

http://www.precisionballs.com/TDS/Bearing_Steel.htm

I should also mention that you can purchase hollow steel spheres for use in van der graaff generators, this could be filled with concrete as they have a hole at one side. The bar could be welded onto this area.

This company produces as well (actually i found a lot of ballbearing manufacturers once i looked specifically for that)

http://www.abbottball.com

Im emailing the sales rep to get some info.

[chop163]

Which one is most similar to the inch? Do you know what the handle thicknesses are?

The one they call the "8 inch" says that it loads up to 200lb with lead shot. That sounds perfect. Shipping will be cheaper because its not loaded, and you can load it to whatever weight you need. (although getting the bells to have equal amounts of shot, and getting an accurate measurement is tough. Not to mention that the shot will bounce around inside unless its full (you could always use a filler i suppose.)

The show bell is the most similar to the Inch (although the monster will probably suit just fine for training purposes), and if you read the specs on the page it says the handle is 2.5". A lot of the time people fill up the remaining space in loadable equipment with sand.

[mike landrich]

lot of the time people fill up the remaining space in loadable equipment with sand.

How do you balance it, so that all the weight isn't on one side? A monster DB with the balance of IRONMIND'S "Holle it Up" DB would be tough.

[chop163]

There are a few ways (almost all of which are time consuming). My preferred method is to:

-Work out the volume (in this case the volume of a sphere) of what you are filling

-Mark the inside of a bucket at the correct volume

-Put the bucket on a scale

-Fill the bucket with sand and lead shot until you have the correct weight and reached the mark in the bucket

-Make sure the lead is well distributed through the sand

-Fill what needs filling

Obviously this is a bit of a pain in the arse if your planning on changing the weight frequently on something as large as a show bell or monster bell.

[mobsterone]

I might have some knowledge in this area selling 3 Millennium dumbbells to Kim Wood a few years back. It cost Kim $2000 back in 2001. And he still had to pay from the docks to his door plus all the taxes and fees.

Hey Steve... what about selling one of those Millennium dumbells now? Do you have one and would you sell it to me? I'd like one in my area just for those thrillseekers and the crazy brave.

Hmm, you'd have to make my eyes bleed with the offer. The only one I have is mine.

[Incindium]

I just had a crazy idea that is 99 percent not going to work. Take 2 kettlebells, saw off the handles, grind the bottom so that its perfectly round. And then weld on a handle.

I used to know a guy who was a machinist. I should talk to him and see if he can let me know how much one of those could be fabricated for.

I was also looking for large ball bearings online and was unable to find anything .

Thats actually what I did. However its really only going to work if the KB's are made from steel. In my case the KB's I had were made from the same large steel balls as the Gracie dumbells are.

[Incindium]

You might want to get a hold of Torque Athletic. Their KB's are made from the large steel balls.

Torque Athletic

They are pricey but you might be able to get them to custom make you a dumbbell or perhaps sell you some of the plain steel balls.

Edited March 17, 2009 by Incindium

[Lol999]

If you use concrete the physics of the lift would change dramatically!

Apart from the effect of a larger ball due to the relatively lower density of the concrete to steel what would change? Would it be harder to lift a concrete bell?

[Jaz]

Which one is most similar to the inch? Do you know what the handle thicknesses are?

The one they call the "8 inch" says that it loads up to 200lb with lead shot. That sounds perfect. Shipping will be cheaper because its not loaded, and you can load it to whatever weight you need. (although getting the bells to have equal amounts of shot, and getting an accurate measurement is tough. Not to mention that the shot will bounce around inside unless its full (you could always use a filler i suppose.)

The show bell is the most similar to the Inch (although the monster will probably suit just fine for training purposes), and if you read the specs on the page it says the handle is 2.5". A lot of the time people fill up the remaining space in loadable equipment with sand.

Ya right after i posted that i went back to the page and saw that all the specs were available. Too late to edit my post (plus i already had 3 in a row). The handle is much bigger then the inches tho. 2 3/8

versus 2 1/2.

I found a promising website that has a business location close to where i live. Basically they sell round stock that is super thick cast iron (i think up to 12 inches (based on what ive seen elsewhere) so all i would need to do is to order 2 chunks of this stuff that weigh around 70lb each, and then get a piece for the handle. (it would look similar to jedds dumbbell), then weld the whole thing together. I could probably drive down there on a weekend (3hr away) and pick the stuff up for alot cheaper.

If anyone could give me the dimensions of the inch dumbbell i would appreciate it.

I recently found these dimensions for the bell, but they are still missing some measurements.

"In connection with thick-handled bells, mention should perhaps be made of an “unliftable” dumbell long owned by the English physical culture instructor and weightlifter, Thomas Inch. This dumbell, the proportions of which are shown in figure the accompanying illustration, weighed 172 lbs. and had a handle 2.47 inches in diameter. Each sphere was 8½ inches in diameter; however, the distance between the spheres was only 4 inches"

Edited March 17, 2009 by Jaz

[mobsterone]

Sounds about right. I've mentioned before that sperical globes differ in the physics from cylinders so don't be afraid to go a little over the Inch weight for that reason.

[Jaz]

Okay so i contacted a metal company right here in my city. I gave the guy some rough dimensions, i needed a bar segment that is about 8 inches in diameter that weighs 70lb, he calculated that it would be around 5.5 inches long. He said a single piece of this would cost around 225 dollars. This was with the cheapest steel they had apparently. Thats pretty expensive, how much does steel usually cost per pound? Cuz that is 3$+.

So that would be 500 dollars+- for the two cylinders. Then the handle would probably be around 50 dollars. The welding would probably cost 150??? so altogether it would be around 700 dollars. Damn. I want to get under 600.

This is the website by the way, very well made.

http://www.metalsupermarkets.com/

Edited March 17, 2009 by Jaz

[Incindium]

Make sure you get steel and not cast iron. Cast Iron won't weld nicely for you.

[twig]

Would it be harder to lift a concrete bell?

Weight for weight concrete would be easier cos the inertia would be damped.

Cast Iron won't weld nicely for you.

And will break when you drop it.

[Jaz]

Make sure you get steel and not cast iron. Cast Iron won't weld nicely for you.

Ya it was some sort of steel, I can't remember what exactly it was though.

I also contacted a foundry, the guy said it would be very expensive for a single person to get a casting made and then filled. (this was for an identical inch dumbbell replica)

And apparently the moulds are made of wood? So making a sphere would be close to impossible unless it is carved.

[mobsterone]

Ours was made, I think, of fibre glass but I never actually handled it. Cast Iron is actually not as brittle as Twig suggests. The handle on the Millennium is steel but the balls, dropped many times, are Iron. Makers tend to add a little to them to make them less brittle than iron used to be many years ago.

[maidenfan]

Okay so i contacted a metal company right here in my city. I gave the guy some rough dimensions, i needed a bar segment that is about 8 inches in diameter that weighs 70lb, he calculated that it would be around 5.5 inches long. He said a single piece of this would cost around 225 dollars. This was with the cheapest steel they had apparently. Thats pretty expensive, how much does steel usually cost per pound? Cuz that is 3$+.

So that would be 500 dollars+- for the two cylinders. Then the handle would probably be around 50 dollars. The welding would probably cost 150??? so altogether it would be around 700 dollars. Damn. I want to get under 600.

This is the website by the way, very well made.

http://www.metalsupermarkets.com/

He's obviously quoting you the price for "new" steel. If you're that rich, just have the real thing shipped from England. Otherwise, call around to one of your local scrapyards and see what they have for scrap in big "rounds". The last time I bought used carbon steel it was about .30-35 cents per lb. Maybe a tad more now. Once you know what they have then go to this site:

CRS WEIGHTS PER FOOT

and figure out the lengths you'll need in whatever scrap steel is available. Anything in the 4" - 9" range will work and not look too awkward. Heck, you might even get luck and find some cool hex piece! The scrapyard will make your cuts on their bandsaw for usually a buck or two per cut.

Once you have your parts the only real hard part is finding a welder with enough amps to put it together properly. I got luck with mine and the kid who worked at the shop thought the project was cool and did a lot of work for next to nothing. Mine got set on a lathe and some holes were predrilled for the 2.5" handle to set into a bit. Even with that, he told me he set a cherry on the metal for 10-20 mins just to heat it up enough for the welds to sink in - he was using a 300-400 amp machine iirc. That being said, on the second DB I had made (115lber w/1.75" handle), his boss charged me "normal" price. Ended up costing me about $150 or so, which is still a steal for a solid steel DB of that size. You could easily be in the $200-300 range for a nice homebuilt Inch.

PS - the current scrap prices here in Oregon are .30 per lb.

Edited March 17, 2009 by maidenfan

[twig]

Cast Iron is actually not as brittle as Twig suggests.

[bristle]Oh, isn't it?[/bristle]

Makers tend to add a little to them to make them less brittle than iron used to be many years ago.

Well then they're not cast iron! Cast iron, whether white or grey, whilst stronger than pig iron, is still brittle, which is why it's wasn't used for the handle, which is the weak point.Unless you use malliable cast iron, which will put the cost way out of reach (tens of thousands of pounds).

[maidenfan]

Cast Iron is actually not as brittle as Twig suggests.

[bristle]Oh, isn't it?[/bristle]

Makers tend to add a little to them to make them less brittle than iron used to be many years ago.

Well then they're not cast iron! Cast iron, whether white or grey, whilst stronger than pig iron, is still brittle, which is why it's wasn't used for the handle, which is the weak point.Unless you use malliable cast iron, which will put the cost way out of reach (tens of thousands of pounds).

Unless you're going to make your own molds, using steel is much more cost efficient.