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Meet the Franken-Inch Dumbbell


crazy_bee

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Hey guys,

 

I had this idea for an homemade inch Dumbbell. I really wanted to buy a cast replica but it would have costed me about 800 CAD.

Being a father of three young kids that kind of expense is hard to fit in the budget.

That is how i thought of doing my own. Yes, I know, the FBBC handle is still the cheapest way to go. But I wanted to have a real, one solid piece dumbbell.

I found out that if you take two 88 pounds Kettlebells, cut the handles and weld a 2.5 inch CRS handle to them, you have a very realistic replica.

I will have to weight it further with a proper scale, but i got a little over 170lbs on my bathroom scale with it.

 

 

You can do the same thing with 32kg bells for a smaller replica. For smaller than that you might want to do this with competition kettlebells, it would do a better more rotational force with the larger globes.

Be sure to do this with cast steel kettlebells and not cast iron. ( Cast iron is a pain in the ass to weld.) You will need close to 300 amps welder to weld that thick, so you might want to take it to a welding shop.

 

I hope it helps someone, and most importantly that this wasn't talked about before.

 

Thanks,

 

David Hoffman

 

 

Pics:

IMG_0401.JPGIMG_0402.JPGIMG_0404.JPG

 

 

 

 

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That's wild.   Love to see pictures of the work in progress... 

Let us know when you pick it up for the first time too.

 

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Wow!  Practical and (relatively) inexpensive. Great job!

Do you think the welds will hold ok? 

Globe dumbbells cop a lot of dropping (based on my experience) :blush

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Supercool! 

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I think if one knows the proper techniques for welding cast iron, this is a great idea.  Having said that, given the size of the cast iron, it should be fairly forgiving.

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That looks great, dude. Is that SMAW? I am also curious about what brand of kettlebell you used.

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That looks fantastic! 

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 4 months later...

2- 90lb kettlebells equal future goals 😁 I still need to cut the handles off and paint.

20170204_161135.jpg

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What a super cool idea.  Thanks for sharing with us.

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35 minutes ago, acromegaman said:

2- 90lb kettlebells equal future goals 😁 I still need to cut the handles off and paint.

20170204_161135.jpg

I'd leave the handles on. Might make it easier to transport...

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32 minutes ago, Adam Juncker said:

I'd leave the handles on. Might make it easier to transport...

Makes it heavier too. I'm not sure of it'll kill rotation though.

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9 hours ago, acromegaman said:

Makes it heavier too. I'm not sure of it'll kill rotation though.

Shouldn't affect rotation. How are the handles attached?

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also, if your not able to lift it, you can now hook tubing to those handles and attach it to a pull up bar so give a little help until you can lift it solo

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5 hours ago, Squeezus said:

Shouldn't affect rotation. How are the handles attached?

I think he started with 1" handle and just did a 3,000 pass weld. 

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No welding on this bad boy. Loctite. I also had the handle drilled and tapped 1"-8 so I could use all thread to put it together. Feels pretty rigid. @Squeezus

Kettlebell_Drill_and_tap_x_2.JPG

Steel_Discs_x_2.jpg

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