Does there exist a circus dumbbell that is NOT plate loaded (load with water, sand, whatever) that costs less than $400?
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I am also open to ideas to DIY one without a welder that won't break when overhead and kill me. I do have a bimetal holesaw kit, an angle grinder, a portaband, and other metal working equipment. Just no welder. I hate welding.
I got a lead on a friend of a friend of my dad's that used to be a welder and still has his own equipment, so maybe I can get him to weld me one up. I sent a message but it has to go through the grapevine.... If I don't hear back I'll contact Ryan.
In case anyone is interested, what I have been using is a 24" long 1" threaded rod with tape wrapped in the middle and a fat gripz. Then I got 2 nuts on either side with red loctite to secure them. Then I took some 10lbs standard plates and put them on, and I made some 1/2" plywood spacers with my holesaw kit. I alternate spacers/plates as needed so that the plates fill up the entire length of the rod. You have to have a plate on the extreme inside/outside for one "bell" to rest on your shoulder and the other "bell" to rest on your forearm properly. When you count for the grip and the nuts, I got a little over 8" of space on either end to stack plates. So it is maximal 160 pounds, but of course you can always get a longer rod.
It works, but it looks funny with the wood spacers unless of course you can fill it all up with weights. Also, I don't have anymore space in my small home gym and want to start collecting strongman implements in my backyard. I don't want to have to carry plates from inside to outside all the time to do strongman stuff.
I bought a 15lbs tank today and buying a second one tomorrow. Cost me $45 total. I had to buy a propane grill that was rusted up and had a bad burner or it would have been cheaper. I will make a shrimp boil stand from the working parts of the grill. Got in contact with the welder guy and sent him a link to a website showing what i want built. He is supposed to get a quote to me in a few days. I will post pics and update as this unfolds.
After leaking all day and night, tank #1 is empty. Draining tank #2. Getting the valve broke loose is tricky. Persuading it with a 3lbs hammer didn't work, and i probably woke the neighbors. The picture best shows how i got it loose. I wedged a long bar in some holes in the top flange to keep the tank from rotating and i put all my body weight on the wrench.
I think propane is heavier than air, so I turned the tanks upside down for it to flow out. The guy I am following welded metal onto the valve opening to make a way for the holesaw pilot bit to do its job. I cannot do this obviously. So I used the holesaw to cut a 1.25 inch plug. I put a 1/4 inch bolt through the plug and chucked it in a drill and spun it on some sandpaper to make a cone. I put the cone shaped plug in the valve opening and I am ready to holesaw the tanks. I left the tank flanges on for now for stability while I drill. Also whenever the holes are cut I can feel easy knowing all the propane is out and do not have to worry about sparks. I am using 2 inch EMT metal conduit. It is a 1/16 inch wall mild steel tube with a zinc galvanized layer. The welder will flap wheel off the zinc layer before welding. This pipe is strong, I used it to help break the valve loose on the second tank and it took a tremendous effort and mangled the tank flange but the pipe did not deform at all. The outer diameter of the pipe is just under 2.125 inch and so I will use a 2.25 inch holesaw to cut the holes.
I started drilling the 2-1/4" holes where the valves were. I initially just set the wood cone plug on top and started drilling, but it was walking all over the place. I had to make the wood plug a bit more cone shaped and take a bit off the diameter and then I threaded it into the tank using some channel locks. That did the trick. Hole sawing this was loud and I had to wear ear muffs and the neighbor came and looked out his window at what I was doing haha. I also woke up my napping wife. The pipe fits fairly tight, I had to take a half-round file and deburr the holes for the pipe to slide in. This is going to work out great. All I have left are the other two 2-1/4" holes and then the 5/8" fill holes.
Just dropped parts off to the welder. He will weld it saturday. My dad is coming to my house 2 saturdays from now and will bring the dumbbell back to me. Here is the cost breakdown:
Tanks $45
pipe $25 (have enough excess to convert old barbell into an axle bar)
Nuts and bolts $5
Sand $10
Welding $30
Gasoline from driving $10
Total cost is about $125 for a piece of equipment i will do 4-8 singles each hand once a week with. It is my favorite weight lifting movement though.
I know there are only a couple people looking at this, but here is the pic before I gave it to the welder. The pipe is 34 inches long. I told the guy I wanted 5 inches in between the tanks.
Last post. Fire engine red. 34.4 pounds empty. I will put 50 pounds of sand in it and start using it as a finisher. I have another bag of sand i will add little by little as needed.
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