So you need some practice equipment?

[Yaish]

Hopefully I'll get to see you guys in Flagstaff. Bring your practice stuff, we'll compare notes.

[Jack Daw]

First, you'll need to get yourself some chain. You can buy any chain you like, in whatever length gives you the desired weight. Personally I went with a 30' tow chain, which weighs in right around 20 lbs.
So, select your chain.

I prefer a leather sporran belt. That sporran chain is likely to chew up my kilt fer sure. Forget it, dude.

[Yaish]

LOL. That chain is for those of us who really stuff their sporrans.

[BigMikeLV]

I just made these "practice" Items this last weekend. They worked like a charm! I changed a few things around but it works great!

[Kilt_Noob]

This is awesome advise on here. Now all I need is a training partner! Anyone in the Savannah, GA area wanting to help a rookie out! I can throw weight around all day, and reading about technique is not the same as someone showing you how to do it right. Same goes for everything else you do- proper technique only helps keep you from getting really hurt. Anyway, I'm really looking for a seasoned athlete to show me the ropes.

[Alan H]

I just moved up in the world with my 28'er. I stagger in pain when I see Mjolnir Hammer and the Old Celt's prices, though I don't begrudge them the $$ for their work.

Here's what I did.

I bought a $30 Old Celt 7-inch "D-ring" handle $30 plus shipping. I've been using that for several months, I just got sick of the hand cramps I was getting from the $11 Orchard Supply 4-inch galvanzied ring I'd been using.

Anyway, I weighed that handle plus a good-sized shackle and 6 inches of 1/4 inch chain. It came out to almost exactly two pounds, plus a little bit.

I then went down to the local metal shop and bought a 4 1/2 inch long section of 5-inch hot-rolled 1018 steel rod. This is rod stock that's actually 5 inches in diameter. There are data tables online that will tell you within 1/8 of an inch how much of each size rod to buy to get the weight you want. This was 25.2 pounds and $47. I got two little tabs of "L" shaped 1/4 inch steel extrusion, about an inch wide, each. I got them aligned all nice, clamped in a vise, and then drilled a 5/16ths inch hole through two of the flanges with a cobalt bit. Today I handed $20 cash to the welder to weld those babies on to the flat top of uber-thick steel rod. He did a nice job, the thing is *beef* and all up, the big rod, the two flanges, the metal inthe weld and the 1/4 shackle on the top comes to 25.8 pounds. The six inches of chain cost seventy-five cents...and then about $6 in shackles and I have a 28 lb weight that's within competition tolerances (0.2 pounds light, or less than 1%) for just about exactly $100.

Mjolnir Hammers and the Old Celt charge $140 for a 28'r so I feel pretty good about this.

[CAnderson]

Well I've managed to make an adjustable throwing weight. My name is Chris and I work at a sheet-metal shop in Independence MO. I've been doing Strongman stuff for about 6 months and recently got interested in Highland Games athletics. (have done one NAHA meet, and going to another in Sept.) So, I decided that I was going to need an implement to practice with.

Like I mentioned I work at a sheet-metal shop so I've got access to scrap plate steel and Laser cutting machines. One day we had a group of 5/8" HR PLATE parts come through the shop, that all had a 8" circular cutout. So, after talking to my boss and agreeing to pay him 10 bucks, he let me have the scrap circles. (11 plates in all) Thats when I made this beauty...



I took a 7/8" bolt that I found laying around the shop, feed it through the holes I had programmed into the scrap plates, and topped it off with a crude fabricated "eye". Then I needed a handle so I had one of the night shift guys cut me out a 6" outside dia. ring out of 1/2" plate - I ground the edges so it was more comfortable in my hand. Connected the ring with 2 threaded connectors and there you have it - A "28#" throwing weight. (actual weight was closer to 32#) Total cost = $20

Soon I started thinking, "I can make one even better..." Using a 3-D cadd system that we use at work I came up with a design that I think is pretty nice.



This time I had to pay for the material and laser cut time, since I wasn't using scrap. But still got it for about $55. I decided to go with an actual eye-nut this time to make it stronger, and held it together with a 6" grade 8 bolt. I still used threaded connectors for chain, and a ground handle, but as you can tell I spent a little more time on this one... lol.

AND this is an adjustable design. Take away a couple small plates, replace them with a few larger ones and suddenly you've got a 56# Heavy!! And you can use two threaded connectors to bring the total length to 17.75" or replace the links with a shackle and suddenly you've got a 14"ish set-up for WOB!!

So, with hardware, material, labor, it came to about $75. Compared to the $320+ I could have spent buying a light and a heavy from somewhere else, ...priceless...

[jgorley]

I saw your post on Nasga, great weights! My brother made ours out of round stock. He got the same deal on scrap. Looks great!

[Detroitpete]

I've been drooling over these since I saw them on NASGA.

Much better than the neanderthal toys I made:




Now--The only things those bright shiny streamline babies need--are some mud splashes, grass stains and a bit o' flesh stuck to the handles

[CAnderson]

"Now--The only things those bright shiny streamline babies need--are some mud splashes, grass stains and a bit o' flesh stuck to the handles"

HAHA Exactly! Thanks guys!!