X Marks the Scot - An on-line community of kilt wearers.
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30th March 09, 11:16 AM
#16
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.
Last edited by Alan H; 30th March 09 at 11:21 AM.
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