DIY Concrete Weight Plates | SAVE MONEY & DON'T BUY MOLDS
HTML-код
- Опубликовано: 20 апр 2022
- When I started researching how to build concrete weight plates and dumbbells I was surprised to see how expensive it was to purchase molds for custom concrete weights. In today's video I'm going to make hand made molds from melamine and plywood so that you're able to outfit your gym with these homemade 45 pound (or any size) concrete plates. Standard cast iron plates have a weight tolerance of 1-2% and these 2 weights are within 1% off from each other which means its a success!
Head to squarespace.com/modernbuilds to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain using code MODERNBUILDS
MY SQUARESPACE TUTORIAL: • HOW TO BUILD an ONLINE...
Homemade Gym Playlist: • HOMEMADE GYM
Squat Rack/Bench Press Build: • DIY HALF RACK SQUAT RA...
Padded Bench Build: • DIY WEIGHT BENCH from ...
My Ariat Favorites: bit.ly/3r0Cuo5
Save 10% off your first order - bit.ly/3aJISKz
Material and Supplies:
Concrete: thd.co/3JFoSYd
2" PVC: thd.co/3LEI9L9
Letters I used: amzn.to/3K4kSQN
Numbers I used: amzn.to/3jYOnZN
Paste Wax: amzn.to/3jYTU2b
Jigsaw: bit.ly/3BujK6g
Circular Saw: amzn.to/3gWHI0q
Silicone Caulk: amzn.to/3s51Ljx
Caulk Roundover Tool: amzn.to/3k1HqqK
Loctite PowerGrab: amzn.to/3H5lSCQ
Round File: amzn.to/3oVShp6
Scale I used: amzn.to/3rTwosh
Weight Bar: amzn.to/3BsZwKf
Weight Clamps: amzn.to/3GZjA8f
Where I Get My Music (Free Trial): www.epidemicsound.com/referra...
Thanks for watching!!
www.modernbuilds.com/
___________________________________________________________________
ADD ME ON:
Instagram: goo.gl/UgEpJs | @modernbuilds
Facebook: goo.gl/KiI1cX
TikTok: / mikefrommodernbuilds
Subscribe: goo.gl/pgDSS8
Website: www.modernbuilds.com/
Merch: www.modernbuilds.com/store
___________________________________________________________________
Thanks for watching!
-Mike Montgomery
MODERN BUILDS
Hi, My name is Mike Montgomery and I'm a MAKER; a designer, builder, and full-time content creator. Accessibility is my focus with Modern Builds, not simply accessibility of designs, but accessibility in materials, information, and projects themselves. I've focused on creating furniture and DIY projects that are simple enough that any beginner maker can accomplish, yet interesting enough that any expert might be inspired. Building and making is becoming less and less of an exclusive hobby and profession. My goal is to reduce that separation even further. 
Хобби
I did the same thing at the start of the pandemic when weights were sold out everywhere. I just bought a 55 gallon garbage can and cut the bottom off and used that as the mold. It was like $20 and worked great. It even has handles from the bottom of the can.... You can also just use silicon lubricant as a mold release, it's much easier to apply.
He did exactly that in a previous rendition
How much do they weight?
@@princeofprussia9120 Yeah but he used a 20 gallon (45 lb plates) bucket instead.
I would most likely have made weight plates that said "54 SDLIUB NREDOM 54". Nice project, Mike, good to see you on YT again!
right💀
he very likely did as well in his first try;p
Super Pro Tip; use olive oil or nonstick spray on the back of the wood letters. They will come out easily once the cement cures
Better is to cover them in packing tape, oil can mess up the concrete, the tape releases great.
Bro you`re a genius, i wanted to make this plates long time ago, but I didn`t know how to do it without forms. And there`s your video where you show how to make easy form and take the bubbles out with jigsaw, this is so resourceful.
Thank you so much!
For next time just a thought. Weigh your concrete out to 43-44 lbs. Then if you want to get more creative get a couple cans of flex seal rubber and spray your plates. Then you will add and extra layer of protection and make them a little more durable.
In all pretty cool idea 💡
Add metal mesh, bent rebar or stripes of fibers in the concrete mix. It will reinforce the structure ten fold from shaking and dropping fractures.
so true. I added chicken wire to all my plates. One day on bench press I forgot to put cuff links on and the 45 lb fell directly onto my 15 pound plate. Nothing happened lol
@@wide_Aaron anything that’s strong and flexible will be really good for the concrete. Think about it like this- concrete is very strong, but extremely brittle. You should cancel this out with adding something flexible. Generally, the more area it covers on this inside of the concrete the stronger it will become. So if mesh covers more area, I’d go for it. However if you’re going to be rough with your weights then I’d use something a bit thicker.
@@wide_Aaron Well heres the thing. If you're using really heavy weight and slamming it, yes. But in that case you should also use fiber glass to minimize chipping. The thing with rebar is, it only covers a small portion of area. If you can fit multiple rebar then you're solid, I doubt it'd ever break.
@@wide_Aaron yeah. The fiber glass will pretty much look like a bag of shredded cheese. Because it’s so tiny you can poor it in while you mix the concrete. It helps with micro fractures and chips. Another thing you can do to prevent chipping is to get those rubbery sprays
@@wide_Aaron and yeah, happy to help with the advice.
Another great video Mike! When can we expect to see more house renovation videos? Can’t wait to see you transform the kitchen and living room!
Man with these plywood prices I might as well buy some 😅
If you have a 3D printer, you could print the letters and numbers. Make the edges of the letters/numbers sloped, so they will easily come out during demolding. This also gives you more options: Fonts, diacritics, sizes, logos, borders, the list goes on.
Or you can carve them by hand
Random thought from someone with far less knowledge and experience with concrete: maybe you could sand the plates down little by little to dial the weight in to be exact? Although with how close they already are that's probably completely unnecessary and total overkill, but just an idea from someone who is a perfectionist and is the master of overkill, lol.
they will never be perfectly balanced it concrete, constant use, wear tear much quicker
@@ZahNiNah Except it would take literally 2 seconds if you used the saw to cut one rectangular piece of plastic and 2 circles to encase the concrete. Plus you could bind the plastic using a simple hand torch, soldering iron or high powered heating element.
For the imprint you can buy those numbers in metal, weld a handle onto them then encase the handle in something that absorbs heat so you aren't burned when the numbers are heated up. Then after that it's just a simple process of branding the outside of the plastic weight.
That entire process though is still simpler than what he accomplished. I recommend that if you want to make weights that are more resistant to being dropped as well as damage. It does add complexity to what he already showed how to do though which is amazing.
Weigh dry powder and water separately. Adjust for the correct ratio. Wet concrete weighs the same as dry (cured) concrete. The water doesn't evaporate it reacts with the slurry chemically to harden.
Edit: you lose some weight.
@@jakknight2158 you could even just double or triple dip them in epoxy after the concrete had cured. Should take a lot of the stress of dropping it off the concrete itself.
Honestly the best thing would have been to add fibreglass, it's not at all complicated. Just need the ability to measure and mix lol.
concrete plates and wood rack is such a vibe. nice work!
You can round the corners on each till they are exactly 45. Nice vid!
This tutorial is really well done. Thanks!
lbs plates that are not calibrated can have such a insane difference per plate. Its amazing that you were able to with in a such an incremental tolerance. I would argue that your weights are more accurate then most 45 cast iron lbs plates! love to see the work that you do my bro!
Lol no argument. You can give a compliment but don't go overboard
@@jd2161 unless you get calibrated plates, cast irons can be even 5 lbs off, he's not exaggerating whatsoever.
should use metric
@@altairtodescatto I agree, hello from the Netherlands, but the man used imperial so I played along
$200 for 2 -45 pound weights ! All the sudden building some sounds pretty good!
Great work, about as accurate as you can get with each of the weights too! I get great results using a reciprocating saw and remove the blade to remove air bubbles from concrete and then cover it with plastic for 24 to 48 hours. You can also can use dye if you want to make your weights black for example. 👍🏼
All im saying, ive done concrete for a while, i think u can get away by forming alot less but, u can never have too many kickers is what we say, meaning the more bracing the better so have at it sir!! Entertaining to watch
What type of cement or mortar would be best you think?
You can put pigment dye in the cement for it to get black
Why are you yelling at me?
would plasti dip or some rubberized coating stop it from chipping if dropping or hit on a hard surface?
Pro tip here. Shopped around a lot when buying weights for my garage. If any of your projects fail the best place to purchase is academy. Good video though, especially to be able to customize the lettering.
Great video and idea. I’d take an angle grinder to the inside of the pieces to adjust the weight down to the two 45s you need.
Some wire mesh in the concrete, like with floors, would be a good idea the if for some reason the concrete gives out it won't bust apart retaining some weight that way a bust-event while squatting doesn't lurch to one side so aggressively.
Great project. I really would like to know if the fiberglass fibers would make them more durable? I guess I would be worried about the plates cracking if you put them down to hard. I know it would change the weight but any thoughts about painting/coating them with anything. Thank so much for sharing!
There's two types of concrete.
Concrete that has cracked and concrete that will crack.
The fibers help a bit. But still concrete will eventually crack. It just comes with usage of concrete. No one can tell you exactly how long or when because the mix determines its properties.
Plastidip or similar MIGHT help with chipping, giving a layer to at least contain the cement.
But eventually they aren't going to look like they do now
Get the Quikrete green bags, that concrete mix have fiber and other ingredients to make the concrete more resistant to crack. I used that on my backyard floor which was ver chipped and cracked and worked nice, no problems in more than 4 years. Using a concrete sealer, then painting it and adding some rubber laminate in the circumference will help them last longer.
The OG way🤞🏾😎
Would there be a way to put a coating or something like rubber on top? Any brainstorming?
Could you make the side walls or outside of the mold with simple cardboard taped to the bottom wood piece instead? Also would someone be able to use cardboard for the numbers instead of wood? I feel like there is a shortcut, or cheaper way to going through this whole process of making a plate mold.
Nice!, I used old “spare tires & hubs from a junk car and poured concrete in back side 65lb each total wt, no fancy lettering though😔, bout nice bounce if dropped 😁
It be so much cheaper just to buy the mold but this is a cool novelty project
You can just spray diesel to help telease the concrete and avoid it from sticking bad to the wood
what is the thickness of plate ?
Thanks for bringing a video back, I have missed seeing your creations!
Very cool DIY gym builds...
Would adding mesh, rebar or something like that help the concrete not to crumble?
The numbers and letters can also be spray painted after. As a teen I made some weights using concrete poured into paint cans and keep it like that.
Yes, many people made tutorials when 2020 got everyone looking for cheap fitness hacks and they used criss-crossed steel rods or chicken wire.
Awesome idea! Thanks for sharing
Hey Mike welcome back! I'm glad you're ok, man Happy Easter
that black rubber flex seal stuff my protect or could big mistake your choice. good job think make 35 next then 25 and 4 5 pounders and 4 10 pounders. what get 300 pound club
It would be cool to spray them with some truck bed liner spray.
You could spray them with plastidip to protect them from chipping
Would you be closer to 45 on both, if you mix both batches at the same time and weighing when filling the forms, so both forms are equal?
Definitely, I did that when I made some concrete kettlebells. However the problem is that when the mix starts to dry the weight varies a lot but still they will be very close.
What happened to your podcast?
The modern maker podcast
Haven't seen a new episode in a few months
When i used to lift weights i also made concrete weights, but each set i would rotate bar because i was scared it would cause muscle imbalances 😅😅
You can also do this with paint cans and 5gallon buckets
Very nice diy video i have learned a lot in this video
Did Mike paint his hart tools?
Concrete does not "dry". As it cures, the hydrogen and oxygen in the water incorporates into the chemistry of the cement and aggregate.
Had good results using a single disk of melamine as a base for a mold and a small roll of roof coil for the side walls. I applied caulk to the edge of the disk before wrapping the roof coil around a couple times. I secured the coil with hose clamp.
After the concrete set up I could undo the hose clamp and just unwind the roof coil. Only issue I ran into was the white coating of the melamine bubbling and coming off onto the concrete with repeated use of the mold
Ok so please, i repeat please coat your concrete weight plates with something rubbery or urethane coating, or paint. I was benching once as a kid and had concrete plates like this in my friend's garage gym. The fans were on and for some god foresaken reason a piece of concrete or sand, flaked off and fell in my eyes, needless to say the rest was tragic.
You've could used steel mesh to up resistence
why are you yelling
Diesel fuel works great as a nonstick release for concrete molds
Thanks so much
How to make sure this molding for 45pound weight concrete?
Welldone project
i like your crafts.. i mean dewalt cordless drill :D
For cost breakdown, its a lot less : the minimum you'll find for a weight set is a $1.5 - $1.7 per pound. if we cancel out the cost of the olympic bar, and go with a set of 2x45's 2x25's , 2x15's, it would cost 300$ bare minimum for extremely discounted weights. if you used this method ,its about 180 pounds of concrete. At around 5$ per 66 pound bag, you're looking at $20-25 of concrete accounting for error. Add to that the cost of tools and materials ( saw ~ $30, material ~40, not considering you might already have the tools or part of the materials ) and you get to around 100$ max for a weight set. You could probably add GFRC and a rubber lining to protect the weights and boom. 150$ weight set that's just as good as the pro's.
Amazon has 45lb. Plates for $50 right now. These are not worth the time or money. Cool for a video, not practical though
Not everyone values their time at $0 though or wants to wait 6 weeks for drying
@@SnowsLife correct. And my statement still applies.
@@SnowsLife I said wait, not watch. Your comprehension is great and you proved my point about not valuing your time. Take care
@@buildr3303 stop talking to yourself. Don't bring me into this.
That is a true DIY
Really cool. I wonder how these will hold up long term
he really needs to do a small simple test using other materials too. drop testing them all.
If you drop them constantly on a hard floor they will start to chip and crack fast. Adding some rubberized coating can help or some rubber laminate around.
@@Ebolachicken drop test adds nothing. you will just break them and thats no good. drop testing cast iron plates would be pretty stupid too but it doesnt stop them from being good training equipment.
Awesome project as always Mike... 👌🛠️
Then drops the weight, Oh shit here we go again
Is this a reupload?
The extra pound is likely the pvc as you didn’t account for that when mixing your concrete
The pvc is negligible, it will be the moisture that stays in the concrete when it cures. You'd want to use slightly less than 45 lbs of concrete premix
expanding foam would have been easier to seal the mould, nice build tho
Wait so I'm confused you weighed 45 pounds of concrete then added water does that not make it heavier ?
Yes, which is why they are heavier
not by much. Water is just there as a catalyst for the concrete to set. Then most of it evaporates.
@@SnowsLife this is party true. it doesnt evaporate.
Awesome job
Orale, Mike’s back in the house!
🤛🏽🇺🇸
100% would buy for myself and a mini one for my cat
would these crack if you they hit the ground?
The secret is not drop them.
It takes up 30 days for concrete to dry completely so weight will be a bit less anyway.
By the time you get through buying the over priced wood needed to make the mold and assuming you have all the tools he used, you would've spent twice the amount of just going to Walmart and buying the actually steel/iron weight.
If you wanted to make more out of concrete later, you can just get some and make an indention into the sand with the weight to where the sand comes to the same level as the weight. Remove the weight and just fill that sand mold with concrete.. the only tool you'll need is a small shovel or something to mix up the concrete.
You're welcome
top job
Don't buy ready mixed concrete, it's rubbish! They always skimp on the cement. Any concrete structure you see is grey (concrete grey) that's because it has a high percentage of cement, I would use 1-5 mix for these, you'll get a nicer finsh on them and they'll be a lot less likely to chip!
Love these videos! Keep making them!
Agreed 💯 👍🏼
wait. how is it 45 lbs if your measure dry 45 then added water. does the water volume evaporate?
some of it
@@fla576 thank you 🙏🏻
That's so much work though
Just giving my two cents here: one, as it doesn't actually "dry" but "sets", I guess some of that water is absorbed by the material, therefore it will weight more than the weight of the cement itself. I might be wrong but...
On the other hand, that build might crack and break when in use, so it could leave you unbalanced and, well, you might get hurt. From what I see around, some people protect the cement with some kind of rubber or anything making it look like a wheel with a concrete rim. Just saying.
Nice finish though.
bike inner tube rim
Mr fucking I’m gonna critique the irrelevant statements you make. Thanks bro, I’m gonna make sure I never say dry
Correct, fresh concrete is lighter than hardened concrete, about 20% give or take. A part of the water chemically bonds to the cement particles in a process called hydration. The rest of the water evaporates. Both processes (can) cause shrinkage of concrete.
I'm way too lazy for this. I rather them just ass blast me with exorbitant prices, dawg. lmfao
I'm curious what the price difference is between buying all the materials for all this equipment VS just buying the actual equipment
Equipment is thousands of dollars
Its a lot less. the minimum you'll find for a weight set is a $1.7 per pound. if we cancel out the cost of the olympic bar, and go with a set of 2x45's 2x25's , 2x15's, and 2x5's ( this is really the bare minimum ) it would cost 300$ bare minimum for extremely discounted weights. if you used this method ,its about 180 pounds of concrete. At around 5$ per 66 pound bag, you're looking at $20-25 of concrete accounting for error. Add to that the cost of tools and materials ( saw ~ $30, material ~40, not considering you might already have the tools or part of the materials ) and you get to around 100$ max for a weight set. You could probably add GFRC and a rubber lining to protect the weights and boom. 150$ weight set that's just as good as the pro's.
@@saulgonzalez8101 not really, I've seen lots of quality sets for some hundreds. I remember looking into it all when covid started. Wasn't too bad, but now with higher costs for wood and whatnot, curious how it is. Too lazy to re research it all rn
@@SnowsLife hmm interesting, thanks for that. But also gotta count in for good sturdy wood to build a squat rack or bench rack. But I guess yeah could be cheaper. I seen good towers for both ranging from 300-600.
oil the moulds.
nice project, but it would cost me less buying the weights, if you don´t have the necessary equipment to make them :D
I'm guessing you can't deadlift with them
Dope
What happens the first time you drop the weights? It's gonna crack!
that s great🥳🥳🥳
this would've nice in the peak of the pandemic.
, cool man
2 pieces of 1-1/8” plywood screwed together be easier
Cool
The final product looks great, but You could simply use a large empty paint bucket as the mold for the concrete, you know, like the orange bucket you show on this video. Don't make your DIY projects more complicated and expensive than they need to.
he actually does have another video where he uses a plastic trash bin for his mold
@@rfcilia good to know!
So... Why not dig out ground and pour.
Have not seen you for a while Mike, hope you are doing well.
i hope there have more video soon not waiting another month :(
You should make some kettlebells next
HQ MATERIALS AND EASY
without metal the concret will break soon
Love the idea, wondering how you keep them from falling apart. In the concrete industry, there is a well understood axiom:
"There are two typed of concrete. Concrete that is cracked, and concrete that has not cracked yet."
This is great!
Naahhh, you were just youtubing in all the video. BUCKET is the answer.
while you buy the tools needed for that job, you can buy a gym
I dont think they are actually 45 pounds
Going to have to change the name to Muscle Builds.
if you want to make that too stick metalsticks into the wet concrete so it is more stable