My New Dumbbell

My New Dumbbell
I mentioned last week that I was heading down to Toledo to pick up a custom dumbbell... Here it is: a plate-loaded Inch Dumbbell Trainer.

I've always enjoyed lifting thick-handled dumbbells.

Let me tell you about this one" you see, some folks has tried to make thick-handled dumbbells in the past and use a technique called "sleeving" where gradually larger pieces of pipe are welded over top of each other.

In most cases, that works just fine, but the issue with the Inch Dumbbell is that that the "real" Inch Dumbbell has a handle 2-3/8 inches in diameter while pipe only comes in 2 inches or 2-1/2 inches diameter. They also tend to make the handle area too narrow which ends up banging against the wrist, which isn't a good feeling at all.

In any case, this dumbbell is made of one solid piece of stainless steel. We took a 2-1/2 inch diameter length and lathed the handle down to the required 2-3/8 inches exactly. The plate-loading area was further lathed down to 1.95 inches to all plates will fit, and each section is 8" long, leaving plenty of room for my hand, as well as the plates.

Needless to say, this one's a work of art.

I don't plan on making these available as an ongoing product but if the demand is great enough, we will just have to see. I sense a lot of good workouts with this one...