Would a 160amp stick welder weld a dumbbell together?

[Dbzrocks]

Hi I am trying to make a dumbell so basically it has a 50mm solid round that’s going in the middle as a handle and it will have two solid steel cylinders as the weight. Il include a photo.
My question is if I weld around the handle part to the cylinders in a single pass will it hold up? I want it to be strong as the dumbell will get dropped onto the floor so ideally don’t want it to just snap off. I only have access to a 160 amp stick welder will this do the job?

Thanks to anyone who can help me out!

 

[Tom O]

Why not just bore it and use a shrink fit on the shaft?

 

[skotl]

Hi I am trying to make a dumbell so basically it has a 50mm solid round that’s going in the middle as a handle and it will have two solid steel cylinders as the weight. Il include a photo.
My question is if I weld around the handle part to the cylinders in a single pass will it hold up? I want it to be strong as the dumbell will get dropped onto the floor so ideally don’t want it to just snap off. I only have access to a 160 amp stick welder will this do the job?

Thanks to anyone who can help me out!

Welcome to the forum

It will probably work, especially if you can get it pre-heated.

Your call, of course, but is it for personal use or shared / in a gym? I wouldn't be doing it if it was for someone else to use...

 

[Dbzrocks]

Why not just bore it and use a shrink fit on the shaft?

Do you mean basically drill a 50mm hole and hammer the shaft into them? Ideally I would like to weld it together and I don’t have a drill capable of doing that

 

[Dapph2]

You can always put a bit of weld on the outer ends of the bar too . Or Make it difficult for yourself , turn the holes in the weighs to the requiredd size & tap to the thread size matching the thread on the bar & you'll get your puny muscles to work under a sensible load instead of gym monkey stuff .
Use Locktite to secure weights to the bar .

As a 15 yr old in 1966 I spent the summer holidays putting threads on hundreds of 1& 1/4 inch galv steel water & gas pipes for six massive broiler chicken sheds using a hand thread cutting machine with a 2 foot swing on the handle . I changed from a skinny 7 stone 32 inch chest weakling into a 9 stone 42 inch chest yoof in the four weeks .
When I came home at the end of the contract I had to borrow one of the fitters shirts as none of mine would fit me . I also earnt more in that month than my dad earnt in nearly three months , plus I got a nice bonus of £ 50 because my work allowed the job to be finished three weeks early .

 

[Smallfry]

Are you sure you will be able to lift it once all the pieces are together ?

I think there are a pair of dumbbells here somewhere if you want them, would have to find them first though.

 

[tom2207]

yes ,,,, it would , but not in one run ,, the nice thing about stick is that with patience you can pretty much join anything to anything.

Ideally a bit of prep would help , but use what you have got , 50mm is a big handle to try and grip though , maybe try a bit of 50mm first and see

 

[Dbzrocks]

yes ,,,, it would , but not in one run ,, the nice thing about stick is that with patience you can pretty much join anything to anything.

Ideally a bit of prep would help , but use what you have got , 50mm is a big handle to try and grip though , maybe try a bit of 50mm first and see

how many passes would I need to do around the shaft? Yeah it’s meant to be a dumbell for grip so that’s why it’s quite thick haha. Cheers mate

 

[tom2207]

how many passes would I need to do around the shaft? Yeah it’s meant to be a dumbell for grip so that’s why it’s quite thick haha. Cheers mate

decent welder , three passes ,,, a good root and two overlapping caps and the man who can break it wouldnt need the dumbell in the first place

 

[tom2207]

if the aim is grip , dont bother with making dumbells just go get a couple of links of steamer chain ,,,

 

[Dbzrocks]

decent welder , three passes ,,, a good root and two overlapping caps and the man who can break it wouldnt need the dumbell in the first place

Thanks would I be able to do this with a 160 amp stick welder I don’t have anything better aslong as it can hold up to drops it should do the job I want it too

 

[tom2207]

Thanks would I be able to do this with a 160 amp stick welder I don’t have anything better aslong as it can hold up to drops it should do the job I want it too

that simply boils down to ,,,, can you weld ??
you could always drill the two ends and tap a m8 bolt in from each end if you dont think your weldings good enough ,,, you could tack it up and put it in the bbq to pre heat ,,, it would help you along , lots of options .
but in summary I could do it and I would never worry . in fact Id never give it a second thought , but if your not happy with your welding , tack it up and get someone to run a bead round it for you ... anyone who welds would do it for a box of buns ,,, its only a five min job , take a look at 8ob digger bucket thread ,,, if your welds look like that , your laughing , but if they look like your building a log splitter ,,,,, maybe get someone else to do them for ya ,,, lol