DIY Concrete Weight Plates | SAVE MONEY & DON'T BUY MOLDS

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!

Material and Supplies:

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-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.

[TJMartinek]

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.

[c.a.g.]

I would most likely have made weight plates that said "54 SDLIUB NREDOM 54". Nice project, Mike, good to see you on YT again!

[ibrahimahmed]

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

[greatgambleino]

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.

[christianslater]

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 💡

[ivarbayes]

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!

[AcornFox]

concrete plates and wood rack is such a vibe. nice work!

[doubledarefan]

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.

[User]

Man with these plywood prices I might as well buy some 😅

[carlkasindi]

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.

[DonovanLee]

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!

[FamilyChannelfun]

$200 for 2 -45 pound weights ! All the sudden building some sounds pretty good!

[ysgIjb]

You can put pigment dye in the cement for it to get black

[inspiringbuilds]

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. 👍🏼

[graysonquenelle]

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

[Sisyphean]

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.

[tomsuica]

You can round the corners on each till they are exactly 45. Nice vid!

[BDiligent]

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.

[sdbigguy]

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!

[AlexDesign]

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!