DIY Medicine balls

[mettalhead]

This is taking forever.. the moist sand keeps clumping together and I have to stop every 30 seconds to beat the damn sand down the funnel. I may get this done by the end of summer break if I'm lucky.

 

[Mumrik]

put the sand in the oven to dry it out?

 

[Raw Sinew]

I just built 2 of them. I used play sand and xheap, heavy duty rubber basketballs.

I jammed the cut off top of a 20oz. Water bottle in the hole and poured the sand in. Hole was a bit bigger but I think it'll be fine. Put two tire patch kit things in there and put a little duct tape around it. Probably breal off quickly but screw it I had extra from making a sand bag.

Weighs around 25lbs.

Then I made a 'tornado' ball as I've seen it called by tying it into a basketball net and making a handle out of the long loops (seen on ross' homemmade site)

Now I have a pair of 25lbs. Medicine balls/kettle bell looking things.

Seemed to hold up well in my initial slam session.

 

[gogoGomi]

This is taking forever.. the moist sand keeps clumping together and I have to stop every 30 seconds to beat the damn sand down the funnel. I may get this done by the end of summer break if I'm lucky.

Go to home depot and buy a bag of sand for 5 bucks. Or you could spend a long time drying it out with a propane torch.

 

[RedNeckJiuJitsu]

I had a b**** of a time to get the sand through my funnel, too, even after siftin' the "bigger" "rocks" out of it, just because of the size of the funnel I could fit in the hole I drilled... It did take me all last summer.

 

[dfoster]

I had a b**** of a time to get the sand through my funnel, too, even after siftin' the "bigger" "rocks" out of it, just because of the size of the funnel I could fit in the hole I drilled... It did take me all last summer.

I was gonna try the basketball idea but the thought of making a funnel with tiny neck and hours pouring sand turned me away. Anyone tried making a big hole and plugging it up with better sealant, like some kind of epoxy?

 

[gogoGomi]

I was gonna try the basketball idea but the thought of making a funnel with tiny neck and hours pouring sand turned me away. Anyone tried making a big hole and plugging it up with better sealant, like some kind of epoxy?

Read post 23.

 

[dfoster]

Read post 23.

I did. Not quite what I was looking for. Tire puncture kits only work for small holes. That was why they want to make it small in the first place. I suspect the duct tape can only stay on for so long after all the slamming - duct tape is only durable if you wrap it around itself. Screw it, I'll try epoxy.

 

[hell_hound]

I did. Not quite what I was looking for. Tire puncture kits only work for small holes. That was why they want to make it small in the first place. I suspect the duct tape can only stay on for so long after all the slamming - duct tape is only durable if you wrap it around itself. Screw it, I'll try epoxy.

Um, you answered your own question. When I made mine, I cut a square, leaving one side attached, then I wrapped the ball in duct tape. It's holding up so far.

 

[Raw Sinew]

Yeah, I too wrapped the ball a few times in 'bands', if you will, of tape. All of the bands wrap over where the hole is.

If two square tire repair patches, one inside (that was a real bitch to get done, btw) and one outside with plenty of adhesive won't hold up then ill just go freaking buy ome because I lack the patience to do the tiny hole and funnel thing.

Hopefully when/if it explodes the shrapnel doesn't kill me.

 

[mettalhead]

25.6 pounds of Greatness

The funnel that worked the best

The chaos and tools used

The patch kit.

Some lessons learned.
The finer and dryer the sand the quicker the process. I opted for the inexpensive regular old play sand that has all kinds of small rocks in it as well, and it was wet since it rained the night before. I used two different funnels before finding the easiest and quickest way with the cut off mountain dew bottle. Basically I cut a cross in the ball much like a + sign and rammed the nozzle in the hole. The sand was still clumping when using the bottle so I just poured a hole cup in at a time and packed it down in there with the handle of the rachet. I was looking for a long broom handle but I ran across that first. I found this to be the quickest way. Once I got to this point it took be about 30 minutes to fill the rest of the ball (i was at about halfway). I then clean of the area around the hole and poured a bunch of that rubber cement on there from the patch kit. I used two patches because I messed up the first one or it would have covered the entire slit.

Wally World B ball $4.86
.5 cubic ft Play Sand $2.89
Patch Kit $1.89
Endless hell that is core work Priceless

 

[dfoster]

Um, you answered your own question. When I made mine, I cut a square, leaving one side attached, then I wrapped the ball in duct tape. It's holding up so far.

lol, I must be psychic that you guys did wrap it that way. Doesn't sound too bad.