Wooden Dumbells
Before this year’s stormy season we had some at-risk trees cut down that were on the top of a bank and close to the telephone lines. We asked the team from the Knowe Garden Centre to chop the trees into sections so we could store and use the wood for projects and for firewood.
So when my daughter asked if she could have some dumbells for weight training my first thought was the pile of logs. I chopped off a suitable section with the saw and sharpened up some tools.

A weeding knife was used to remove the bark. I cut part of the way through the log with a saw and rolled it around repeating that on all sides. Then using a mallet and chisel, I removed the excess wood. Then smoothed it off with a round surform and then sandpaper.




Finally, the dumbbell was left to dry in front of the radiator. When it was dry it weighed in at 955g.

When making the second of the pair, I used the saw to remove more of the material. This was less effort than just using the chisel and a lot faster.
wot no lathing?
The dumbbells are much bigger than can fit on my lathe but yes a lathe would have been the obvious choice.