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Practice Equipment Series

This is a five-part series about the gathering and construction of practice equipment for Scottish heavy athletics. It is aimed primarily at amateurs, so that they may be able to obtain and construct inexpensive (but possibly time consuming) practice implements. The reader will also hopefully develop an appreciation of the work, machinery, and danger involved in the manufacture of competition-quality equipment.

* I thank Doug Steiger for contributions.

CONTENTS: I: stones | II: weights | III: hammers | IV: sheaves and forks | V: cabers

Part I: Stones

Good round throwing stones are hard to find in some areas, and impossible to find in others. You are looking for stones that have been worn round and smooth by the action of flowing water; however, this does not necessarily imply that they cannot be found where a river presently flows.

The conditions necessary for creating nice throwing stones are specific. If a river is new, it will not have very rounded stones. Also, if the river flow is not sufficiently powerful, the stones will never get turned, or tumbled, and it will produce only flat stones. Furthermore, if the river changes course frequently, or if the river continues to dig a valley or canyon, then the stones are not exposed long enough to the water to create sufficient rounding. Finally, the water itself must have sedimentary content in order to effect the smoothing; water is only the vehicle; the actual eroding of the stone is caused by the grinding action of the flowing sandy particles.

Since you need sedimentary content, but no canyon digging, it means that the erosion must come from upstream from where the stones are located. This also means that round stones are often buried in sand. Good places to look are sandy deposits downstream from ancient carved valleys.

The ideal stones has a nice, round "ostrich egg" shape. You may find that most stones are either too flat or too oblong. It is good to practice with a variety of weights, so collect a range of sizes. One should practice with both light stones to work on speed, and heavy stones to develop strength. Also, if you are familiar with the stone you are throwing in the competition, this will help you determine what to practice with. If you are going to throw a perfectly spherical stone. like the one in Grandfather mountain, or an very large stone like in Stone Mountain, I would suggest practicing with an old bowling ball. Go to your local bowling alley and ask the manager if he has any damaged #16 house balls that he is throwing out. Ask him to hold on to damaged balls, and you will come by to pick them up.

In states such as Florida, where appropriate stones do not exist in nature, options include purchasing shots from a track & field mail-order catalog, such as Eastbay, OnTrack, of MF; or purchasing some stones from a stone supplier. You need to find a landscaping center or natural stone yard that ships in pallets of river rock from out of state. River rock goes for about 10 to 25 cents per pound, but there's no guarantee that you will find an acceptable shape and weight even after hours of searching. One might also contact natural stone builders (that make those stone chimneys and walls) or log home builders to find out where they get their stone.

Another option, which I don't recommend, is to make a concrete stone. You will have to find something suitable for a mold: something spherical, about 6 inches in diameter, that can be separated. I had a rubber cover for an old indoor track & field 35-pound weight that i partially split open.

Concrete alone will not make a very heavy stone. I took two old York dumbbell collars, placed them back-to-back, taped one end shut, and filled the cyllindrical space (where the bar would ordinarily be) through the other end, with lead shot. This iron and lead mass will be centered inside your mold by strings. It's tricky to keep it centered, and thick-stiff concrete helps (not too watery).

In conclusion, the gathering of good throwing stones is difficult in most parts of North America. The market for such stones is small compared to other sporting goods; thus, one cannot find them in stock at your local sporting goods store. But with some geological knowledge and experience in hand, hopefully, the task becomes less futile.

I: stones | II: weights | III: hammers | IV: sheaves and forks | V: cabers

Practice Equipment: Part II: Weights

But before you construct your weight, an even cheaper alternative is to practice throwing with tires. Yes, tires can simulate the feel of throwing the weight. And old tires may often be found on the practice football field of your local high school. Tires can vary greatly in weight depending on the size. To add weight, place a sandbag, a stone, or a couple of ankle weights inside the tire on the opposite end that you hold. Hold the tire at the rim facing up, palm facing down. Be careful that the tire is not worn down to the steel belting; you could cut your hand or leg on the sharp wire. Hint: use sandpaper to slightly round off the inner edge of the tire, where you hold it; this will make the grip more comfortable. Don't sand all the way down to the steel belts, though. Also wear a batting glove.

If you have room, collect a variety of sizes of tires, from 12 pounds on up. For outside storage of your tires, drill four 1/2-inch holes along the sidewall of the one side of the tire and stack tires with the holed-rim facing down. This will allow water to drain out and prevent mosquito breeding.

The most critical component of a homemade weight is the handle. The 6" solid steel loop is not a standard stock item at the hardware stores. You may have noticed that those towel rings in the plumbing section look to be just the right size; but don't even think about trying to use these for your weight. They are all hollow, and wouldn't last for one throw. In fact, they would probably bend from just picking up a #56 weight. If you cannot find a welder/ironworker/blacksmith to make you a handle, or you cannot do this yourself, go no further.

The diameter of the handle should be 1/2" to 5/8". In track & field (t&f), the maximum diameter allowed is 1/2". There is no minimum or maximum in the Scottish heavy events. I believe that a thicker handle is more comfortable with a one-handed grip (keep in mind that you use two hands in t&f). Also, I believe the thumblock (from olympic lifting, which some athletes prefer using) is more comfortable with a thicker diameter bar.

However, a 5/8" bar is more difficult to bend into a handle than 1/2". The easiest to find is 1/2", then 5/8", then 9/16. There is hot-rolled and cold-rolled. One is sturdier and mor expensive; the other may get a little bent out of shape, but it still can be used. I don't know which is which.

What shape? Although the rules allow many shapes (round ring, triangular, D-shapes), the athletic directors at specific games may dictate that a certain weight (and thus a certain handle) is used. In the games that I have participated in (in VA, NC, GA, FL), the (round) ring is quite the rule. One must therefore be mindful of the handle that will be used in competition for which one is practicing.

Many athletes prefer the ring because the curve is supposed to "lock" the fingers against each other and thus create a better grip. Personally, I have a short little finger, and I feel that I get a better grip with a straighter handle.

How big? I would recommend making a D-handle with a 5" inside measurement with equal length as width. For a loop handle I would recommend a 6" inside diameter, and a 7" inside side length for a triangular handle. There is no specification in the NASGA rulebook, but i believe t&f (USATF) specifies a maximum outside length/diameter of 71/2"'. The ends should be welded together and ground smooth.

If you prefer a flat grip, you might make a triangular handle. The ends should be located at the middle of one of the sides; not at a corner as in a musical triangle or dinner bell. The corners should be bent fairly rounded (around a 1" diameter), not sharply bent. Tight corners can be uncomfortable and weak. It helps if the steel worker has the proper bending machinery to work with, such as the presses used to make large chain links. The triangular handle should be equilateral (all three sides of equal length) so that using any side of the triangle will give the correct length to the weight.

When using a triangular handle, you should grip the welded side because the joint is stronger against sheer stress than it is with tension stress. Otherwise, the joint can open up when you are throwing it. If this happens, the joint can be repaired by the welder.

A new handle design that I am trying to get done is a 6" triangle with rounded sides; sort of the shape of a Pepto Bismol bottle or tablet. The bar is first rounded to about a 12" diameter (6" radius) to give it a slight roundness in the handle, but not as much as the ring. Then it is bent into a triangle. I would encourage any readers to try this design let me know how it turned out. More detailed plans and specifications are available from the author.

For the body of the weight, the cheap alternative is to use a combination of 5 and 10-pound standard barbell plates mounted on a heavy-duty eye-bolt. I would recommend a 3/4" diameter, 8"-long eye bolt that is forged or welded shut. An alternative is to weld a ring onto the end of a plain 3/4" bolt. Large eye bolts may be obtained from an electrical supply store.

Secure the weights at the bottom with a large washer and two nuts, locked against each other, or with a self-locking nut. The nut must cover the bottom of the bolt; there must not be any thread extending below the bolt or this thread may be damaged upon impact, and then the nut cannot be removed.

The handle will be attached to the eye bolt by chain links and removable links. I recommend the 5/16" clevis (anchor shackle) with a codder pin. It is the strongest of all options and the easiest to adjust. The clevis with a screw-in pin is equally strong, but the screw-in pin tends to get loose, and sometimes becomes difficult to remove if it is hit by the weight.

Another means of attachment is the 5/16" repair link, that you hammer shut. This is almost as strong as the clevis, but requires tools to remove and replace. Also, the temporary link will eventually fatigue and break after repeated adjustments. However, the repair link is cheaper. The repair link can be welded shut (permanent) by your welder. I would recommend attaching the handle to the chain with the clevis, and attaching the chain to the eye bolt with a repair link.

Not as recommended are the quick links, where an opening along the side of the link screws shut. These are not as strong, and if the link gets hit, it may become difficult to open and close. Least recommended are those snap links that you see on the cable weight machines in the gym. They are weaker still. If the weight hits them, they can bend slightly to where they can no longer be fully closed or reopened.

Bring the weight to the desired length by adding a few chain links between the handle and the eye bolt. Get enough chain to make a slightly long weight (20") so that you can practice your form. Then you can adjust the overall length by hooking the handle to different links. For the toss, you may want to connect the handle directly to the eye bolt, bypassing the chain links.

All components (chain, links, etc.) should have a working load rating of 900 pounds or greater. Although the weight is only 56 pounds, you may generate hundreds of pounds of force when turning. World-class t&f hammer throwers have recorded forces in excess of 700 pounds.

Another way of constructing the body is to find a solid weight (although this will not be adjustable by weight). You might call around for an old industrial box weight (rare), or you might call gyms and ask if they have any broken solid-type dumbbells that they are getting ready to throw away (using one half of a 100-pound dumbbell produces a 50-pound weight). In these two cases, you need to weld a loop onto the top of the weight, and then attach links and handles as previously described.

The critical step is to solidly weld a strong loop onto the weight. Do not just weld a "U"-shaped piece onto the weight. Bend a 3/8" into a loop with extended ends. This will give you a much greater surface area to form the bond.

You can also buy a new t&f weight is not recommended because they are well over $100, more expensive than new Scottish weights. They are also shorter (16", versus 18" for the Scottish weight). However, if one happens to already have a t&f weight, one could convert it to a Scottish weight by adding a links.

If you want to go deeper into the bowels of weight construction, or you have a particularly good relationship with a steelworker, you could pour your own weight from molten iron. A sound strategy would be to sink an eyebolt into the molten iron (with nuts on it to keep it from sliding out) to form the loop.

Even more difficult is to have a lead core encased in an iron shell. Caution: working with molten iron or lead can be dangerous, and is best left to the experts. (Obviously, I don't have to tell you this if you are able to melt lead or iron in the first place).

From my experience in making weights from concrete, I have concluded that they are dissatisfyingly bulky and prone to breakage. Although this may be considered for the novice. Use an eyebolt for the loop. Cut a hole in the center of the plastic top of an extra large coffee can. Put it through an eyebolt. Place a large washer onto the eyebolt, and place two nuts on the eyebolt.

Now put the lid onto the can. The nuts and washer should be positioned two inches from the bottom of the can. Adjust, then tighten the nuts against each other. Mix some lead shot into the concrete mix for added weight. Pour 3 inches of concrete into the can. Then add the eyebolt and lid and push into the concrete. Then peel back the top and pour in the rest of the concrete to the top.

At first glance, the prices of weights supplied by the manufacturers seem steep; but after you consider the quality of the work and the amount of work and the danger involved, I believe the prices are justified. I think the novice may start out with tires and homemade apparatus, and then naturally progress to store-bought equipment as competition interest and desire for higher-quality implements increases.

Indoor weights: to practice indoors, you can make an indoor weight with a loose sandbag. Put the proper amount of sand in an inner tube to desired weight. Cut the tube and seal tightly with duct tape. Place this weight in a loose, strong nylon mesh bag; for example, a lawn mower grass-catching bag. Tie the corners together or the ends together, to make a loop. You can reinforce this handle by wrapping with athletic tape. This indoor weight can be used for throwing for distance or for height without damaging floors.

I: stones | II: weights | III: hammers | IV: sheaves and forks | V: cabers

Practice Equipment: Part III: Hammers

To flare an unflared pipe section, saw a straight 3" cut through the pipe lengthwise. Cut a 2" long end off a wooden broom handle with a 7/8" handle (kitchen broom or mop; a rounded end works well). The broom end should flare the pipe slightly when inserted.

In anticipation of the handle breaking, you may want to just use the full 5-foot piece of pipe and choke up on the handle accordingly. Then as you break off a couple inches at a time, you redo the flared end. Hint: if pine tar builds up on the handle end, it may be difficult to slide the head over it. So slide the head on through the bottom up before flaring; then flare, and slide the head back down. Tap down to secure.

The lead hammer heads may also pose a health risk to you or your children. I'll throw a lead hammer in competition, as long as I don't have to touch that head. If you're like me, you wouldn't enjoy lead dust rubbing off all over the interior of your car, or other places.

An adjustable practice hammer can be made by using standard barbell weights, which fit snugly onto the 1" plastic piping. You may slide on a combination of 2 1/2 and 5-pound plates. To minimize handle breakage, maximize your practice of winds without releasing the hammer. When you get ready to release, duct-tape all of the weights together.

Keep the duct tape off the handle; however. Then, if you break the handle, you can carefully slide the entire block of taped weights in one piece. Slide the whole block of weights onto a 7/8" broom handle so that they stay aligned while you are repairing the hammer handle.

Some standard barbell plates might not fit easily onto the plastic pipe. Bring a section of pipe to the store before you buy the plates. The plates may vary in their inside diameter. The best plates to buy are the ones that are solid, with rounded edges; without any rim or recessed interior. These are the most compact. You may need to purchase a grinding bit (for metal) for about $2-3, and work off the rough spots on the inside of the plates. Get a bit that is cylindrical in shape and that is less than 1" in diameter.

Hammer spikes

You can use straight blades or bent blades. If you are going to use straight blades, you should fasten the blade to the ball so that the back of the blade does not extend to the heel. You want the blade to be slightly downward-pointing, parallel to the ball of the foot. But the toe of the boot may curl up away from the blade.

The bent blades are preferable, but they require more work. The steel ribbon must be bent approx. 75 degrees up for 1 1/4" and then 75 degrees back to parallel, and then there needs to be a five-inch platform underneath the boot with two holes spaced 3-4 inches apart (see figure).

Select a boot with a high heel. Your heels should be on the ground when your spikes are inserted in the holes. Some elect to go to a shoemaker to add up to an inch to the heel.

To shape and sharpen the blade: make two 45-degree cuts to make the point. Then use a grinding wheel to grind a point on the tip of the blade. Bevel the point on both sides. Finish with a file. It doesn't have to be sword-sharp.

Very important: The welder will have to heat the steel to bend it. This will weaken the steel and make it prone to bending. In order to harden it, after the bends are made, the entire blade should be heated with a torch to an even cherry red color. Then the blade should be completely submerged into a bucket of used motor oil or warmed vegetable shortening. The blade should be allowed to cool in this oil for at least one hour. Do not let air dry, or the blade will be too soft and bend. Also do not douse in water, or the blade will be too brittle and possibly snap (break) when you are leaning back.

Use nuts and bolts to fasten the spikes to the sole of the boot. If your boot has an insole, pull it out first. Select 1/4" bolts with round or rounded edge heads. One bolt should be under your second toe just in front of your ball of the foot. The other bolt should be about 3-4 inches back, behind the ball, under the arch. The bolts should not be directly under pressure points of the foot or toes.

Use large fender washers inside the sole to keep the bolts from breaking through. Use self-tightening nuts underneath. Bolts should be short enough not to extend more than 1/4" after nuts are tightened.

I: stones | II: weights | III: hammers | IV: sheaves and forks | V: cabers

Practice Equipment: Part IV: Sheaves and Forks

"Hemp" bags can be found at your nearest feed and seed farm store. A large bag cost me 50 cents. Most bags nowadays are not real hemp, but weaker sisal, or "manila." I recommend making a two-ply sheaf, using an inner bag of that woven nylon, and an outer cover of sisal. The inner nylon bag gives the sheaf the necessary strength so that the bag lasts for a long time, and the outer sisal bag gives the proper feel and release from the fork. You can buy a large bag and fold it over, on top of itself, to create a two-ply bag.

The sheaf can be stuffed with any natural material that allows the pitchfork to penetrate and slide off cleanly, and does not appreciably shift around the bag. Generally accepted stuffing materials include hay, straw, long, dry grass clippings, pine needles, and australian pine leaves. Not acceptable are grains, seeds, rice, beans, sand, lead shot, and gravel because these move around too much and may leak out of the bag.

One stuffing material that works well is old scrap rope. There is a type of rope that is particularly heavy. It is sort of soft, like cotton, it is tan, but it is not rough, like binding twine. It is loose, like yarn. It makes a good stuffing material because if the bag breaks, the rope can be collected without losing weight. I haven't been able to find this particular type of rope. Organic materials should be dry so that they do not rot.

If you have trouble getting the bag up to weight, you could add a weighted core. Use a bag of lead shot, wrapped in layers of duct tape. Then wrap this in layers of burlap. The fork cannot penetrate this core, so you then need to surround the core with at least 3 inches of penetrable material, such as grass clippings or straw.

If you take a standard size large burlap bag, fold it in half, then draw a line around the bag one inch below the fold. Then, with the seam edges on the outside, stuff the bag, and sew it together along the line. This leaves the upper half of the bag empty. Then pull the full bottom half of the bag into the upper half, overlapping the top edges of the bag at the bottom of the bag.

The bottom half has to be hand-sewn, if you don't want seam edges to stick out. You can probably find a pack of heavy-duty needles (for carpet, upholstery, etc) in the craft section of most supermarkets. Use the slightly bent, canvas needle (the largest needle in the pack of heavy-duty needles). The result is a nice, small two-ply bag that takes the volume of a box of standard photocopy paper (9"x11"x17").

While it is beneficial for the bag to be sewn somewhat tight and compact, and the trend is for smaller and smaller sheaves, one should be mindful that some games favor the traditional, bulky sheaf, which may affect your swing technique. You may also want to make a variety of weights: heavy sheaf for power work and a light sheaf for speed work. Recently, I have come across sheaves that are packed so tight and compact that the bag does not easily come off the fork.

Speaking of forks, three-prong pitchforks: pretty much need to be special-ordered, unless you live in Amish country. According to the True Value True Temper/Union Tools/Green Thumb catalog, The three-tine hayfork, item no. 139-022, is only carried in stock at the stores that are served by the Allentown, Cleveland, Corsicana, Denver, Harvard, Kansas City, Manchester, Mankato, and Portland distributors. Incidentally, these are the locations with high concentrations of Amish, and Mennonite populations, which still fork hay by hand. Ordering a fork will run into the upper $30's (even though all of the hardware stores have plenty of 4-tine and 5-tine forks in the $20's).

Another possibility is to search the flea markets or garage sales for a fork. You can put an old fork onto a new handle. I was fortunate to find an old gentleman who supplied me with an old fork, and put it on a new handle; all for only $10.50.

I: stones | II: weights | III: hammers | IV: sheaves and forks | V: cabers

Practice Equipment: Part V: Cabers

Poplar does not have messy bark and pine sap. You can use therefore use the caber as soon as you cut it. The desirable qualities are straightness and lack of side branches. You can often get two cabers from one poplar tree. Keep your eyes and ears open for the possibility of new construction where some fairly straight trees are. Then when they get ready to clear the land, ask the contractor. Or network until you get a friend of a friend that has some land.

Cutting a tree: First place an empty plastic milk gallon jug 20 feet away from the base of the tree in the direction in which you want the tree to land. Cut perpendicular slightly more than halfway through from the direction of the milk jug. Then cut down 30 degrees to meet the first cut, removing a wedge of material. Then back cut two inches above the first cut, angling down 10 degrees, until you hear some cracking. Remove the crushed milk jug from under the tree and recycle. :o) For a slightly more spectacular tree-felling, replace the milk jug with a watermelon.

In determining how long vs. how thick a caber to select, there are no set standards, except that at the turn of the century, the AAU declared a standard caber size as pine, 16 feet, 4" diameter small end, 8" diameter large end. In general, the longer cabers should also be the fatter cabers. Also, different species of trees have different densities. If possible, cut a variety of sizes. And don't forget to save the top of the tree to make a small caber for your kids.

Barking is unnecessary for poplar--the bark will actually protect the caber from cracks and splits. However, when the bark starts to peel off easily, you should then completely strip the caber of bark, let it dry for exactly 1 day, then preserve it with a nice coat of wood preservative with water repellant.

In barking a pine caber, a drawknife works best; an old (thick, nonserrated) kitchen knife can also be used. It helps to put the caber at waist level using saw horses; this makes for easiest use of the drawknife. An alternative approach is to put the caber on cinder blocks, stacked two high. Then sit on the caber to steady it while barking.

If the bark is nonoffensive and there is no sticky sap (nonpine tree), you may use it with the bark on. If you can turn it or nearly turn it, then don't bark it; it will only make it lighter faster. If, however, you find that you can barely lift it, barking will speed up the drying process. Precautions: leaving the bark on makes the caber more prone to insect infestation; so an unbarked caber must be stored off the ground. On the other hand, a barked caber is more prone to splitting; so it needs some wood preservative that prevents splitting or cracking.

After barking, a pine caber must dry in the sun for about a month. The caber should be placed off the ground in a sunny location. Ideally, put the caber on cinder blocks above either grass or a paved surface.

After the sap has dried, the caber can be finished. The small end is the one that is held in the hand, and it should be rounded, like the end of a broom handle. You can roughcut the end with a hatchet or saw by hacking or sawing around the end at 45 degrees. Don't cut off too much; you don't want a vampire stake; you want the end to look octagonal, like a stop sign. Then finish the rounding with a circular sander or grinder, with the coarsest disc you can get (20-grit or lower); or use a coarse wood rasp.

You may also use a hatchet, sander, grinder, and/or rasp, to smooth out any knots, especially within 4 feet of the round end. This is the area that might come into contact with the athlete's shoulders and neck during the pick and the turn, and it should be clear of protrusions so as not to catch on the athlete's clothing. The big end must be squarely cut and not at all rounded.

The caber can then be treated with various preservatives and protectants. It depends on how the cabers are to be stored. The best environment for the cabers is inside, in a dry, cool place. If the caber will be exposed to damp conditions, use a mildew/fungus preventer. If you are in the South, look for a termite repellant. If you are storing the caber in a heated space for the winter, or if the caber is exposed to sun and rain, it must be kept from cracking. You must use a good wood preservative with a good preserving oil: linseed, or similar. A caber that is treated properly could last for 10 years or more. If the caber is stored outside, it may only last 2-3 years. Cabers exposed to rain should also get a water sealant/repellant. It is better to suspend a tarp above the cabers than to tightly wrap the cabers in a tarp.