DIY Atlas Stones – A Comprehensive Guide (and why you should buy ready made)

Atlas Stones – Step by Step DIY Guide

For those of you interested in making your own Atlas Stones to train with, I hope that the following guide helps you achieve a good quality, consistent stone that will literally last a lifetime.

Making decent enough Atlas Stones that can be properly and continually beasted/dropped is not for the faint of heart. Even if you follow this guide, you will make a mess, you will likely spend more than if you simply buy one ready made and it will take up a lot of your time.

However if you enjoy making things and have your heart set on making your own Atlas Stone then I hope the following guide is useful

Below is a list of kit required for making Atlas Stones. No assumptions will be made relating to what you may/may not already have.

Things you will need-

• A mold – The main two available are Slaters Molds or Hybrid Athletics. Personally I prefer the Slater’s mold due to how the two halves fit together and there is no logo indent on the stone.
• Scales – The key to a consistent mix. We use commercial scales rated to 300kg but your standard bathroom scales will do just fine.
• Vegetable Oil
• A old tyre
• A rag/cloth/old t shirt
• Tarpaulin/old plywood sheet
• Cement mixer OR large mixing bucket (yellow flexi tubs are good; the bigger the better)
• Bucket (for water)
• Hand shovel
• Stanley Blade
• Duct tape
• Pallet wrap
• Concrete Strengthening Fibres (available from B&Q/Selco etc.)
• Portland Cement
• Sharp Sand
• 20mm Gravel
• Gloves
• Eye Protection
• Hammer/Mallet
• Cold Chisel
• Block of wood (supplied with Slaters Molds)
• Old gym mat/thick towel/seat cushion
• Concrete Sealer
• (optional) Massage gun (wrapped in pallet wrap)/concrete vibrating poker

Stage 1 – Mold Prep

Take your mold and apply a THIN layer of vegetable oil on the inside. If there are pools of oil it will mess with the finish of your Atlas Stone. This acts as a release agent. Other purpose made release agents are available at a substantially higher cost but they are no better than vegetable oil, trust me we’ve tried.

Then put the two halves together. On Slater’s Molds there is a thick black line that should meet up; it’s important that you achieve as good a seal as possible.

Duct tape the two halves together TIGHT. We use at least 8 strips evenly spaced in “Union Jack” fashion around the mold. Use even more on 18” Atlas Stones and larger.

Get your pallet wrap and wrap the mold EVEN TIGHTER (are you picking up on how important it is for the mold to be joined together tight?). If it’s not tight excess water will escape and you’ll have an Atlas Stone that has a rough, stony rim around its equator.

Place your mold on the old tyre with your tarpaulin or wood sheet beneath, keep the filling hole at the top.

Finally cut the pallet wrap in a circle to reveal the filling hole.

Stage 2 – Measuring and Mixing your ‘crete

Firstly here is the mix ratio measured by weight, not volume (have the scales standing by)-Cement – 1Sharp Sand – 220mm Gravel – 3Water 0.5Fibre – One handfulSizes 10”-16” – 1 Bag of cement, 2 Sharp Sand, 3 GravelSizes 18”-22” – 2 Bags of cement, 4 Sharp Sand, 6 Gravel

.

Measure out your ingredients and mix together gradually ensuring there are no sand or cement lumps.

Stage 3 – Pouring and Vibrating

Wear Gloves/Eye Protection for this stage

So you’ve got a nice mix now, don’t worry if it looks watery if you’ve measured correctly the mix is good to go. You now have a maximum of one hour to fill your molds before you start losing workability.

Before you get ahead of yourself and pour it all in one go, heed this advice – One bucket load of cement at a time, rock the mold back and forth, give it a beat with a closed fist (or your massage gun). This will make sure there are no deep seated air bubbles at the bottom.

When it comes to pouring and filling your mold you have a few options . In order of practicality, you can-

Use a funnel if available (a traffic cone with the tip cut off would work well) and tip a bucket load at a time into the mold. Minimal Mess – Quick
Tip a bucket load at a time (no funnel).  Maximum Mess – Also Quick
One scoop at a time. Minimal Mess – Slow

Once you’ve filled your mold to approximately 1” (2.5cm) from the top you can begin the process of vibrating the concrete to remove the air.

If you have a massage gun for vibrating the mold make sure it’s adequately wrapped in pallet wrap or you will end up with concrete on your gun. Turn the gun on (any setting is fine) and start vibrating the outside of the mold with a firm pressure starting from the bottom. You’ll start to see the air bubbles escaping from the mix.

If you’re vibrating manually then begin “beating” the mold hammer-fist style. The quicker the better.

When the air bubbles stop, you may also stop.

Fill the remaining 1” of the mold with mix and repeat the above. You’ll have some watery concrete escaping at this point which is why it’s important to have properly sheeted the floor up around the mold.

As the gravel settles you will be able to continue adding mix way past when you think the mold is full. Keep vibrating and adding mix. When you can feel gravel within the top 2cm of the mold opening, that is when the mold is full.

Put any remaining mix onto an empty plastic gravel or sand bag.

Now is a good time to clean your buckets and tools and have a tea/coffee/protein shake.

30 minutes has passed and you’ve noticed that your mold isn’t full anymore. Remember that concrete mix you put onto the scrap plastic bag? Add this into the mold until it is full again.

You may need to do this a couple of times depending on the weather.

Finally, cover the hole with a piece of pallet wrap and leave in situ for at least 48 hours.

Stage 4 – Releasing the Atlas Stone

Ok so you’ve been patient and not messed with the stone yet? Good.

Find your soft item (old gym mat/towel/seat cushion) and place it next to your mold. CAREFULLY roll the mold onto said soft item. Be careful during this stage not to subject the stone to any undue shock, the concrete inside is still extremely soft and shock at this stage will effect its overall strength in the long term.

Unwrap the mold and tear away the duct tape. Using your mallet and block of wood gently tap off the top half of the mold. It is at this stage you’ll see how well you vibrated your mix. Done right, you’ll only have small air bubbles on the surface. Done wrong and it’ll look like the surface of the moon.

It is at this point that we smooth over the top half of the stone. Using your wet cloth gently rub the top half of the stone to smooth over any rough patches and fill any small holes. Any larger holes will need to be filled with hydraulic cement, however there is no urgency to do this at this point.

Using your cold chisel gently remove the circular raise area where the filling hole was. Rub over this area as well with your wet cloth.

Now remove the bottom half of the mold in the same fashion as the top.

Make sure you clean your molds ready for next time.

For maximum overall strength, re-wrap the bare stone with pallet wrap and leave for at least 28 days. (Concrete achieves 70% strength in 7 days but be patient).

That ball of concrete has been there tempting you for nearly a month now, like a Christmas present under the tree!

Unwrap it. Seal it with concrete sealer.

It’s now ready to lift, drop, roll or simply look at!

If you enjoy making things and have the time/patience to make an Atlas Stone I hope you found the guide helpful. Lifting a stone you made yourself is also a great feeling.

However making Atlas Stones for the first time is messy, time consuming and costly. If the guide has put you off or you simply don’t have the time to make your own Atlas Stones head over to our site www.kingheavy.co.uk where you can select the sizes/weights you want and we’ll do the hard work for you.

Thanks for reading.

Mike
King Heavy Barbell Co.