making an atlas stone

[Tim Moss]

im in the process of casting a stone. i want it to be fairly large, around 400lbs. i used the template from ontario strongman, which called for building a plaster mold around a stability ball, then removing the ball and filling it with concrete. i have used this before with success, my only question is this. im looking to add weight without making the size of the stone larger. i have a bunch of lead weights to put in, plus some 2.5 and 5lb plates that are small. will the concrete bond and stay together if i put these in the middle of the stone? if any one has experience in making stones(jon van tassel), it would be greatly appreciated!

[Scott Kaiser]

put the lead and weights in a "sleeve" or pantyhose type thing to hold them together in the center of the stone so they don't settle to one side

[Scott Markowitz]

I have used plates in the center of a stone twice. The first time I ran a cable through the center of a bunch of small plates and tied the cable to the rafters in my shed. Once the concrete dried a bit and I was ready to remove it from the mold I cut the cable as close to the surface of the stone as I could get and all was good. The other time I used a couple of lead blocks and two ten pound plates duct taped together and tied to a pipe going across above the mold, then did the same process.

I've never used a stability ball - wouldn't that make a #*%$&@ huge stone?

[Scott Kaiser]

Yeah a 65cm ball fully inflated comes in over 425 in my trials i got a 55cm and the smallest i got out of it was 297.