At Mannix we talk a lot about how our products are hand crafted in the UK, but what does that actually involve? This blog post will walk you through all the steps we take to transform our raw material stock into our signature walnut weight plates.

Step 1 – Machining The Carbon Steel Stock

Our steel stock suppliers flame cut circular discs from large pieces of rectangular steel sheets at their facility. This is a rough cut and each disc is a few millimetres larger than what the final plate size will be. We have three sizes of disc for the 2.5kg, 5kg and 10kg plates that we offer. These discs arrive at our warehouse as rough steel cut outs so there is still a lot of processing that needs to be done.

These discs are then mounted on one of our lathe machines for final processing. The discs are then machined down to size to within a very small tolerance, so the plates have a final weight to within 1% of the prescribed weight. Once the base steel plate has been machined to size, it is then thoroughly cleaned and prepared for transportation to the plating workshop.

Step 2 – Nickel Plating

The steel plates reach the nickel plating workshop where they will receive a lustrous nickel coating. The plates are first cleaned using a three step cleaning process before they enter a nickel plating bath. Nickel is one of the hardest, most corrosion resistance metals available in commercial plating, making is perfect for this application.

Step 3 – Preparing The Walnut Facing

Rough Sawn planks of walnut are delivered to our facility and that’s when the processing begins. The rough sawn planks are planed and cut into sheets around 5mm thick. They are then planed again to 4mm thickness. The sheets of walnut are then cut and glued to form larger sheets. These larger sheets are then placed on a CNC wood cutting machine. This machine then cuts out the circular designs that are ready for final processing.

After cutting, the walnut pieces are sanded and finished with a varnish, before our logo and weight number is applied to the surface of the walnut.

Step 4 – Fixing The Walnut Pieces

This final walnut discs are then attached to the surface of the final nickel coated plates using a specialist adhesive. The plates are then left to cure for 48 hours.

Step 5 – Cleaning and Packaging

The plates are then cleaned thoroughly and packaged ready for shipping.

These steps give you a rough idea of the how we craft our walnut-faced weight plates, but this doesn’t even touch the surface of some of the technicalities and sub-processes involved in production. We use a number of local partners and specialists to help with a various stages of production. We are passionate about keeping our supply chains and production lines in the UK.