Jim's Home Gym Equipment Report

<Guy asks about a web site for Atlas Metal Fabricators-- need more info, please>

Regarding Stone Strength Equipment—a little history is in order. Stone Equipment was originally designed and built by a man named Stone (His first name escapes me). He had a manufacturing plant in Hanover, Mass., and back in the late 70s to mid 80s built some of the most rugged pieces of gym equipment on the market. I would say it was roughly comparable to TK Star Equipment, which was the brainchild of Tom Kinney, who operated out of an old carriage house in Mount Vernon, N.Y.

Kinney was a genius at equipment design, but wasn't particularly savvy in the area of marketing. That time frame was a period of large, well equipped, grunt & groan type gyms for guys who loved to train hard and heavy. You didn't join a gym to take an aerobic dance class, make a fashion statement, or meditate. You went to the gym to blast your muscles into another time zone. So naturally if you had a gym full of enraged gorillas, you would want the kind of equipment that could stand up to the abuse. Stone suited this purpose well.

In 1985 I managed a club that had both Stone and TK Star Equipment. Everybody loved it. By the early 90s TK had gone out of business, having been pushed to the sidelines by the slick marketing and name recognition of companies like Cybex and Nautilus.

By this point not even Nautilus was really Nautilus anymore. In 1986 Arthur Jones had sold Nautilus to Ward Industries, who changed many of the features that had made Nautilus so great. Most of the equipment, Cybex, Life Fitness, and Nautilus, then and up to the present day is like lawn furniture. It looks great, but won't last.

By the mid 1990s Alan Hatch of Atlas Metal Fabricators in Dover, N.H. had bought the rights to manufacture Stone Strength Equipment. Stone had been sold back in the early 90s, and Alan had hopes of resurrecting Stone Equipment as a major player in the fitness industry. It never happened. According to what Alan had to say, most of the club owners prefer nonintimidating equipment upholstered with soft, pastels, mauve, chartreuse, etc. It matters not that the stuff won't last, the typical sales oriented club is in business to hook members and take their money, not get them into shape. Basically it's a case of 'Take the money and run'.

So, to answer your question, to the best of my knowledge Atlas doesn't have a web page. Alan will make equipment for my clients, but is apparently no longer concerned with doing large volume business. Call the toll free number(1-800-639-7706) and ask for a catalog.

Good luck, Jim

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