Olympic Barbell sizes

Hi GB!

I'm making myself an Olympic barbell and a pair of adjustable dumbbells. I watched a video by our very own Matt Wichlinski:

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And he says to get a 1.5" diameter pipe so I got one. I also have the tools I need to cut it up into the 7' bar and two 1.5' DB's. I even have the hose clamps! So I thought, "Great! I got everything I need except for some barbell collars." and I looked them up on Amazon.

Turns out, I can't find any that are smaller than 2" diameter unless they're lock-jaw collars which are super expensive. Does anyone have any suggestions?

If I can't get collars for this, I'll be forced to buy these Apex Threaded Dumbbell Handles and make fat gripz for them.

When he says 1.5" pipe, is that the industry 1.5 inch pipe or true 1.5 inch pipe? I think what is called in the industry as 1.5" pipe is not the true dimension of the outside diameter, so it could be the usual cheap spring collars may work. Best bet is to go to a local sports shop that allows returns and try it out.

Curiously, when I looked on McMaster-Carr, the schedule 80 1.5 pipe (industry) is very expensive, and costs much more at 6' than the Rogue Fitness Axel, which is made of the same thing, and is 7'. I am wondering if I am looking at it wrong.

Oh man, Wolf, I feel dumb for not knowing this. Apparently pipe diameters are measured by the internal diameter, not the external diameter. The measurements are written in the same way as standard cut wood like 2x4's; officially 2x4 but unofficially more like 1.5" x 3.5".

I found this graph on a website:

Apparently 1.5" inside = 1.9" outside. Great to know.

Unfortunately, the pipe I bought has 1.5" external diameter so I can't use it for the barbell and dumbbells; however, I have a shorter 6' pipe that I think is 2" external diameter that, while too short for a barbell, should be plenty for dumbbells!

I intend to make enough weights for up to 100 lbs per dumbbell. I just need to find the right kind of concrete mix and see if I can find some cheap/waste iron/steel to put in the mixes. I'll make molds out of plastic buckets from Walmart and cut everything very precisely so they're all the same weight.

For the life of me, I would never DIY a barbell!!! Some day, you will load 5 or 600 pounds on that thing, and then what?

Equipment failure with these loads (or lighter ones for that matter) is a recipe for a major disaster... Just that day, your friend was there to spot you, and 200 pounds of plates land on the side of his knee; he sues you for 3 millions while you are recovering from the surgery that "fixed" your twisted spine? or your kid goes "splat" on the new carpet like a summer bug on your mustang windshield? How are you going to clean the carpet before your wife comes back if your back is screwed? (you get the idea?)

Think about the consequences...

I love to make my own equipment, but a barbell is for a lifetime of use, buy the very best quality you can afford; the same goes for a safety rack!

Plates are a different issue, you can buy cheap ones, you'll replace them when you have more income... by then, you'll need more plates anyway.

(at 1$ a pound, they are a major pain in the butt to make yourself anyway, there is very little money to save for your trouble! I'd rather work extra a few week ends and buy them)

FredInChina said:

For the life of me, I would never DIY a barbell!!! Some day, you will load 5 or 600 pounds on that thing, and then what?

Equipment failure with these loads (or lighter ones for that matter) is a recipe for a major disaster... Just that day, your friend was there to spot you, and 200 pounds of plates land on the side of his knee; he sues you for 3 millions while you are recovering from the surgery that "fixed" your twisted spine? or your kid goes "splat" on the new carpet like a summer bug on your mustang windshield? How are you going to clean the carpet before your wife comes back if your back is screwed? (you get the idea?)

Think about the consequences...

I love to make my own equipment, but a barbell is for a lifetime of use, buy the very best quality you can afford; the same goes for a safety rack!

Hahaha, Fred! You are greatly, greatly overestimating me. I will not load 600 lbs on any kind of bar for at least 15 years and I don't intend to keep the same bar THAT long. Keep in mind that if the inside diam. = 1.5" and the external diam. = 1.9" that's 2/5" thick metal all the way around reinforcing itself. Naturally, I would not load it with more than, say, 300 lbs (and not that for quite a while). Also, Matt doesn't feel afraid to use one and he is like 200x stronger than me at barbell movements and uses much more weight than I do.

However, don't be concerned I don't intend to make a barbell. I can't afford to buy a $40 10' bar right now, so I will just get a shorter bar and cut it into two 20" sections which I will use as dumbbells. I don't really need a barbell right now, anyway, and military presses and curls can be done just fine with DB's.

Also, I would be hesitant to assume that simply because a piece of equipment was made "professionally" it is stronger or better than what you can build. Especially if you live in China....... (Just kidding, Fred!! )

FredInChina said:

Plates are a different issue, you can buy cheap ones, you'll replace them when you have more income... by then, you'll need more plates anyway.

(at 1$ a pound, they are a major pain in the butt to make yourself anyway, there is very little money to save for your trouble! I'd rather work extra a few week ends and buy them)

$1 a pound is a LOT, though, if I want to buy up to 150-200 lbs of weight. It's quite simple to make cheap and strong concrete weights that are just as temporarily effective as ones you purchase from a store like Walmart. And tons cheaper too. (This doesn't apply to olympic lifting weights of course, just ones that you don't drop.)

This is what I do:

1. Go to walmart and buy 10 uber cheap round plastic buckets. Measure the diameter and then use an online calculator to calculate how deep the weight needs to be for you to get the weight you need (http://www.calculator.net/concrete-calculator.html.

2. Cut the buckets at exactly the height required. Make sure all the edges are even so that you can top off the concrete and know that all the volumes are the same.

3. Glue short sections of pipe (pvc or leftover metal pipe) in the center of bucket. It only needs to be 3-4" tall in most situations. It's a really, really good idea to use a pipe that's about 1/8"-1/4" too big so that you KNOW it will fit after you make the finishing touches.

4. Mix concrete and put fill bucket mold halfway. Then gently push a pre-made chicken wire circular mesh halfway into the concrete mixed in the bucket mold. To finish up, fill the rest of the mold up with mixed concrete and level it off.

5. After it's done curing, I gently take the pipe out and see if I can get the concrete cast out without damaging it. If I can't, I'll cut the mold away. I take it out and lightly sand it of with some sandpaper.

6. I put a thick layer of paint or some kind of sealant on it (maybe some kind of exterior latex acrylic paint or latex zone marking paint, not definitive on either tho). Make sure you use a dryer brush and wife off all the excess you can. Putting on more than one layer is optional.

And there you have it! That's what I do.

I can get roughly 100 lbs of mixing concrete for about $6-7 around here. Depending on quality, of course. It could be up to $10 per 100 lbs if you get a really dense kind. Overall, if I want 200 lbs of weights, it will roughly cost:

From Store: $200 or more

Build 'em myself:

* $10 for buckets (6-10 buckets)

* $10-13 for pipes to maintain barbell hole in mold that can be used over and over again

* $10-20 for paint (will last a long time)

* $15-20 for concrete

* $<1 for water

* $2-3 for sandpaper or wire brush (OPTIONAL: because you could just use your hand to rub it off) - reusable

* $9 for 24"x50' poultry netting (for the mesh inside the weight). This will be enough for many, many weights.

So assuming everything is expensive, I can get 200 lbs for roughly $70-75. That's a good deal!! It's a poor man's solution but it works well enough for a richman too

And much of this stuff can be used more than once and for more than 200 lbs of weights.

And you can discount all these efforts as a workout PAtrick...

Good luck with your mud filling week ends ahead.

As long as I keep my HR under 120 bpm I can call it recovery

Patrick Smith said:

As long as I keep my HR under 120 bpm I can call it recovery

For the 14 hours you are going to toil and clean up the mess... I call that ultra endurance!

FredInChina said:

Patrick Smith said:

As long as I keep my HR under 120 bpm I can call it recovery

For the 14 hours you are going to toil and clean up the mess... I call that ultra endurance!

Nah I've done it before. It will probably take a few hours on two Saturdays. Most of it will be getting the molds ready and making sure they're as perfect as I can get them.