Cleaning a rusty barbell: How to! w/pics

[heater999]

Alright so I got a decent craigslist score recently with some old olympic barbells and a nice hex dumbbell set. Anyways the barbells were quiet rusty from sitting in a garage so I wanted to see if I could clean them up and use them for squats and deadlifts.

I picked up some supplies at Meijer for around $20 including primer and the hammered metal paint.

-brillo pad/steel wool $5
-Alcohol $5
-WD 40 $5

Safety

-gloves
-glasses
-mask
-paper to protect floor/surroundings
-ventilation


First I set the bar up on paper and one end at a time I sprayed with WD-40 and scrubbed with the steel wool. I did this until the bar looked smooth and free of large rust spots. I'd generally do a small area at a time and wipe clean, rotate, etc. repeat... After I got it all cleaned and rust free I used the Alcohol to give it a final clean and remove the greasiness from the WD-40. This probably isn't necessary but another good option before paint I would assume. Not painting my bar though as it looks great how it sits! PICS \/

http://my.picresize.com/AHHQEKGB5U
http://my.picresize.com/V8DUV9VZ6U
http://my.picresize.com/OQLEYVL2UU
http://my.picresize.com/CXU4USPMBI

Also I have pics of the dumbbell I'm painting. I didn't use WD-40 on it just steel wool scrub down. Then I washed it clean with soap and water. Let it dry then applied a coat of the Hammered Paint.

http://my.picresize.com/61RFD2TSV9
http://my.picresize.com/HUIHUOMILJ

[KBKB]

Any chance you could use some other hosting site than imageshack for your photos? (You could even upload them here.) For many of us, these all show up as a frog frozen in an ice cube.

[TheDude8734]

Any chance you could use some other hosting site than imageshack for your photos? (You could even upload them here.) For many of us, these all show up as a frog frozen in an ice cube.

^This^ I am very curious to see how the bars came out after the process

[Mandinko]

Gloves, mask and safety glasses for WD-40 and rubbing alcohol?

Do you don a SCBA and tyvex suit for fill ups at the gas station?

j/k. Thanks for the post.

[heater999]

Any chance you could use some other hosting site than imageshack for your photos? (You could even upload them here.) For many of us, these all show up as a frog frozen in an ice cube.

yah trying to get something that will work, but now even the forum won't let me upload them... too big maybe?

[heater999]

Gloves, mask and safety glasses for WD-40 and rubbing alcohol?

Do you don a SCBA and tyvex suit for fill ups at the gas station?

j/k. Thanks for the post.

Mainly for the paint I meant and don't wanna get poked with the steel wool, personally I only used gloves and an open window!

[Mandinko]

Like I said, just kidding.

I've never had a problem with #0000 steel wool poking me. It takes a little more elbow grease, but tends to scratch less. Made my CL curl bar look new again.

Cheers

[KBKB]

yah trying to get something that will work, but now even the forum won't let me upload them... too big maybe?

Could be. I usually scale the photos that I upload down to 1000x1000 or smaller. That was the limit imposed by the old forum software. I think the current forum software allows larger photos, but it will scale them for you. Sometimes the results don't look very good.

[heater999]

Like I said, just kidding.

I've never had a problem with #0000 steel wool poking me. It takes a little more elbow grease, but tends to scratch less. Made my CL curl bar look new again.

Cheers

I know I know! All in good fun!

Could be. I usually scale the photos that I upload down to 1000x1000 or smaller. That was the limit imposed by the old forum software. I think the current forum software allows larger photos, but it will scale them for you. Sometimes the results don't look very good.

Alright I got it working now used a different hosting site, so pics are up! Enjoy! Also trust me everything looks a lot better in person, I'm pretty shocked. Just take your time and it will turn out great!

[keyboardworkout]

Was the bar painted?

[NoKittyNo]

Here is a re-post with Heater999's pics embedded.

Alright so I got a decent craigslist score recently with some old olympic barbells and a nice hex dumbbell set. Anyways the barbells were quiet rusty from sitting in a garage so I wanted to see if I could clean them up and use them for squats and deadlifts.

I picked up some supplies at Meijer for around $20 including primer and the hammered metal paint.

-brillo pad/steel wool $5
-Alcohol $5
-WD 40 $5

Safety

-gloves
-glasses
-mask
-paper to protect floor/surroundings
-ventilation


First I set the bar up on paper and one end at a time I sprayed with WD-40 and scrubbed with the steel wool. I did this until the bar looked smooth and free of large rust spots. I'd generally do a small area at a time and wipe clean, rotate, etc. repeat... After I got it all cleaned and rust free I used the Alcohol to give it a final clean and remove the greasiness from the WD-40. This probably isn't necessary but another good option before paint I would assume. Not painting my bar though as it looks great how it sits! PICS \/



[


Also I have pics of the dumbbell I'm painting. I didn't use WD-40 on it just steel wool scrub down. Then I washed it clean with soap and water. Let it dry then applied a coat of the Hammered Paint.

There ya go

[heater999]

Was the bar painted?

No it was not I had plans to paint the ends black but it turned out so good I didn't need to!



Thanks NoKittyNo appreciate it! Rep

[Mandinko]

Was the bar painted?

If that was to me, no, it was chromed.

[heater999]

Kind of annoyed now because I have one dumbbell that looks shiny brand new that is an extra 25lb. I kinda used it as a test piece.

[heater999]

bump, anybody with rusty equipment needs to do this! I also 'balanced' the barbells in a sense and used white out to mark the slight bends... So when I see the marks the bar is in a good position for bench or squat. I love one of the two bars I cleaned too because the knurls are super sharp!

[miker84]

Looks awesome!

What were you planning on using to paint the bar? I'm curious to know what paint would withstand plates coming on and off over time.

[heater999]

Looks awesome!

What were you planning on using to paint the bar? I'm curious to know what paint would withstand plates coming on and off over time.

Thanks miker84! Well I bought some rustoleum enamel black paint without really thinking it through. However after I cleaned the bar I realized painting wasn't even necessary because it looks brand new!

Honestly I wouldn't recommend painting the bar unless you want your knurls to be less sharp or else you want a different color for looks purposes only.

I'm guessing also if you need to paint the bar due to rust still being present that the bar didn't get scrubbed enough with wool or else it's so rusty it's unrepairable.

I ended up using the paint on my calf machine and it looks pretty good.

[heater999]

bump