Plastic C channel on power rack spotter arms (not UHMW)

[RemainDieHard]

My rack could use some fresh plastic C channel pieces on the spotter arms. They are 2" wide and have a grain texture. It comes on Powerlift, Hammer Strength, Rep, probably more. I've seen the strips on Full Circle but they seem pretty expensive from non UHMW like there is a huge mark up? $31 each side??? Anyone know anywhere cheaper?

[jedpop]

Try McMaster-Carr (remove the spaces as this website has a dumb rule about number of posts required before adding links/images):

www . mcmaster . com / #standard-plastic-u-channels/=w65y51[/url]

The 2.5" base UHMW PE is $4/foot. One 8 foot length total should be around $32 (+ shipping) - is it worth the trouble?

Everything I've bought from McMaster-Carr is exactly what they said it was so I highly recommend them (fast shipping too).

[RestoringTally]

I bought some vinyl floor runner and contact cement from Lowes or Home Depot for just a few dollars (less than $15 total). The vinyl runner cuts easily with a knife or scissors. I glued the vinyl runner to my power rack and my dumbbell racks. Works fine and has held up for a long time.

[RemainDieHard]

Try McMaster-Carr (remove the spaces as this website has a dumb rule about number of posts required before adding links/images):

www . mcmaster . com / #standard-plastic-u-channels/=w65y51[/url]

The 2.5" base UHMW PE is $4/foot. One 8 foot length total should be around $32 (+ shipping) - is it worth the trouble?

Everything I've bought from McMaster-Carr is exactly what they said it was so I highly recommend them (fast shipping too).

Well I repainted the rest of the rack and the plastic has gouges and cracks, splits, so yeah. I had already seen McMaster and the price and the fact it's UHMW is perfect but the white color is a deal breaker.

I am leaning towards just getting black 2" UHMW flat strip and screwing it to the spotters, but I'd rather stick with u-channel if possible so the sides of the spotters are still protected.

I bought some vinyl floor runner and contact cement from Lowes or Home Depot for just a few dollars (less than $15 total). The vinyl runner cuts easily with a knife or scissors. I glued the vinyl runner to my power rack and my dumbbell racks. Works fine and has held up for a long time.

Thought about that too but it would be with leftover 3/8 rubber gym flooring. Still rather have the flat strip black UHMW though.

[Stasher1]

I bought some of the u-channel stuff from Full Circle to replace the uhmw on the bar holders of a Body Masters preacher curl, and I think it's just thick kydex. It doesn't feel as flexible as uhmw.

Very curious to see what you find, as I'm wanting to cover the front of my GHD's vertical pad support post and the to of the front foot with something like this.

[julces]

look for hdpe in stores like menards or home depot (kingboard)
hdpe is what york, magnum, hammer strenght use on most equipment
menards has the sheet 4'x8' hdpe 1/4 for $60

[Sdca7718]

Check out seagateplastics.com SG1304 looks close to what you are looking for. Not sure if it is thick enough at .080" and you have to request a quote since they don't list prices.

[RemainDieHard]

.080 is a little over 1/16th so no.

I can get enough textured black flat strip UHMW for <$40 so I just may do that and use counter sunk machine screws. If I oversize the width just a little so it overhangs, it will protect the sides of the spotter in the same way the u-channel does. The place I'm looking at does free cuts so I could get it cut to 2.25 wide to have 1/8 overhang on each side.

[Stasher1]

.080 is a little over 1/16th so no.

I can get enough textured black flat strip UHMW for <$40 so I just may do that and use counter sunk machine screws. If I oversize the width just a little so it overhangs, it will protect the sides of the spotter in the same way the u-channel does. The place I'm looking at does free cuts so I could get it cut to 2.25 wide to have 1/8 overhang on each side.

Personally, I'd do 1/8" wider overall so you'd only have 1/16" overhang on each side. You really just need to keep the thick portion of the sleeve from contacting the spotter, but you don't want it wide enough to snag on things and/or become jagged on the edge.

I gave up on the uhmw, and bent some .063 aluminum diamond plate instead...



Need to make a few more pieces, paint the frame, and then rivet them into place.

[matchsprint]

Go to Amazon and get some 3M VHB Tape 5952. It'll stick your UHMW to any painted or metal finish and take a chisel to get it off.

From McMaster or MSC, you can get fiber-reinforced UHMW strips that come in black, blue, red, etc. Get a 3/8" thick strip in the width of your safety (the strips come in 1/4 or 1/2 inch increments) and simply use the ultra-high-bond glue tape to stick it down. You want that much thickness to help protect knurling on a good bar. I'd never use diamond plate on a safety because it needs to protect your bar as well as protect you. You can shop for wrap-around U-shaped formats but they rarely fit quite right and either are too tight and crack quickly at the corners or they overlap too far and don't glue down right.

[Stasher1]

I agree, diamond plate isn't suitable for a safety, but my situation is different than RDH's. I needed to cover existing damage on my GHD, and if I could add a bit of protection at the same time, that would be okay too.