Questions to anyone who has restored iron.

[ExJbeck]

Hi everyone, thanks for looking. I have an offer to buy 840lbs in dumbbells (5's,10's,20's,25's,30's,40's,45's,50's,60's,65's, 70's) w/ rack, along with 255lb in standard olympic plates (from china). The equipment was used in a crossfit gym. I have no pictures that are good enough to show the problems, so i'm going to do my best to describe them.

Regarding the dumbbells:
On one of the 60's or 65's there is a gouge that is about 3/8 of an inch wide and appears to be a 1/2 or so deep (maybe it isn't actually that big or bad, but still a gouge that may need to be filled, i'm not sure). The dumbbell is in pretty rough shape right where it got gouged and around it.

Also, where ever they were purchased from (probably china) spray painted the crap out of them and did a terrible job because the paint is chipping and flaking off in chunks. I plan on scraping off what ever is loose and spray painting them anyway so no big deal, at least i don't think.

Regarding the plates:
They are are just olympic plates clearly stamped "china". They have been held on a weight tree that does not have circular rods for the weight to sit on, more of a slightly rounded square piece. I think it clearly has beat up the the plates around the rim, but it appears to be mostly just paint chipping. So I'm going to chalk that up to being china quality and hopefully something a little rustoleum will fix.

The dumbbell rack seems to be pretty nice, it is holding 800lbs well. I told the seller that the weight tree didn't interest me because I think it is partially to blame for the plates being messed up, plus I want rods not the squarish steel.

My only real concern is should I be worried about the actual quality of the dumbbells, mainly because of the gouge and paint coming off?

Does anyone have a recommendation about the gouge or is that something that can only be answered with a picture?

I'm 22 (a rookie in terms of buying/restoring equipment) and trying to build a home gym on a budget. The seller will let it all go for 500 in cash. (I've already negotiated it down), I think it is a pretty good deal. Do you?


Added pic links to post:
www . flickr.com/photos/126328075@N02/14969525916/
www . flickr.com/photos/126328075@N02/14969532366/
www . flickr.com/photos/126328075@N02/14992537275/
www . flickr.com/photos/126328075@N02/14805986997/
www . flickr.com/photos/126328075@N02/14992168752/
www . flickr.com/photos/126328075@N02/14805853289/
www . flickr.com/photos/126328075@N02/14805897900/
www . flickr.com/photos/126328075@N02/14806020267/

[AttyGuy]

If you are under 50 cents a pond for nearly 1100 pounds of weight, it's a good deal. Refurbishing is not difficult, but it is time consuming and messy. A corded drill and wire wheel brushes are your friends. Eye protection and NIOSH masks are mandatory.

[ExJbeck]

If you are under 50 cents a pond for nearly 1100 pounds of weight, it's a good deal. Refurbishing is not difficult, but it is time consuming and messy. A corded drill and wire wheel brushes are your friends. Eye protection and NIOSH masks are mandatory.

Alright, thanks for the advice. This is the second or third time you have helped answer my questions. I appreciate it.

[AttyGuy]

You can use JB Weld to fill in the gash on the DB. I don't know why, but the only time I ever see paint chipping it is from Chinese made hex dumbbells and plates. Scrape and sand as much as you can and then repaint. Re-lettering is easy. Just get a paint pen in white or silver. Use this stuff until a better deal comes along. You can get 60 cents a pound or more for the DBs.

[swimmer32]

If you are under 50 cents a pond for nearly 1100 pounds of weight, it's a good deal. Refurbishing is not difficult, but it is time consuming and messy. A corded drill and wire wheel brushes are your friends. Eye protection and NIOSH masks are mandatory.

This. Cleaning up DB's takes time. It can be a pain, but if the deal is right, it's usually worth it.

[daniel327]

Cleaning up DB's takes time. It can be a pain, but if the deal is right, it's usually worth it.

A wire wheel on a bench grinder makes this job easy.

[CropDusterMan]

Personally, I'm a huge fan of angle grinders and wire wheels...I have a Milwaukee and the RPM is insane...it's very easy to
control pressure too. There are a large variety of wire wheels and stiffnesses available...I've yet to find paint or rust it won't
remove...have to be careful with knurling on bars though.

[relli1130]

no experience here whatsoever, but something to consider might be a pressure washer. Perhaps you might know someone who owns one. Or I suppose you could rent one. Pressure washers approaching and exceeding 3000 psi are not uncommon for residential/home use. At 3000 psi, those machines rip away concrete. It would almost certainly remove any paint remaining on your dumbbells. Plus they would be perfectly clean for a new coat of paint. Just a thought...

[AttyGuy]

Personally, I'm a huge fan of angle grinders and wire wheels...I have a Milwaukee and the RPM is insane...it's very easy to
control pressure too. There are a large variety of wire wheels and stiffnesses available...I've yet to find paint or rust it won't
remove...have to be careful with knurling on bars though.

I picked up a late 50's/early 60's York set a while back. In addition to all the armchair gearflippers telling the guy what they thought the equipment was worth (they were wrong), the guy decided to paint the plates and clean up the bar that had been painted by a previous owner. The bar had started out with really fine knurling. When he was done, all the knurling was gone. Amateurs are dangerous.

[ironwill2008]

My only real concern is should I be worried about the actual quality of the dumbbells, mainly because of the gouge and paint coming off?

Does anyone have a recommendation about the gouge or is that something that can only be answered with a picture?

As long as none of the dumbbell handles are loose inside the ends, it's a good deal.

Chipped paint is usually an indication of poor factory prep; minimal cleaning after casting, and no application of primer before the top coat. But they're Chinese dumbbells, not a new Corvette, IYKWIM.



Not sure how 'fancy' you want your equipment to look, but just remember what it is---previously-used weigh training equipment that's going to continue to get knocked around during regular use. Just removing the loose paint and any rust with a wire brush may be plenty good enough. They'll still weigh the same and work just as well whether they're repainted or not.





As for the gouged dumbbell, it's hard to make any recommendation without seeing the damage. If it's not structural (an actual crack in the cast iron, or, as above, a loose blob on the handle), it's probably nothing to be concerned about.

Post a clear pic here for further advices.

[swimmer32]

A wire wheel on a bench grinder makes this job easy.

I always use a wire wheel on a corded drill - I don't have a bench grinder unfortunately. I've refurbished a complete set of hex DB's, and prostyle DB's. They both turned out nice but it was a pain to do (totally worth it for the end product though).

[ExJbeck]

I want to thank everyone all at one time, plenty of useful information here. I ended up getting 20-70's (no 35's or 55's), the rack, 255lb in plates, a weight tree (i don't like it but it will work) and a tricep extension rope for when I get my lat machine all for 500. I'll be posting pictures when I get a chance to figure out how.

[ironwill2008]

I'll be posting pictures when I get a chance to figure out how.

It's easy; download them to a hosting site such as photobucket, imgur, flickr, etc., and then post the link(s) in a post here.

You have to have 50 posts before you can actually post a working link (and there's a good reason for that), but before you get your 50, you can still just 'break' the link by putting a space in it somewhere, and then post the broken link.

Anyone who then wants to view the pic need only 'fix' the link and put it in their browser. Usually, and especially in this forum, one of the regular forum posters will embed your pic for you, so everyone can see it ITT.

[ichthis]

Let me just mention here that, in my experience, the main (closely related) issues I've had with the lower-quality hex dumbbells has been (1) the accuracy of the marked weight and (2) differences between pairs. I've gotten lucky in that the only time I had a real big discrepancy between a pair I was able to take them back. I recently picked up some heavier hexes (70s 80s and 90s) for .50 a lb on CL. They are all the same weight, so I'm going to keep them. However, each pair is at least a lb off the marked weight. A couple of years ago I picked up some 60 lb york hexes and they are both exactly 60 lbs. Just something to keep in mind.

[ExJbeck]

This is all the stuff other then a Parabody 874 bench that i have picked up so far. I just picked up the weight tree with practically nothing on it, the olympic bar (not the york) and 2x35 and 2x2.5 for $60. No a great deal but it was on my way home and i really wanted a different weight tree. I already don't like the one that has all the weights on it in the picture. York bar and Ivanko spin locks were $30 total. Both bars are straight. I only plan on using the chrome bar for t bar rows. The back of the plate is the back of a 45, most of the plates look like that on the back.

Let me know what you think.

www . flickr.com/photos/126328075@N02/14969525916/

www . flickr.com/photos/126328075@N02/14969532366/

www . flickr.com/photos/126328075@N02/14992537275/

www . flickr.com/photos/126328075@N02/14805986997/

www . flickr.com/photos/126328075@N02/14992168752/

www . flickr.com/photos/126328075@N02/14805853289/

www . flickr.com/photos/126328075@N02/14805897900/

www . flickr.com/photos/126328075@N02/14806020267/

[morebarbell]

This is all the stuff other then a Parabody 874 bench that i have picked up so far. I just picked up the weight tree with practically nothing on it, the olympic bar (not the york) and 2x35 and 2x2.5 for $60. No a great deal but it was on my way home and i really wanted a different weight tree. I already don't like the one that has all the weights on it in the picture. York bar and Ivanko spin locks were $30 total. Both bars are straight. I only plan on using the chrome bar for t bar rows. The back of the plate is the back of a 45, most of the plates look like that on the back.

Let me know what you think.

www . flickr.com/photos/126328075@N02/14969525916/

www . flickr.com/photos/126328075@N02/14969532366/

www . flickr.com/photos/126328075@N02/14992537275/

www . flickr.com/photos/126328075@N02/14805986997/

www . flickr.com/photos/126328075@N02/14992168752/

www . flickr.com/photos/126328075@N02/14805853289/

www . flickr.com/photos/126328075@N02/14805897900/

www . flickr.com/photos/126328075@N02/14806020267/

I wouldn't spend a single second or a single dime cleaning up/restoring those dumbbells or plates. GENTLY clean the York bar. It doesn't need to be shiny. Just get rid of the rust. Keep the York bar and Ivanko collars. Use the dumbbells and plates until you find something better and then unload them on Craigslist.

[Cleveland33]

I wouldn't spend a single second or a single dime cleaning up/restoring those dumbbells or plates. GENTLY clean the York bar. It doesn't need to be shiny. Just get rid of the rust. Keep the York bar and Ivanko collars. Use the dumbbells and plates until you find something better and then unload them on Craigslist.

Seriously that bar looks like it is fine as is

[cavymeister]

Yeah, that stuff is perfectly fine.

This is the kinda stuff that you need to clean up:

[ExJbeck]

I wouldn't spend a single second or a single dime cleaning up/restoring those dumbbells or plates. GENTLY clean the York bar. It doesn't need to be shiny. Just get rid of the rust. Keep the York bar and Ivanko collars. Use the dumbbells and plates until you find something better and then unload them on Craigslist.

Would you recommend me not taking the corded drill and wire brush to the York bar? Should i just buy some sort of pad and use a little elbow grease to clean it up? I really don't want to f it up..I plan on keep that in my home gym for as long as possible.

The little bit of experience I get trying to at least partially restore some of the equipment I have will go along way. It's good stuff to try and learn on.

Do you or anyone know what kind of York bar that is or how I can tell?

[mxxer99]

Try some rust-mort...great stuff


[QUOT=daniel327;1282620651]A wire wheel on a bench grinder makes this job easy.[/QUOTE]

[morebarbell]

Would you recommend me not taking the corded drill and wire brush to the York bar? Should i just buy some sort of pad and use a little elbow grease to clean it up? I really don't want to f it up..I plan on keep that in my home gym for as long as possible.

The little bit of experience I get trying to at least partially restore some of the equipment I have will go along way. It's good stuff to try and learn on...

I would not use a power tool except as a last resort. And I don't think this bar needs it. Learn how to maintain a bar. It's not complicated but I think there's a pretty good video on Rogue's Youtube channel. Buy some 3-in-1 oil, WD-40 and a nylon/brass/steel 3 brush set at Walmart. The brushes are in the paint department and cost around $3 for the set. Follow the instructions on the Rogue video.

If you get ants in your pants and can't help but to mess with the bar, then get a green Scotch brite pad and some CLR and scrub the bar with it. Then clean and oil. Bare steel is going to develop patina. It's ok. Personally, I'd much prefer a bare steel bar with patina over shiny chrome bar. But for some reason, most people like shiny things. Just regularly maintain the bar as shown in the Rogue video. If you want, you can use a paste wax on the sleeves to help reduce oxidation. But it's going to be rubbed off every time plates are loaded.

It's possible to remove the sleeves (search the forum for instructions) if you want to put lithium grease on the shaft. If the sleeves spin well, it's not necessary--just maintain with 3-in-1

Do you or anyone know what kind of York bar that is or how I can tell?

I'm too lazy to go back through the photos to find the one showing the bar. Iirc, it was probably 80s. Post the photo in the York thread.

Try some rust-mort...great stuff

That's basically phosphoric acid. Some other sources of phosphoric acid are Boeshield Rust-Free and Naval Jelly... Navel jelly may also contain navel lint.

Phosphoric acid is really a rust converter not a rust remover. Evaporust works really well to remove rust with little or no scrubbing. The sleeves can be immersed in it for a couple hours. It has the best results and requires the least amount of work. It's relatively expensive compared to other options though. I've heard feed grade molasses works just as well but takes weeks rather than hours. It's cheap though.

[AttyGuy]

That is a beautiful 1980's chrome-vanadium York Oly bar. Don't f--- it up. I would take a green scrub pad and some CLR the remove any rust from the shaft and then rinse with water. If you are too aggressive with the pad or leave the CLR on the shaft too long you will remove the original bluing on the bar. don't do that! The inner collars and sleeves have no protective covering. CLR followed by a wire wheel brush will remove the rust and buff up the steel. Again, don't overdo it. Do not remove the sleeves unless an absolute necessity. Some 3-in-1 oil between the sleeve and inner collar should lubricant and loosen up the sleeves all you need. Don't use WD40 as it will gum up the sleeves.

[morebarbell]

Most importantly...when working with solvents or acids it's important to wear gloves and eye protection. Nitrile gloves (NOT LATEX!) are ok for most stuff. If you work with concentrated acids, wear chemical resistant rubber gloves. I was taught to double glove when working with concentrated acids... wear nitrile gloves and then rubber gloves over them so if there's a tear or a puncture in the outer glove, you can remove/replace the rubber glove without exposure.

[ExJbeck]

That is a beautiful 1980's chrome-vanadium York Oly bar. Don't f--- it up. I would take a green scrub pad and some CLR the remove any rust from the shaft and then rinse with water. If you are too aggressive with the pad or leave the CLR on the shaft too long you will remove the original bluing on the bar. don't do that! The inner collars and sleeves have no protective covering. CLR followed by a wire wheel brush will remove the rust and buff up the steel. Again, don't overdo it. Do not remove the sleeves unless an absolute necessity. Some 3-in-1 oil between the sleeve and inner collar should lubricant and loosen up the sleeves all you need. Don't use WD40 as it will gum up the sleeves.

I literally yelled WHOOOOWHOHWOHWOWH! when I read what you wrote lol. I'm guessing $30 for the bar and the Ivanko spin lock was a steal. Thanks again for the information.

Most importantly...when working with solvents or acids it's important to wear gloves and eye protection. Nitrile gloves (NOT LATEX!) are ok for most stuff. If you work with concentrated acids, wear chemical resistant rubber gloves. I was taught to double glove when working with concentrated acids... wear nitrile gloves and then rubber gloves over them so if there's a tear or a puncture in the outer glove, you can remove/replace the rubber glove without exposure.

Great advice here as well, probably just saved me from only using a single glove on each hand. You've been extremely helpful to me in my time on bb.com. I appreciate it.