generic milled olympic plates?

[Domicron]

i picked up a few small weights that appear to be milled, and sure look old, but i was just curious if anyone knows the manufacture. seems like my local PIAS got a shipment of older weights in, including a couple york 35's that might match my 45's, but i didn't have the cash to cover them. they also had a pair of york 45's roundheads, but i've been spending too much lately...

[morebarbell]

The plates are "machined" or "turned" or "lathed". "Milled" is different. The purpose is the same but it's done differently. There may have been other companies that milled plates but I've only seen milled York plates.

I think the 5 is an older CAP plate. The 2.5s are another "standard" brand.

These older machined plates aren't bad plates. Around 2004 and earlier it was fairly common for inexpensive plates to be machined on the backs and centers. Some were even machined on all surfaces. Unfortunately, the quality has gone down hill. And it will continue to go down hill as long as most folks think "weight is weight". Why spend money making a nicely machined product when your costumers would be perfectly satisfied with a lump of iron with a hole in it?

You need to go back for the Yorks!

[ProtienandIron]

Morebarbell is on the money. My plates are all a old generic shop brand and they are turned on all sides. Such a shame things have gotten so bad these days. I've also seen some old cap plates just like the 2.3 you have there and they were made to a respectable standard with visible turning grooves.

[Domicron]

Thanks for all the info, appreciate it. And ya soon as i have some spare cash im going back.

they sell used dumbbells and oly plates for $.79, not too shabby when they're yorks

[lsu777]

Yea all my plates are like yours. There are lathe marks on the backs and rims, along with the hole.

[Domicron]

picked up a few more cap plates. these are nicer, as the outside rims are machined as well. from the front, they look just plain casted and painted.

i like how nice and uniform these things look. they only have 2x2.5's, 4x5's, 2x10's, 2x 25's and 2x35's. if there were 45's i might have bought the set to have a nice looking set, but alas. i ended up just grabbing a pair each of the 2.5's, 5's and 10's

just some random pictures:



the new buys on the right, the older batch on the left


10's have the logo


inner rims are machined




btw there's a big fat "made in China" sticker on the back of one of the 10's. in case you guys were curious.

[845ToastT]

picked up a few more cap plates. these are nicer, as the outside rims are machined as well. from the front, they look just plain casted and painted.

i like how nice and uniform these things look. they only have 2x2.5's, 4x5's, 2x10's, 2x 25's and 2x35's. if there were 45's i might have bought the set to have a nice looking set, but alas. i ended up just grabbing a pair each of the 2.5's, 5's and 10's

just some random pictures:



the new buys on the right, the older batch on the left


10's have the logo


inner rims are machined




btw there's a big fat "made in China" sticker on the back of one of the 10's. in case you guys were curious.

How do those plates fit on the bar? I have some older CAP 2.5s like those and the hole is drilled like 2mm too wide. They flop around a ton.

[Domicron]

How do those plates fit on the bar? I have some older CAP 2.5s like those and the hole is drilled like 2mm too wide. They flop around a ton.

I just had time to snap those pics and throw them on the tree (standard pegs). Still need to soap and rinse all my iron plates. Anyhow I'm lifting later tonight after work so ill try to remember to snap a few shots of the fit

[rlundregan]

Luckily, those plates aren't too hard to come by. It is pretty easy to acquire a matching set of them, and they are reasonably accurate with machined holes. You should weight them when you get the chance. They will fit loosely on a bar, though. Not the end of the world.

[djslik916]

Yea have similar plates and like the others they fit loosely on the bar.

[CliveWarren]

I'd venture a guess and say the plate on the left isn't a CAP. The script is different, maybe an Ader.

[Ej63090]

I got a full set of those on a bulk CL pickup. My go to plates for now and awhile. Way nicer than the other junk I got, but definitely loose around the collar. Haven't weighed them but I can and will post the results.

[Domicron]

Luckily, those plates aren't too hard to come by. It is pretty easy to acquire a matching set of them, and they are reasonably accurate with machined holes. You should weight them when you get the chance. They will fit loosely on a bar, though. Not the end of the world.

Yea have similar plates and like the others they fit loosely on the bar.

thanks guys. yeah they look pretty on the tree, all uniform and clean around the edges. next time i stop by i might pick up whatever else they have. they're no vintage plates, but they're nice.

[img]http://forum.bodybuilding.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=7713351&stc=1&d=142956 5290[img]

I'd venture a guess and say the plate on the left isn't a CAP. The script is different, maybe an Ader.

thanks, i just thought it was based on earlier replies. you think in the first post that the 5 pounder is the same?

[Hardgains88]

I just looked at some older black standard plates I have in my gym. I have had them since late 90's I believe. The 35's 10's 5's and 2.5's had milling (or turning) marks on edges and back of plates. The 25's didn't appear to and looked so much rougher, actually had pretty poor casting. I will take some pics tomorrow. They may have been different batches I bought several years apart. I don't have any 45's, think i gave them to someone years ago. I usually don't use them because I only have about 200-250 pounds of them compared to about 500-600 pounds of cap standard plates that are grey and newer. Funny to realize now that the older black ones are nicer plates

[Domicron]

Funny to realize now that the older black ones are nicer plates

if you look at this pic, the two on the left are the caps i just bought, the one after that is the unidentified generic that's milled on the back and hole, but not the rim, and the one on the right is the newer one and just looks like it's really low quality.

[Hardgains88]

So my 2.5,5,10, 35 pounders look similar to the generic middle ones. The 25 looks like the end one on right. I never noticed the difference until your post. I think that the friend I gave the 45 pounders to still has them. I loaned them to him when I was not lifting for a few years. I may swap him any of the black ones I gave him for newer caps to have a complete set of these. Ill weigh them to see if they are more accurate then the newer caps (still a decade old at least though)

[845ToastT]

if you look at this pic, the two on the left are the caps i just bought, the one after that is the unidentified generic that's milled on the back and hole, but not the rim, and the one on the right is the newer one and just looks like it's really low quality.

Those look nice. The pair of cap 2.5's I have look pretty bad. The edges are uneven, and they have random grooves on them.

[Domicron]

gap between the hole in the plates and the sleeves.

[rlundregan]

gap between the hole in the plates and the sleeves.

Yep, I'd say that's about average.

I usually use my CAP plates on my trap bar when I do Farm Carries (I'm afraid I might drop the bar with the Ivankos). They make a horrendous noise when I set the bar back down, very different from when I use Ivankos on that bar for deadlifts.

[Hardgains88]

Both my newer grey standard caps and the generic blacks fit pretty damn loose! I really just noticed it when I received my Cap ob86b bar last week. I normally don't pay attention when loading my old smooth sleeve bar, but since the sleeve is "corrugated" on the cap bar I was paying more attention to not destroy the chroming. I was a bit distressed to see how much play there is. I would say my newer caps might have been even worse then yours Domicron, Ill verify this at lunch today.

[Domicron]

also want to add that the weight on the 5's and 10's seemed to be under as much as a pound or more, but it's hard to tell because my scale is super old and kind of sucks. it's a 20 year old bathroom scale...i need to get a better one...

[CliveWarren]

Hey Dom, I suggest you get a luggage scale. I have one that is supposed to weigh up to 110lbs, although I imagine the plastic body of the handle wouldn't care for the abuse. It was $20, and has a resolution of 1/10th of a lb and seems pretty accurate. Also, digital food scales are usually able to weigh up to 5kgs or so, good for smaller plates if you need an even more exacting measurement.

And yeah, that was a CAP 5lb plate in your first picture of your original post.

[Domicron]

Hey Dom, I suggest you get a luggage scale. I have one that is supposed to weigh up to 110lbs, although I imagine the plastic body of the handle wouldn't care for the abuse. It was $20, and has a resolution of 1/10th of a lb and seems pretty accurate. Also, digital food scales are usually able to weigh up to 5kgs or so, good for smaller plates if you need an even more exacting measurement.

And yeah, that was a CAP 5lb plate in your first picture of your original post.

thanks man, luggage scale is on my shopping list, and yeah i'll throw it on my food scale tonight and see what they say.

[Hardgains88]

Heres my milled older black plates. Looks like they were from more then one batch and may be a mix of older and newer. The holes are also pretty sloppy.

[irongrandpa]

I just traded about 1500lbs of these plates for vintage York plates to a guy that feels "weight is weight". The ones I had were pretty accurate in weight and I thought they were nice plates. I'd still be using them if not for the trade I got.

[Hardgains88]

I have not seen york plates less then $1. pound here in CT so far. I am not totally dissatisfied with my standards, but would love to add a bit of weight porn to the gym, always on the lookout for yorks, Ivanko, or even nicer bumpers but never see more then an oddball plate or two. I just started looking the past few months though as I'm in the process of gym makeover. I never really feel the need for more weight impacting my training though, so it is one of those "if I find the right deal" type things

[Domicron]

I alternate between no time to jump on deals, to having time but not seeing any deals. i also rarely have time to travel.

if the right opportunity comes my way, i'll be happy to land a set of vintage weights, but eventually, i'll probably just bite the bullet and upgrade to some new plates. probably nothing too fancy, but maybe the york legacy, or MAYBE Ivanko revolvers if i'm feeling particularly flush.

[Hardgains88]

Domicron, I am in the same boat. I see a few deals for used york stuff for about $1.00 a pound about 2 hours away and consider it, but wind up never having time or decide to put the money elsewhere. Plus I alternate in what I would ideally like for my "good plates" between bumpers, yorks, or something more blingy like Ivanko revolvers. I see a bit of York used, never bumpers or anything Ivanko around here though on CL, so I am leaning to used York from commercial resellers.

[Domicron]

the way i see it, i'm in pretty good shape. i already own more weight than i can lift, so all i have to do is save money, and when i have time: keep an eye out for deals. it means i can be picky, and when i decide the time is right to upgrade and i haven't found the right deal, i can just buy new with no qualms: i work hard for my money, i can do with it what i want (or what my wife wants)

i'm also at the point where i know i'm committed to my home gym and exercise enough to justify buying nicer. i plan to be using this for decades.