Prototype Iron Plate

[dukenukem7777]

Based on the feedback here: http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showth...hp?t=171362331
My photoshopped initial design/idea:

Final product:

I'm really happy with how this turned out. Thanks again for all who contributed on the previous thread, even those who wanted a deep dish

[Domicron]

look pretty good, actually.

when are you going to send me my free set of 495# so i can test it out for you?

but srs all ready to be sold? would love a shot of the full set. and know the details: accuracy, how much machining, cost...

[dukenukem7777]

look pretty good, actually.

when are you going to send me my free set of 495# so i can test it out for you?

but srs all ready to be sold? would love a shot of the full set.

I'll definitely give some out here as a thank you. You've been here a while, surely you need at least 600#?

Still 3 months out. I'm at our factories now looking at a few other prototypes, some that will be of great interest here, but a bit too early to show anything since we're ironing out a few final details. Hopefully in a couple of weeks.

The plates are green lit though and under production. I think they'll be the best value for the highest quality. You can see every surface is machined smooth/round, center hole is drilled out to within .5mm, 1% accuracy target (might not be advertised, we'll see after mass production), baked on finish, etc... Approx $1.40/lb.

[Domicron]

will you be taking home the prototype? i would love to see a side by side comparison of what it looks like next to the mass produced pieces.

thanks for the update.

[jormone]

Looks odd. Maybe because the lines/rays coming out of the hub aren't centered between the holes. My brain needs radial symmetry.

[cmarti063]

Those look pretty dang sweet! Looks like some really good specs/$, too.

[cwcmac]

Based on the feedback here: http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showth...hp?t=171362331
My photoshopped initial design/idea:

Final product:

I'm really happy with how this turned out. Thanks again for all who contributed on the previous thread, even those who wanted a deep dish

How is the feel of the grips? They look like they may be uncomfortable due to the number of angles and size.
Also, what is the diameter and thickness of the 45s?

[dukenukem7777]

How is the feel of the grips? They look like they may be uncomfortable due to the number of angles and size.
Also, what is the diameter and thickness of the 45s?

45 lb will be 450mm diamter, which is about 17.7". Not sure on thickness yet, waiting on the drawings. The 25 lb plate is of course the smallest hole size, but when I pick them up they are comfortable/easy. A thumb through one hole and rest of hand through another seems to feel best. For the 25's, the weight feels almost all in my 2 middle fingers and thumb, with the others wrapped around the edges. Since it's all rounded holes, there are no pressure points or anything like that. 45's will have larger holes.

[jdforsy]

Looks pretty good! I can pick up a test set for a full review! Save a little shipping! 😝 I love seeing a CO company making it

[Northernmoris]

Duke, plates Lokal pretty good. I have 2000lbs of revolvers and I love this style. Whether on the bar or using for shoulder raises, farmer walks, etc. I'd be interested in feeling how they are in the hand.

[Stasher1]

Congrats on seeing your idea become a [nearly] completed product. They're absolutely beautiful.

[Bench905]

Nice plates

[PtReyesGreg]

Those are very nice looking plates. Great job making that happen.

[Domicron]

45 lb will be 450mm diamter, which is about 17.7". Not sure on thickness yet, waiting on the drawings. The 25 lb plate is of course the smallest hole size, but when I pick them up they are comfortable/easy. A thumb through one hole and rest of hand through another seems to feel best. For the 25's, the weight feels almost all in my 2 middle fingers and thumb, with the others wrapped around the edges. Since it's all rounded holes, there are no pressure points or anything like that. 45's will have larger holes.

i think this is the perfect situation for my small, girly hands; they should work perfectly for me.

[g8rlaw]

Looks pretty good. Congrats on going from a mock up to a completed prototype.

[MGM711]

Very cool...really like the finished product!

[CanadaBuilder2]

Where do I sign up for "review" plates?

[rlundregan]

They look great! I'm curious as to how they hold up when dropped--do they crack easily? I'm not trying to nitpick, it just appears like there isn't much metal between the cutouts and the edge of the plate.

[dieselmike]

Duke - Looks great - Nice work. I think guys will like the 6 hole pattern as opposed to the 7 hole of Ivanko. This way when you grab a plate you can hold it at 9 and 3 o'clock, unlike a revolver where your hands aren't on opposing sides.

That also works well for people who like to do "weighted" sit ups with a plate held against their chest or shoulder rotations holding a plate. By placing your hands at 9 & 3, I can see that being more comfortable.

Will the matching 10's and lower have holes too?

[weisgarb]

They look great! I'm curious as to how they hold up when dropped--do they crack easily? I'm not trying to nitpick, it just appears like there isn't much metal between the cutouts and the edge of the plate.

I wondered about that as well, but if you look at Revolvers, the 45's don't have much iron around the edges either.



Of course, the arched design of the revolvers should make the edges a little stronger than the straight edges on the Rep Fitness plate. If you drop a revolver right on the edge where the least amount of metal is, the force will radiate up and outwards around the arch, whereas with the RF plate it'll all be straight up into the thin edge because it's flat. I looked at a couple of other grip plates, and the RF plate doesn't appear any worse than some of the competition, so maybe it's not an issue. The IGX and Cap plates ones look worse.




I agree with Jormone that the appearance might be improved if the spokes are shifted so they are more centered between the holes.

It's a good looking plate, though. It's certainly nicer than the shallow-dish Cap plates I started out with.

[swimmer32]

Turned out great! I really appreciate how you receive feedback from this forum and make adjustments based on it. It will be interesting to see the accuracy of these plates.

And, even more important, how will they fit on my Excalibur Bar?


EDIT: Also, toss my name in the pot for testing out the plates when they are ready!

[dukenukem7777]

will you be taking home the prototype? i would love to see a side by side comparison of what it looks like next to the mass produced pieces.

thanks for the update.

It's currently in my checked luggage

Looks odd. Maybe because the lines/rays coming out of the hub aren't centered between the holes. My brain needs radial symmetry.

Sigh, now I can't unsee that. Seriously though, thanks for the perspective and I'm actually agreeing with you. I'll ask the designer to modify the drawing and see how it looks with that line centered.

Those look pretty dang sweet! Looks like some really good specs/$, too.

Thanks!

Looks pretty good! I can pick up a test set for a full review! Save a little shipping! �� I love seeing a CO company making it

Thanks!

Duke, plates Lokal pretty good. I have 2000lbs of revolvers and I love this style. Whether on the bar or using for shoulder raises, farmer walks, etc. I'd be interested in feeling how they are in the hand.

2,000 lbs? Doing some leg presses with Ronnie Coleman weight, or just a few plate-loaded pieces you don't feel like unloading/reloading?

Congrats on seeing your idea become a [nearly] completed product. They're absolutely beautiful.

Thanks!

Nice plates

Thanks!

Those are very nice looking plates. Great job making that happen.

Thanks!

Looks pretty good. Congrats on going from a mock up to a completed prototype.

Thanks!

Very cool...really like the finished product!

Thanks!

Where do I sign up for "review" plates?

Not sure yet if we'll do something random, or biased.

They look great! I'm curious as to how they hold up when dropped--do they crack easily? I'm not trying to nitpick, it just appears like there isn't much metal between the cutouts and the edge of the plate.

That's a good point and something I won't know until they're out in the wild and people have experience with them. Have you come across many cast-iron plates that crack easily?

Duke - Looks great - Nice work. I think guys will like the 6 hole pattern as opposed to the 7 hole of Ivanko. This way when you grab a plate you can hold it at 9 and 3 o'clock, unlike a revolver where your hands aren't on opposing sides.

That also works well for people who like to do "weighted" sit ups with a plate held against their chest or shoulder rotations holding a plate. By placing your hands at 9 & 3, I can see that being more comfortable.

Will the matching 10's and lower have holes too?

Good points and I agree. 10's and lower will be unbranded and no holes. Same tolerances/machining though since these are all new molds.

I wondered about that as well, but if you look at Revolvers, the 45's don't have much iron around the edges either.

Of course, the arched design of the revolvers should make the edges a little stronger than the straight edges on the Rep Fitness plate. If you drop a revolver right on the edge where the least amount of metal is, the force will radiate up and outwards around the arch, whereas with the RF plate it'll all be straight up into the thin edge because it's flat. I looked at a couple of other grip plates, and the RF plate doesn't appear any worse than some of the competition, so maybe it's not an issue. The IGX and Cap plates ones look worse.

I agree with Jormone that the appearance might be improved if the spokes are shifted so they are more centered between the holes.

It's a good looking plate, though. It's certainly nicer than the shallow-dish Cap plates I started out with.

Yes, thanks for the opinion and consideration on the amount of material on the edges. Once I get back to the states I'll unpack and see what it looks like, and whether it might make sense to move the grips inward a bit. Have you had much experience with plates cracking? What kind of conditions cause that (ie where are you dropping it from to break it)?

Turned out great! I really appreciate how you receive feedback from this forum and make adjustments based on it. It will be interesting to see the accuracy of these plates.

And, even more important, how will they fit on my Excalibur Bar?


EDIT: Also, toss my name in the pot for testing out the plates when they are ready!

These will only fit on good bars, so you might be out of lu....kidding! Honestly this forum is invaluable for the amount of collective knowledge here, I'm surprised more manufacturers don't ask for feedback here beyond a giveaway here and there to spike sales around the holidays.

[thejosef]

NICE! It's pretty cool that the forum was at least a small part of the design of the plate. Great job.. can't wait to see the full set.

[rpark]

Very nice work, but it might take time for me to warm up to them. I dunno something about circles, hexagons and lines is visually proving difficult for me to love. Valiant effort though.

[dieselmike]

Looks odd. Maybe because the lines/rays coming out of the hub aren't centered between the holes. My brain needs radial symmetry.

Sigh, now I can't unsee that. Seriously though, thanks for the perspective and I'm actually agreeing with you. I'll ask the designer to modify the drawing and see how it looks with that line centered.

Personally the asymmetry doesn't bother me. It's geometrically impossible to have 6 holes evenly spaced and 90 degree spokes on the same plate. Sure you can close the spoke angle even a touch more so the spokes hit dead center of accompanying holes. Or you can do away with spokes altogether. Either would look great or leave as is.

This spoke discussion got me thinking. Does the back of the plate look exactly the same? Is it a 2 sided plate? I can't think of a spoke design off the top of my head that is 2 sided. I'm sure they exist, just can't think of a specific one right now.

Most Grip Plates are 2 sided and most spoke plates are one sided. But yours is a hybrid - Spoke/Easy grip design.

[dukenukem7777]

Personally the asymmetry doesn't bother me. It's geometrically impossible to have 6 holes evenly spaced and 90 degree spokes on the same plate. Sure you can close the spoke angle even a touch more so the spokes hit dead center of accompanying holes. Or you can do away with spokes altogether. Either would look great or leave as is.

This spoke discussion got me thinking. Does the back of the plate look exactly the same? Is it a 2 sided plate? I can't think of a spoke design off the top of my head that is 2 sided. I'm sure they exist, just can't think of a specific one right now.

Most Grip Plates are 2 sided and most spoke plates are one sided. But yours is a hybrid - Spoke/Easy grip design.

Yes it's 2 sided. I'll take a look at the modified drawing and post it up here when it's done for feedback. Should only take a day.

[Hardgains88]

They look nice! I'm no huge fan of grip plates since my most used set is deep dish, but these are very nice looking ones. They are a close second to revolvers (wich are in a whole different price point) and smash the other lower cost grip plates. I know you will have to leave many of us who want to test and review them disappointed, how about also coming up with a really killer close to cost buy in for everyone else. If you made them really cheap I would probably buy in, they would be close to used plate price for big brand stuff and I wouldn't mind having a dedicated set of accurate plates plus my girl likes grips.
I'm sure you wouldn't mind moving some extra plates from the initial load in. Plus it would be good to have your plates pop up in google images and pics from this forum dominate organic image search results so for not costing you anything it would benifit.

[cwcmac]

Personally the asymmetry doesn't bother me. It's geometrically impossible to have 6 holes evenly spaced and 90 degree spokes on the same plate. Sure you can close the spoke angle even a touch more so the spokes hit dead center of accompanying holes. Or you can do away with spokes altogether. Either would look great or leave as is.

Could also just go with a three spoke design. 6 divides by three much easier than 4.

[cwcmac]

They look nice! I'm no huge fan of grip plates since my most used set is deep dish, but these are very nice looking ones. They are a close second to revolvers (wich are in a whole different price point) and smash the other lower cost grip plates. I know you will have to leave many of us who want to test and review them disappointed, how about also coming up with a really killer close to cost buy in for everyone else. If you made them really cheap I would probably buy in, they would be close to used plate price for big brand stuff and I wouldn't mind having a dedicated set of accurate plates plus my girl likes grips.
I'm sure you wouldn't mind moving some extra plates from the initial load in. Plus it would be good to have your plates pop up in google images and pics from this forum dominate organic image search results so for not costing you anything it would benifit.

It would also be a good way to get some first tun plates out and get feedback after hard use. Reduced price with the understanding that there may be some imperfections and those could be reported back to Duke. We could be the larger QA audience. I'd consider that a decent option

[jormone]

Very nice work, but it might take time for me to warm up to them. I dunno something about circles, hexagons and lines is visually proving difficult for me to love. Valiant effort though.

I agree with this. I'm not really sure what the lines are for -- I assume they add strength. The Ivanko revolvers don't appear to need them & they are radially symmetric (but with 7 holes, Cemcos have 6).

If you are making your own plates and their advantage is accuracy, consistency and quality in fit & finish I'm unclear on the advantages of hexagons -- are you just trying to look different in the market? Do you just like the revolvers and think hexagons will also have that cool factor (I don't know of any hex shaped bullets)? Have you been swept up in the revolver love from this forum (I'm not a fan - They sort of have grips, but they aren't really grip plates.) Are the equipment snobs on this forum really representative of the marketplace?

I would think of function first and appealing to the mass market. Having handles on either side of the plate (ie: for shoulder plate twist-twist exercise) is why I'd go with something like the body solid contoured edge that fits the whole hand comfortably, man or woman.

But I guess the market will ultimately decide. if people are willing to put their money down that is the only thing that matters.

(I'm eagerly awaiting your gap-less bench prototype...)