Hofmann Industries Barbell

[deyer77]

Hey folks, long time lurker, first time poster and novice lifter here. I'm in the process of building a home gym and, in my search for equipment, I've come a across a vintage 70's York bar (picking this up!) and a Hofmann Industries bar, as well.

I haven't been able to find much on Hofmann, except for some info on here. I know they're separate from York and stopped making gear in the 80's, but did they make quality equipment? Is the barbell worth owning for it's scarcity? I can't find a single one for sale online.

Thanks in advance!

[rlundregan]

Hey folks, long time lurker, first time poster and novice lifter here. I'm in the process of building a home gym and, in my search for equipment, I've come a across a vintage 70's York bar (picking this up!) and a Hofmann Industries bar, as well.

I haven't been able to find much on Hofmann, except for some info on here. I know they're separate from York and stopped making gear in the 80's, but did they make quality equipment? Is the barbell worth owning for it's scarcity? I can't find a single one for sale online.

Thanks in advance!

I think it probably comes down to the price of the Hofmann bar. If I recall correctly, its tensile strength is listed right next to the logo on the sleeve, and I'm wanting to say it is something like 185,000 psi. THat means that the steel is pretty strong. THe sleeves are held on by a hex nut in the end, which is a cheaper way to make the bar.

There are a couple of guys around here who have Hofmann bars--Bloodtype3R and Irongrandpa. THey both seem to like them well enough.

Hofmann made nice equipment, but I don't believe it compared to York quality-wise. I don't know that you will get a lot of money for that bar if you would decide to sell it.

[deyer77]

I think it probably comes down to the price of the Hofmann bar. If I recall correctly, its tensile strength is listed right next to the logo on the sleeve, and I'm wanting to say it is something like 185,000 psi. THat means that the steel is pretty strong. THe sleeves are held on by a hex nut in the end, which is a cheaper way to make the bar.

There are a couple of guys around here who have Hofmann bars--Bloodtype3R and Irongrandpa. THey both seem to like them well enough.

Hofmann made nice equipment, but I don't believe it compared to York quality-wise. I don't know that you will get a lot of money for that bar if you would decide to sell it.

I'm yet to see the bar, but I'm told it's a little rusty - still spins. The seller is asking $50 for it, so I'm assuming that's a decent price based on what I've seen other bars go for. And hey - worst case scenario is that I have an extra bar and get to try restoring one. Thanks!

[irongrandpa]

I would buy it for $50. As mentioned above, I have a Hofman bar, the steel is 160,000psi , which is a higher rating than several of Rogues bars, but the overall construction of the bar is a cheaper made bar. I also have an older York bar and it's a higher quality bar.

[Cleveland33]

I'm yet to see the bar, but I'm told it's a little rusty - still spins. The seller is asking $50 for it, so I'm assuming that's a decent price based on what I've seen other bars go for. And hey - worst case scenario is that I have an extra bar and get to try restoring one. Thanks!

yea for $50, assuming it straight, it would be a good buy and serve you well.

[rlundregan]

I would buy it for $50. As mentioned above, I have a Hofman bar, the steel is 160,000psi , which is a higher rating than several of Rogues bars, but the overall construction of the bar is a cheaper made bar. I also have an older York bar and it's a higher quality bar.

I was slightly off on the tensile strength, but 160,000 psi is still pretty decent!

Does that bar have a bushing?

$50 sounds like a decent deal to me. I like the Hofmann products I have seen--several plates and a preacher bench (under the name Hy-Pro), but they don't seem especially spectacular to me.

I will say that I had a very easy time wire-wheeling rust off of some HI plates a while back. That property seems to be unique to US-made plates of a certain era where there is not a lot of gunk thrown into the iron.

[deyer77]

I should be picking up the bars tomorrow - I haven't seen them yet, but will post back with pictures of both! Thanks a million for the help, so far. With the exception of this forum, I'm surprised by the lack of info on Hofmann equipment online.

[rlundregan]

I should be picking up the bars tomorrow - I haven't seen them yet, but will post back with pictures of both! Thanks a million for the help, so far. With the exception of this forum, I'm surprised by the lack of info on Hofmann equipment online.

There isn't much information about them. I live in the Reading, PA area, and pass by the Hofmann factory frequently. Hofmann plates are fairly common around here, but no one knows anything about them, and I have never seen a bar that is marked HI on CL around here.

[BloodType3R]

Here mine is, at the top.


Having a pretty good barbell selection, I've found that I don't use this bar at all. It actually remains in the same unrestored state, as I haven't decided on a suitable method for stripping the rust, without taking all of the black oxide coating with it.

I'm not sure that there is much of a niche for these bars. They are what I would consider a very good economy bar, but not quite a high quality bar. Older and having character is probably its strongest suit, but its still not quite what most would consider collectable. It kind of just hangs in the balance of "neat".

As mentioned, I agree that it would make a pretty good bar for a gym with few barbells, at that price. I wouldn't go seeking one out to bring home to a well equipped gym, but for someone looking for a beater bar with more character than most, that might be money well spent.

[deyer77]

Here mine is, at the top.

Having a pretty good barbell selection, I've found that I don't use this bar at all. It actually remains in the same unrestored state, as I haven't decided on a suitable method for stripping the rust, without taking all of the black oxide coating with it.

I'm not sure that there is much of a niche for these bars. They are what I would consider a very good economy bar, but not quite a high quality bar. Older and having character is probably its strongest suit, but its still not quite what most would consider collectable. It kind of just hangs in the balance of "neat".

As mentioned, I agree that it would make a pretty good bar for a gym with few barbells, at that price. I wouldn't go seeking one out to bring home to a well equipped gym, but for someone looking for a beater bar with more character than most, that might be money well spent.

First, thanks to you and IronGrandpa for sharing. As soon as I figure out how to give reps (props?), I'll do so.

Second, how did you know it had black oxide on it? It looks rusted over pretty well.

I suspect that if I wait for the York bar to break and keep this as a backup, I'll be waiting a long time. For the price, though, it'll be a great chance to restore one for the first time and I might gift it to a buddy in the future.

More to come, tomorrow...

[rlundregan]

Having a pretty good barbell selection, I've found that I don't use this bar at all. It actually remains in the same unrestored state, as I haven't decided on a suitable method for stripping the rust, without taking all of the black oxide coating with it.

I'm not sure that there is much of a niche for these bars. They are what I would consider a very good economy bar, but not quite a high quality bar. Older and having character is probably its strongest suit, but its still not quite what most would consider collectable. It kind of just hangs in the balance of "neat".

As mentioned, I agree that it would make a pretty good bar for a gym with few barbells, at that price. I wouldn't go seeking one out to bring home to a well equipped gym, but for someone looking for a beater bar with more character than most, that might be money well spent.

I think this assessment is spot-on. It probably also explains to some degree why there isn't much information available about Hofmann Industries equipment.

[BloodType3R]

First, thanks to you and IronGrandpa for sharing. As soon as I figure out how to give reps (props?), I'll do so.

Second, how did you know it had black oxide on it? It looks rusted over pretty well.

I suspect that if I wait for the York bar to break and keep this as a backup, I'll be waiting a long time. For the price, though, it'll be a great chance to restore one for the first time and I might gift it to a buddy in the future.

More to come, tomorrow...

I definitely wasn't able to identify it through photos. I had actually thought it was a York power bar that I was going to check out. The black oxide is just one of those things that you know when you see it in person.

[Northernmoris]

Sounds like a sweet deal. $50 for that is a great price, I sell chinese crap bars all day @ $40.

[rlundregan]

I would be interested to know if the HI bar has a bushing, if anyone knows the answer to this.

[irongrandpa]

A bushing can't be seen from the outside of the sleeve( I've never had it apart) and it doesn't have as nice of a feel when you spin the sleeve as my York bar or an older camber bar I have. I intend to get a hex wrench big enough to take the sleeve off but haven't because of the other bars I have , I haven't used this one for a long time.

[rlundregan]

A bushing can't be seen from the outside of the sleeve( I've never had it apart) and it doesn't have as nice of a feel when you spin the sleeve as my York bar or an older camber bar I have. I intend to get a hex wrench big enough to take the sleeve off but haven't because of the other bars I have , I haven't used this one for a long time.

I assumed that it probably does not have a bushing, and that there is probably a fair amount of play in the sleeves, similar to Chinese bars. I just wanted to ask to be sure.

[deyer77]

I assumed that it probably does not have a bushing, and that there is probably a fair amount of play in the sleeves, similar to Chinese bars. I just wanted to ask to be sure.

More pics to come, but here's a shot of the Hofmann power bar, up close... I'm new enough that I can't post links, so put HTTP in front of below...

flic.kr/p/nXEEgF

[deyer77]

Am I correct in assuming that's a bushing?

[aclockworkoi]

More pics to come, but here's a shot of the Hofmann power bar, up close... I'm new enough that I can't post links, so put HTTP in front of below...

embed

EDIT: you can look at a bigger copy at the actual link: http://flic.kr/p/nXEEgF

sharing is restricted so I couldn't get a direct link to a good copy.

[morebarbell]

Am I correct in assuming that's a bushing?

The photo is tiny and it's best not to assume anything but it does look like it probably has a bronze bushing. The bar looks heavily rusted.

[AttyGuy]

Surface rust.

[deyer77]

I've uploaded some more photos and am about to get to work shortly on the Hofmann. If you click on the link above to look at the photo, you'll see the other photos I uploaded. I can't post links in here until I get to 50 posts, so I might just go on a comment spree for a while.

One thing I'll add is that, so far, I can't find any clear marks on it that distinguish it as a Hofmann bar. The seller, who flips a lot of equipment he gets off CL, said he recognized it as a Hofmann from the bushings, the thick inner collar and the general look. It feels solid enough and has enough rust on it that it might have been around a while. Can anyone compare the photos to their own Hofmann or their knowledge of Hofmann bars?

EDIT: It looks like the knurling is identical to another Hofmann I've seen on here. But not sure that there's any engraving.

[Northernmoris]

I would take the sellers word for it. He's a straight up guy.

[deyer77]

I would take the sellers word for it. He's a straight up guy.

He seemed legit and a big iron fan. We jawed for a while about York (living in VA, he'd been up there a few times) and the history of the company and what they did for lifting in America. He schooled me up on the York bar I'd bought and some tips for restoring the Hofmann and some plates I just picked up. I'll definitely be keeping in touch with him!

[deyer77]

Testing to see if I can attach photos of the bar here...

[aclockworkoi]

Testing to see if I can attach photos of the bar here...

best way to do it

[BloodType3R]

Testing to see if I can attach photos of the bar here...

This bar looks a bit different than the two that I've seen. There are certainly some similarities, though I'd say that the construction methods of the pictured bar look like an improvement over the one I own.

[deyer77]

Thanks! How do I get them to show up like that without providing a link or [img] tag?

[deyer77]

This bar looks a bit different than the two that I've seen. There are certainly some similarities, though I'd say that the construction methods of the pictured bar look like an improvement over the one I own.

I'll show my ignorance here and ask... how do I remove the sleeves? I've got the pin punched out, but that cap feels like it's part of the barbell itself.

[BloodType3R]

Thanks! How do I get them to show up like that without providing a link or [img] tag?

That's how you'll have to do it until you have 50 posts.

I'll show my ignorance here and ask... how do I remove the sleeves? I've got the pin punched out, but that cap feels like it's part of the barbell itself.

Is it threaded on? Try spinning it???