Scratched Sleeves

[oldred]

Originally Posted by Gamecockbell on the barbell sticky: "Ive been disappointed in the durability of the sleeves. // The AB was scratched after a few sessions."

I have been thinking about buying the AB Stainless Training Bar which I believe has the same hard chrome sleeves as the Elite. These bars have a smooth sleeve? The few bars of owned have been ringed, if that's the word for the fine grooves turned into the sleeve. Do you think the scratching is because of the smooth sleeves? I really wouldn't have expected that to happen with a hard chrome surface unless there was a really nasty burr on the plate slid on it.

Anyone else had issues?

[Spoken36]

Smooth plates won't unduly scratch sleeves. Careful use of a half round, fine file makes them nice and you can smooth out a nice chamfer to the hole as well. The turned ribs of sleeves will mar as easily as any smooth surface will. I've seen spring collars make marks when plates didn't, also.

[urbanlifter]

Too many variables at play to know what was going on with OP's barbell, we would need more backstory and some pictures to see if the wear was abnormal. Also, some people are more OCD than others and have unrealistic expectations. We are talking about constant metal-to-metal contact, faint lines are going to develop over time no matter what you do and cheap plates will only compound the issue. But for what it's worth the sleeves on both of my AB barbells appeared to have an extremely durable finish, I have had my Mammoth a couple months and you would be hard pressed to find anything on the sleeves at this point.

[chadsalt]

Not rocket science, the shinier the sleeve the easier to scratch. I've had all kinds, smooth chrome is the easiest to scratch obviously.

Smooth bare steel, polished with use. FTW

[Spoken36]

It would be easy to be pedantic here, and I may be, but with typically OCD issues the pedantic may be what we really need to be concerned with.

With that, scratching is a funcion of relative hardness and psi forces, not smoothness. Smoothness actually spreads out the forces. Smoothness is indeed relevant possibly with the offensiveness of scratches due to the relative background. So there is a whole lot of judgment call on what is offensive scratching, as Urban pointed to.

Hard chrome is very, very hard. If hard chrome is present, it is likely that iron from plates will rub and adhere to it. The solution to that is oil and steel wool and elbow grease. However, a perfect surface is just about impossible to keep perfect if you are rubbing on it, hence the popularity of surfaces that actually have a texture so as to hide the imperfections that will definitely develop.

Guys that have fancy Japanese kitchen knives often refinish their blades after using and sharpening them. It is usually done with automotive bodywork type wet sandpaper. Steel is maintainable with a lilttle know how, but coatings not so much.

The only way I can see to do as little harm to the finish as possible is to make darn sure you have addressed the condition of mating surfaces like plates and collars. And then for the truly OCD, don't ever use your priceless jewels, or quickly take pictures and don't let anyone in your gym to see the unsightliness.

[bobcat255]

Which plates do you use?

I also don't agree with people that smooth sleeves are easier to scratch. I've seen sleeves decades old covered with hard chrome without scratches (sure they have micro-scratches, but nothing which requires any maintenance or makes it look bad/worn). On my new REP Powerspeed Bar, the sleeves show no sign of wear. As long as there's no grit on the bar and you aren't using cheap plates they should be fine.

May also help to see pics of the damage... maybe we're thinking/talking about different degrees of damage?

[Gamecockbell]

Just to clarify- I do have cap grip plates which is to say they are cheap plates. I was just stating that I have had 3 new olympic bars and 2 curl bars at this point and the sleeves on the AB are the only sleeves that have shown noticeable wear. I wouldn't consider myself OCD and I'm not trying bash AB. I think they make beautiful bars. I said I wish I had purchased a Rogue OPB because of knurling not bc of sleeve durability. When I bought the AB a few years ago I was building my gym from scratch and I wanted a pretty bar that wasnt going to shred my hand. Now a few years have passed and I think I would remove pretty as one of my criteria and focus on things like knurling, price, warranty, etc. Because as I said, the prettiness is going to wear off if you use it.

[BenMcLeodNZ]

A light coating of 3 in one oil every month or so reduces scratching a lot and makes the scratches less visible too. You probably need to use collars though if the sleeves are oiled.

[Murser]

As pointed out some plates are much easier than others on bar sleeves. My old Troy rubber covered plates are chamfered and don’t catch on sleeve grooves. The CAP rubber covered catch a little bit. The biggest offenders are my microplates that I have to “walk” on/off the bar; d/t being thin and simply cut out of plate steel.