Zinc Coating on Rogue Bar

[William Henniger]

Cooper - Thanks!

Steven - Good to hear the feedback.

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Will

Here are the options that we have found:

1) Black Oxide - This is more of a steel treatment than a plating. This is the best feel on a bar outside of bare steel as it doesn't add anything to the profile/diameter.

2) Zinc - This is the most economical way to plate a bar and has very little effect on the steel integrity. Can get silver, black, yellow or olive drab - not too many other colors. I think you may be able to develop another color, will look into it.

This is the most common form of bar plating in the market

3) Hard Chrome - This has the best look generally, like a set of Harley exhaust pipes. I have seen all bars that use chrome still get oxidization if not taken care of. In general they stay silver and look good over time. Chrome has a bigger effect on steel integrity than zinc.

4) Decorative Coating - You have probably seen guns with camo print, we have found ways to do that but they generally mess up the knurl points.

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All of these finishes will wear and can oxidize once the plating surface is worn to the steel. That generally happens on the knurl points first from racking the bar, main hand placement etc.

We have been doing a ton of engineering tests to make sure that how we build and finish bars sets the standard.

Anodizing works with aluminum so we can turn the training bar all kinds of colors but cannot with steel. They may have stained the steel somehow, I think Schnell barbell did that at one point.

Barbells are meant to wear in and be yours. Leaving chalk and grime in the knurl is like leaving leaves in your gutter, it will cause problems.

If you are willing to take care of your bar and put some maintenance in then a bare steel bar is a work of art.

Let me know if you guys have any other questions, happy to answer.

Thanks

Bill

[Miles Roberts]

Originally Posted by William Henniger

Let me know if you guys have any other questions, happy to answer.

Thanks

Bill

Might be a dumb question, but what's needed for bar maintenance? As far as maintaining the finish as well as maybe a schedule for disassembly/cleaning/lube (what is recommended lube for the bushings?)? I looked for this when I got my bar from you, but nothing came with it, and I don't see anything on your website. This is for a bushing bar with zinc coating, for what its worth.

Thanks, Bill.

[Keith Miller]

Originally Posted by Miles Roberts

Might be a dumb question, but what's needed for bar maintenance? As far as maintaining the finish as well as maybe a schedule for disassembly/cleaning/lube (what is recommended lube for the bushings?)? I looked for this when I got my bar from you, but nothing came with it, and I don't see anything on your website. This is for a bushing bar with zinc coating, for what its worth.

Thanks, Bill.

Only thing you really should have to do with maintenance is brushing the chalk off the bar. With deeper knurling you should probably do it at least monthly, but preferably weekly or after every training session. You should not have to lubricate the sleeves, but you can using 3-in-1 oil by standing it up and putting a drop or two into the sleeve, letting it sit for a day, then repeating with the other sleeve. I would only do this if you can't get the sleeve to spin any other way!!

As for disassembly, you should never have to do this if the bar is made properly!! Most companies have clauses in their warranty that if you disassemble the bar, the warranty is null and void.

[Miles Roberts]

Thanks, Keith.

[Will Hurst]

Originally Posted by William Henniger

Cooper - Thanks!

Steven - Good to hear the feedback.

------------------


Will

Here are the options that we have found:

1) Black Oxide - This is more of a steel treatment than a plating. This is the best feel on a bar outside of bare steel as it doesn't add anything to the profile/diameter.

2) Zinc - This is the most economical way to plate a bar and has very little effect on the steel integrity. Can get silver, black, yellow or olive drab - not too many other colors. I think you may be able to develop another color, will look into it.

This is the most common form of bar plating in the market

3) Hard Chrome - This has the best look generally, like a set of Harley exhaust pipes. I have seen all bars that use chrome still get oxidization if not taken care of. In general they stay silver and look good over time. Chrome has a bigger effect on steel integrity than zinc.

4) Decorative Coating - You have probably seen guns with camo print, we have found ways to do that but they generally mess up the knurl points.

---------

All of these finishes will wear and can oxidize once the plating surface is worn to the steel. That generally happens on the knurl points first from racking the bar, main hand placement etc.

We have been doing a ton of engineering tests to make sure that how we build and finish bars sets the standard.

Anodizing works with aluminum so we can turn the training bar all kinds of colors but cannot with steel. They may have stained the steel somehow, I think Schnell barbell did that at one point.

Barbells are meant to wear in and be yours. Leaving chalk and grime in the knurl is like leaving leaves in your gutter, it will cause problems.

If you are willing to take care of your bar and put some maintenance in then a bare steel bar is a work of art.

Let me know if you guys have any other questions, happy to answer.

Thanks

Bill

Thanks Bill, appreciate the time taken to answer these questions and explain the differences. We actually take great care of the equipment here, I'll just chalk to fading Black Zinc coating up to added character. There is still the issue of the oldest bars coating have the held up the better to date than the newest bars but whatever, it's just cosmetic.

[Matt Bell]

Originally Posted by William Henniger

Cooper - Thanks!

Steven - Good to hear the feedback.

------------------


Will

Here are the options that we have found:

1) Black Oxide - This is more of a steel treatment than a plating. This is the best feel on a bar outside of bare steel as it doesn't add anything to the profile/diameter.

2) Zinc - This is the most economical way to plate a bar and has very little effect on the steel integrity. Can get silver, black, yellow or olive drab - not too many other colors. I think you may be able to develop another color, will look into it.

This is the most common form of bar plating in the market

3) Hard Chrome - This has the best look generally, like a set of Harley exhaust pipes. I have seen all bars that use chrome still get oxidization if not taken care of. In general they stay silver and look good over time. Chrome has a bigger effect on steel integrity than zinc.

4) Decorative Coating - You have probably seen guns with camo print, we have found ways to do that but they generally mess up the knurl points.

---------

All of these finishes will wear and can oxidize once the plating surface is worn to the steel. That generally happens on the knurl points first from racking the bar, main hand placement etc.

We have been doing a ton of engineering tests to make sure that how we build and finish bars sets the standard.

Anodizing works with aluminum so we can turn the training bar all kinds of colors but cannot with steel. They may have stained the steel somehow, I think Schnell barbell did that at one point.

Barbells are meant to wear in and be yours. Leaving chalk and grime in the knurl is like leaving leaves in your gutter, it will cause problems.

If you are willing to take care of your bar and put some maintenance in then a bare steel bar is a work of art.

Let me know if you guys have any other questions, happy to answer.

Thanks

Bill

Bill, will a black oxide bar wear through to steel, and look silver in the process? That seems to be what's barely started happening to my Ohio bar 2.0 in the spots where it contacts the shoulder in a low-bar squat. My version 1.0 bar doesn't seem to be doing this, but that one gets less use at heavier weight, so it might not be getting as much friction in that spot.

On the other hand, the second bar (2.0) has always had a very dark shaft compared to the first (which is more smoky grey), so I've always wondered if perhaps I got a black zinc shaft with my second bar, while the sleeves are the still the oxide coating. My hands can't tell a difference between the two, so I always thought I'd know for sure as the shaft oxidized a bit over time and caught up in age to the first one. Now that I'm seeing some brightening in wear spots and the shaft is still noticeably darker, I'm starting to wonder if that was what happened (black zinc shaft with oxide sleeves). Has that ever happened, or could it, and is there an easy way to tell if it had other than what I've described?

[Jason Denny]

Bars are tools. Maintain them and they will last a long time. Tools showing wear marks just means they are well used. I am weary of a bar/tool that doesn't show the slightest sign of use.