Replacing safety bars on cage

[Riddles]

Hi all,
After a bit of advice here. Since joining a proper gym I'm pretty much settled on selling my own small setup of weights which consists basically of a basic squat cage, flat bench, standard bar and spinlock dumbbells as well as a bunch of steel plates.

So first off, does one generally get a better price when selling as a set or might it be better to partition it off?

Secondly, my brother (idiot) decided to "borrow" it one day and dumped the loaded bar onto the safety bars. I can still use it as the height of the safeties are fine for me, however because they are bent I can't move them out of the cage. To remove them I'd have to spend some time with a hacksaw. Now I doubt anyone would buy it while it is like this so I'm looking into replacing the safeties. However, I haven't found anywhere that sells replacement bars so I'm considering getting some steel bars. Obviously if I went with these they wouldn't have the rack bits on them but would still work as a safety. Can anyone guide me regarding what variety of steel (strength etc) I should be looking for?

 

[Grippy]

Use a bottle jack or trolley jack in between the bottom bar and the safety, pump it up slowly and try to straighten it out. If ya haven't got enough height chock it up with some block of wood or some shit.

 

[Scram]

Mate any steel rod that will fit through the holes will be able to support anything you through at it.

Find a mate who welds and get him to whack some stops on it for bonus points.

 

[Riddles]

This be OK?
SCA Bottle Jack - Hydraulic, 4000KG - Supercheap Auto Australia

Regarding rods. I'm not sure any steel would be. Solid yes, but obviously what's already on there isn't.

 

[bradsky]

try your car jack first, just in case.

 

[sookie]

Spin the safety upside down and dump the same amount of weight that was used before?

 

[Legion]

Is your cage fully welded?

Can you disassemble the cage by unbolting it and then draw the bar out. Its only jamming because the bar is bent and not aligned thereby presenting a bigger diameter to the hole.

Be careful of using the cage to pull the bar back into alignment. You don't want to damage to cage itself.

You don't need special steels. They are sometimes a pain to weld. You will probably want mild or bright. I think bright is just mild with an additional process which gives it a better dimensional tolerance, better surface finish and a small increase in price.

Mild steel is a tough material. I once put a 2 inch dent in a steel rim and could still keep going. I can see why the police cars use steel rims. A year or so latter I was getting the tyres changed and the tech pointed out the big dent and said "I have a special machine that will get that out. Do you want it fixed?" I was delighted and said go for it. Once the tyre was off he got a big sledgehammer and bashed it back. Do you have a sledgehammer. I'd get the bar out, set it up on some logs on the ground and then sledge it.

 

[Brick]

Spin the safety upside down and dump the same amount of weight that was used before?

This anything bent one way can be bent the other. Or a stick of timber with a v cut in it wedged between bottom plate and safety then belt it plumb with a sledge hammer. I've seen leverage, wedges and sledge hammers used to move some massive bits of gear over the years

 

[oldcorollas]

mild steel is tough, but not strong.
rims are made from worked (rolled) steel, which gives it extra strength, and are not same alloy as mild steel..

could go with a higher carbon steel, like a medium high tensile (1030 or 1040), or a high tensile steel (4140)
or.. just go with whatever steel they have at your local steel shop in that diameter

25mm mild bar is maybe $10-15/m ?? (3.8kg/m roughly and $3/kg)
no idea how much the stronger steels will be. call and ask

in a way, it is better to have safties that flex bend, so they absorb energy and hopefulyl stop your bar from bending.
as long as they don't bend enough to ull out of the rack and drop the bar on you

edit: probably mak emore money selling separately, but can take more time depending on what prices you are after..

what cage is it?

 

[The Hamburgler]

What type of rack/cage do you have?

IMO using truck slings or chain is better than a 'rod' that runs the length of the rack

 

[callan]

What type of rack/cage do you have?

IMO using truck slings or chain is better than a 'rod' that runs the length of the rack

better for the bar too. i wouldnt use chain, not sure how well it would deal with instant force unless you go crazy and buy the titanics anchor chain

 

[The Hamburgler]

Unless its a legit dump you would be ok (even then it takes a lot to snap steel lol)
Just don't use carabiners as they're rated quite low for their size
8mm chain is the biggest you can get from Bunnings I think. It would suffice
You could use some garden hose over the top to stop the chain scratching the bar as well if you were pedantic

 

[Bazza20]

better for the bar too. i wouldnt use chain, not sure how well it would deal with instant force unless you go crazy and buy the titanics anchor chain

I got some 10mm chain for padlocking a few gates that was rated to 6000kg. You think you need more than that Cal.

 

[bull]

I got some 10mm chain for padlocking a few gates that was rated to 6000kg. You think you need more than that Cal.

Random chain wrecking story.

When I was about 8, the old man needed a tow start to get the tractor going so he set me up in the ute with a half inch chain and away I went. I had only just learned to drive so I just took off and when I hit the end of the chain I just kept going. The chain flew apart and the tractor didn't even move. I got a few more lessons before the second attempt.

You won't break a good chain by dumping a bar on it but the force will be transferred into the rack in a very different way than pins. If it is light steel with big pin holes in it then it may bend the rack.