Bar capacity

I have a standard 15lb or 20lb (not sure which), 6’ solid bar that bends slightly when I put 200lbs of weight on it. What does everyone here estimate that it will hold? (I’d like to know so I won’t have to endure the bar snapping in two because I put to much weight on it) I’ve had as much as 320 on the bar and it never broke (it was bent though) if that helps with your estimates.

get an olympic set.

When you say it bent with 320 on it do you mean it was permently deformed from this load? In other words you caused plastic deformation of the bar. If it returned totally straight from the 320 load it didn’t even pass it’s elastic limit, which would mean it’s far from failure. However even if it has (minor)plastic deformation at 320 lbs it’s still along way off from sudden catastrophic failure(ie: the bar snapping in two). You would have to suddenly load it with this much weigh to do this. You have no way of doing this with regular plates unless you put like 10 45s on each side at the same time. I would like to see that. Therefore the bar would start to bend and bend long before it snapped. But you would have to be an idiot to see the bar bend and keep loading it right?

All that being said dman is right get an olympic set. :slight_smile:

Keago

Try 450 and then go up in 20 pound increments. That should do it. Good luck snapping the bar.

So if I put 500lbs on it would it be safe?

What is the diameter of the bar?
Is it hot rolled or cold rolled steel?
I was able to load my hot rolled steel bar up to about 475 lbs before the bend (slight) became perament.
I then had a hot rolled steel bar seven feet long knurled at a local machine shop and I am still using it. It has held 850 lbs easy.

stand olympic bars generally max out at 500 lbs. Therer are bars that can hold 1500. your bar isn’t olypmic even so i would be wary.