LAHotSauce Posted February 18, 2005 Share Posted February 18, 2005 I am thinking about making a homemade thick bar out of a 5 foot piece of rigid conduit. The biggest HD sells is 2" diameter. I am not going to use it for benching, squatting, or heavy deadlifting, just for some overhand static holds, curls, overhead presses. Does anyone know if 5-6 foot of this stuff is strong enough without bending? The walls appear pretty thick and I think 5 foot would be short enough not to bend and long enough to keep the weights out of the way. Any replies appreciated. RL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnOBrien Posted February 18, 2005 Share Posted February 18, 2005 Is that made of PVC? If it is, I'd stay away from that. You can make a thick bar out of 1.5" inner diameter pipe that you can use for everything you said you don't want to use if for, plus the static holds. The outer diameter is a shade under 2", but close enough for gov't work. I think I paid about $30 for mine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LAHotSauce Posted February 18, 2005 Author Share Posted February 18, 2005 the rigid conduit I'm talking about is solid metal/steel. 10 ft of this 2" diameter stuff is heavy! RL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnOBrien Posted February 18, 2005 Share Posted February 18, 2005 It's probably the same material that I used then. I have deadlifted well over 400# on a 7-foot length and it didn't even flex noticeably, so I would say that you have a solid plan. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ursus Posted February 18, 2005 Share Posted February 18, 2005 CAUTION! DANGER! RED FLAG even! Rigid Conduit is what you referred to. I believe JohnOBrien is using steel pipe. There is a big difference. Although the Conduit might be able to handle it, I'd have much more confidence in steel pipe. It is thicker, heavier, stronger. The steel pipe can be found in the plumbing dept., the conduit in the electrical dept. Good Luck, stay safe! -Stephen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LAHotSauce Posted February 19, 2005 Author Share Posted February 19, 2005 Thanks for the heads up. I'll check the price difference tomorrow. Dont want to end up with 150 lbs or more over the head and have the 2 sides come crashing down on me! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TealGunner Posted February 23, 2005 Share Posted February 23, 2005 I went by HD yesterday, and the rigid steel conduit is much thicker and heavier than the EMT conduit. My guess is this stuff is pretty much steel pipe--only galvanized. It's also twice the price of the thin walled stuff. Like $50 for a 10' section with the EMT conduit is about $23 for the same length. Easy to pick up a section of the thin wall stuff--I was actually concerned that I would drop the heavier pipe on myself--elevated rack. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LAHotSauce Posted February 23, 2005 Author Share Posted February 23, 2005 I believe the thick walled rigid conduit would be strong enough for what I want to use it for. HD does carry steel pipe, but at mine only up to 1.5" diameter. Its about half the price of the 2" diameter rigid conduit. The regular EMT conduit never crossed my mind. Way too light and thin walled. I just wonder if I could get a standard/olympic plate to fit on it. I measure my standard plate hole the other day and I believe its a tad over 2". So maybe it will just fit on there. Anyone know for sure???? I reckon I could just carry a 2.5lber into HD with me and check, its just that 10ft of the stuff is kinda hard to handle with one arm when its elevated in the store. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
climber511 Posted February 23, 2005 Share Posted February 23, 2005 (edited) I don't know what the specs are for rigid conduit but with pipe - 1 1/2" pipe has an OD of 1 7/8" and 2" pipe has an OD of 2 3/8". I worked with rigid conduit years ago and I'd bet it's strong enough but make sure your plates fit. Oh, check more than one plate, holes vary. I'll do a search for you. http://doitbest.com/shop/product.asp?mscss...1021&sku=506702 I just found this link - according to this, at least 2" rigid has the same OD as pipe - 2 3/8" . I'd guess 1 1/2" would spec out the same as pipe as well. Edited February 23, 2005 by climber511 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldGuy Posted February 23, 2005 Share Posted February 23, 2005 I would definitely use 1 7/8'' OD heavy plumbing pipe. HD carries it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LAHotSauce Posted February 24, 2005 Author Share Posted February 24, 2005 Thanks for the help fellas. RL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TealGunner Posted March 6, 2005 Share Posted March 6, 2005 Hey Hot Sauce, post some pics of the results so we can see what you came up with. Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LAHotSauce Posted March 7, 2005 Author Share Posted March 7, 2005 Will do. I will have to figure out how to post the pic in my forum, or in my controls. I can take the pics at anytime with my dig cam. I am using the 1 1/2 diameter pipe OldGuy is talking about. At least I hope so. Got the heavy plumbing steel pipe from HD. I did not go with the heavy rigid conduit. I am using it for static holds, deads, one arm holds, cleans, overhead presses, curls, wrist curls. No benching, squats. The OD is about 1 7/8. Thanks for the recommendations! RL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ted2 Posted August 22, 2005 Share Posted August 22, 2005 conduit is used to protect electrical wires from various elements and other sorts of things. the black pipe in the plumbing section is used to contain gas to keep things from blowing up. conduit is usually low quality recycled steel, i would definetly go with a length of black pipe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Lemanczyk Posted August 22, 2005 Share Posted August 22, 2005 (edited) Quick breakdown since I have made a bunch of these Plumbing pipe is measured from it's inside diameter. An inside diameter measured @ 1.5" pipe is actually 1.9" outside diameter. Something to think about. Galvanized pipe is all weather (which I use) and will take a serious beating. I mean serious. Cast Iron/Black pipe is more expensive but serves the same purpose. I never witnessed or experienced an advantage to using it. It just costed me more money. It is really easy to make. The easiest way is to simple buy or have a 7' piece of either 1.5" (1.9" outside) or 2" (2 3/8" outside) galvanized cut. Home depot performs that service for free. You need to have 2 pairs of old spin collars to keep the weights on and from sliding. There is no knurling on the bar and once you start sweating the barbell feels as slick as an Original York Blob. Chalk will get pasty quick. Electrical based pipe such as Conduit will not take this beating. It's tough but not tough enough. I worked in a warehouse in Queens in the beginning of my Grad School and used to experiement a little on it. The conduit was a step up from alluminum in my opinion. Go with the Gal. All in all the thick bar will cost you $35-$40 and will last you as long as you can be respectful to it. Obviously just like a standard olympic barbell, if you throw it on the ground constantly with loaded weight it will bend. The same rules apply. Good luck man and enjoy. Edited August 22, 2005 by Dave Lemanczyk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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