Filing down Knurling

[Jamie Crichton]

I have a York International Bearing Bar which has some pretty aggressive knurling. I want to take the edge of this a bit as my hand and neck are taking a beating. Does any have a recommendation for a file type to use, or other methods?

[crkilgo]

I would be very hesitant to do this. How long have you lifted with it? You will prob adapt after some time. Also, you could just get it nice and chalked up which might help.

[Kris]

I have the same bar. My hands went through a break-in period. And coming back to the bar after a few winter illnesses required re-break-ins. But in general, the horrendous knurling hasn't been problematic, and I never have a problem with grip slippage.

What has worked for me has been to diligently keep my callouses filed smooth, use a fair amount of chalk (not going overboard, though, and never chalking the bar itself), taping up the center knurling (very important), and letting the bar drop with palm guidance (rather than gripping the bar all the way down to the platform- lots of pinching in that scenario).

My biggest gripe is the knurling chewing up my shins. I know it is a flexibility/technique issue causing the contact, but better knurling would be less carnivorous. My shins are a mess and my tube socks are all blood stained.

Filing down would be a disaster, in my opinion. It would be hard to do it evenly, and you'd be removing chrome plating- possibly down to the steel.

[glennpendlay]

I am not sure how filing would work for a chromed bar. Years ago when I had the bad idea to buy a couple of Ivanko bars, I filed them down, took me about 3 hours each with a good flat file to get them usable, but they were black oxide and not chrome. I am thinking that after you got the top of the knurl knocked off on a chrome bar, you might be faced with a massive chipping problem.

[Jamie Crichton]

Fair enough, will give it a miss and just toughen up I guess! Taping the centre knurling is a good shout, will definitely do that. It's not so awful that I can't use the bar, it's just a bit on the rough side so my hands suffer. I'm sure I can cope though. Cheers all.

[kderbyshire]

I have a York International Bearing Bar which has some pretty aggressive knurling. I want to take the edge of this a bit as my hand and neck are taking a beating. Does any have a recommendation for a file type to use, or other methods?

Sell the bar and use the money to buy one you like better.

Katherine

[gstack]

Good Call on getting a different bar , I have lifted on Pendlays , Eleikos, Old Yorks with Bushings , Zhangkong, Werksan, Ligos , and Uesakas

Pendlays , Eleikos, Zhangkong knurling was all similar fine yet grippy , Old YORK was good as well , Werksan was a bit rough but a nice bar for a competition but the Uesaka bars chewed my hands and shins up . Lots of blood on the bar and ground and all over the platform .

[azolylifter]

Good Call on getting a different bar , I have lifted on Pendlays , Eleikos, Old Yorks with Bushings , Zhangkong, Werksan, Ligos , and Uesakas

Pendlays , Eleikos, Zhangkong knurling was all similar fine yet grippy , Old YORK was good as well , Werksan was a bit rough but a nice bar for a competition but the Uesaka bars chewed my hands and shins up . Lots of blood on the bar and ground and all over the platform .

This is what I would do, sell the York and buy one you like better.

I've had similar experiences to gstack here. I personally have a Zhangkong bar, and it has become the most sought after bar in our gym over the two training Eleikos and the Burgener bar (Rogue).

[gstack]

Nice one keith I have a black oxide pendlay bushing and usually lift on zhangkongs or Eleikos
I like the old Eleikos, zhangkong and new eleikos in that order .
My pendlay is at home not used for a hile but I really liked it and have never seen or lifted on a nexgen bearing bar

[Kris]

This thread and the bleeding of my shins this morning has inspired me to procure a new bar. It may take me a year to save up and scour craigslist, but I have suffered long enough.

[crkilgo]

I have lifted on the following (in order of how much I like them):
new eleiko
pendlay
york
old eleiko
werksan

I haven't lifted with a Zhangkong or Burgener but am very interested in hearing opinions of them.

Has anyone lifted with this cheap York training bar (~$210), 28mm w/ bearings? WHy is it so cheap with these specs, is it terribly low quality steel?

Finally, I have been searching for this forever, what is this bar that a lot of the Russians use (Misha, Klokov) that has sleeves that look grooved almost? I don't know why this interests me so much but it does.

[azolylifter]

This thread and the bleeding of my shins this morning has inspired me to procure a new bar. It may take me a year to save up and scour craigslist, but I have suffered long enough.

Go to a couple of weightlifting forums and place your current bar up for sale!! I would try at Go Heavy Olympic forums, crossfit message board (equipment section), BB.com in the Olympic section under the powerlifting section.

Then take what you get for that to use against a new bar. That way you won't have to save up for the entire new bar price!!

[Jamie Crichton]

I don't hate the bar that much! I only just bought it, and I chose it because it offered the best value for money of any bar I have used. It spins well and has good whip, that's all I need as far as I'm concerned. When I am working and have some money maybe I will splash out and buy something nicer. I scoured ebay for months for a decent second-hand bar before buying this one new and didn't find anything. I just wondered if there was an easy way to soften the knurling a bit.

[gstack]

http://www.hantel-hartmann.de/gewichtheben/ligo/index.html

ligo bars cheapish but quite good

http://www.sportserwis.net.pl/ofirmie_en.php

zhangkong
a lot cheaper than eleiko

[gstack]

I dont know if anyone else will chime in here but club bars seem to lose there sharpness a lot faster than single owner bars , maybe you could lend it to a club for a month or two

[azolylifter]

I don't hate the bar that much! I only just bought it, and I chose it because it offered the best value for money of any bar I have used. It spins well and has good whip, that's all I need as far as I'm concerned. When I am working and have some money maybe I will splash out and buy something nicer. I scoured ebay for months for a decent second-hand bar before buying this one new and didn't find anything. I just wondered if there was an easy way to soften the knurling a bit.

Sorry, didn't mean to say that you hate your bar, please don't take it the wrong way. I was just offering a suggestion as to how to get a newer bar without having to save up so much money!! :D That is what I did when I got a new bar from MavRik (Chapman bar). The bar was about 28.6 mm and I could tell a difference when I snatched, but other than that, the bar was awesome!!! I sold it to a local weightlifting club for what I paid for it and was able to get a ZhangKong bar (which I love even more).

If you don't want to do that all, you can try and use some emory cloth, wrap your hand around the bar and "sand" the knurling down. This should take the sharpness off the knurling without taking too much material off.

Hope this helps. BTW, what kind of bar is it???