BFCO Vintage Weight Plates

Name: BFCO Vintage Weight Plates
Brand: Bell Foundry Co.
Rating: 4.33 (8 reviews)

BFCO Vintage Weight Plates are 1960s-era deep-dish Olympic plates cast by the Bell Foundry Company in Los Angeles – not a current production line. They’re built thick (the 45s run nearly 1.9” at the face) around a distinctive three-spoke design with unusually large spokes, which is credited with making them unusually crack-resistant for their age, and the deep-dish design with bold, oversized number lettering carries all the way down to the smallest change plates. Bell Foundry appears to have exited weight-plate manufacturing altogether – its own site is currently unreachable – so these plates survive today only through the vintage collector market rather than as an active retail product.

Buying guide

Best Weight Plates for Your Home Gym — July 2026 Bumper Plates or Iron Plates? How to Pick Your First Set — July 2026 Do You Need Calibrated or Competition Plates? — July 2026 How Much Do Weight Plates Cost Per Pound? — July 2026 What Weight Set Should a Beginner Buy? — July 2026 Will Dropping Weights Damage Your Floor? — July 2026

Era	1960s
Design	Deep-dish, three-spoke hub (spokes ~0.9" thick)
Status	Discontinued -- manufacturer no longer produces weight plates; vintage/collector market only
Material	Cast iron, no post-cast machining
Sleeve bore	2" Olympic standard, snug (not perfectly modern) fit
Manufacturer	Bell Foundry Company (Los Angeles, CA)
Change plates	Deep-dish design and lettering/numbering carried down to the smallest change plates (spokes dropped below 25 lb)
45 lb diameter	Runs slightly under the typical ~17-3/4" Olympic 45 lb diameter
Plate thickness	~1.9" face on 45 lb plates -- among the thickest three-spoke designs reviewed
Weight tolerance	Close to nominal on a sampled pair of 45s (44.65 lb and 45.7 lb)

What is a Weight Plate?

What weight plates are

Weight plates load your barbell — but “plate” covers two very different tools. Bumper plates are rubber discs around a steel hub, all the same ~450mm diameter, built to be dropped from overhead without damaging your floor or bar; they’re the default for Olympic lifting and CrossFit. Iron/steel plates are denser and thinner per pound, cheaper, and quieter to load, but most aren’t made to be dropped — better for slow, controlled powerlifting-style work.

What actually matters

Bumper vs. iron. Buy bumpers if the bar might hit the floor; iron (or rubber-coated iron) for controlled lifts and compact loading.
Weight tolerance. How far a plate strays from its stated weight (±1% is tight, ±3% loose). It barely matters for general training but adds up if you chase a specific total — which is why serious lifters add small change / fractional plates.
Collar fit & bounce. The center hole should fit your bar’s sleeve snugly; rubber durometer (around 88 Shore A) controls how “dead” a dropped plate lands.
Coating & set composition. Virgin rubber holds up and smells less than recycled crumb rubber; plan a starting set (usually a pair each of 45/25/10/5 lb plus change plates) around the lifts you actually do.

Who it’s for

Every barbell gym needs plates. Most home lifters should start with a bumper set, then add iron, change, or specialty plates as a second purchase once they know what their training is missing.

How it compares

	BFCO Vintage Weight Plates	VTX Colored Bumper Plates	2.5 lb PlateMate Brick	Chocolate & Vanilla 10lb Donut Plates
GymRadar rating	4.33/5	4.33/5	4.33/5	4.33/5
Price		$127.00	$49.90	$199.00
Era	1960s
Design	Deep-dish, three-spoke hub (spokes ~0.9" thick)
Status	Discontinued -- manufacturer no longer produces weight plates; vintage/collector market only
Material	Cast iron, no post-cast machining	Solid rubber shell with a steel center insert		Polyurethane with steel center ring, hard chrome plating surface
Sleeve bore	2" Olympic standard, snug (not perfectly modern) fit
Manufacturer	Bell Foundry Company (Los Angeles, CA)	Troy Barbell & Fitness (VTX line)
Change plates	Deep-dish design and lettering/numbering carried down to the smallest change plates (spokes dropped below 25 lb)
45 lb diameter	Runs slightly under the typical ~17-3/4" Olympic 45 lb diameter
Plate thickness	~1.9" face on 45 lb plates -- among the thickest three-spoke designs reviewed
Weight tolerance	Close to nominal on a sampled pair of 45s (44.65 lb and 45.7 lb)			+/-3%

4.3/5 · 8 GymRadar reviews

Reviews by source

Expert	4.33/5	8 reviews
Youtube	3.8/5	1 reviews

BFCO (Bell Foundry Company) deep-dish plates are 1960s-era, Los Angeles-cast iron plates rather than a current product line – Bell Foundry appears to have exited the weight-plate business, and its own site is currently unreachable, so the vintage/collector market is the only route to these. The standout dimension is build quality: at nearly 2 inches thick with unusually large three-spoke hubs, these rarely crack, and the deep-dish design (with oversized number lettering) carries all the way down to the smallest change plates. The weakest dimension is finish consistency – casting flaws routinely drop letters from the small BFCO branding, and the 45 lb plates run a touch smaller in diameter than standard, a minor deadlifting inconvenience. Overall it’s a solidly built, mid-tier vintage collectible rather than a top-tier one.

+Build quality: nearly 2in thick face with the thickest three-spoke hub the reviewer owns (~0.9in spokes) (YouTube: VintageWeightsPGH)
+Durability: weight tolerance held close to nominal (44.65-45.7 lbs on a pair of 45s) and rarely cracks thanks to the thick face and spokes (YouTube: VintageWeightsPGH)
+Durability: full deep-dish design carries all the way down to the smallest change plates, including retained lettering/numbering (YouTube: VintageWeightsPGH)
+Functionality: rackable in a modern barbell/rack setup with a snug (if not perfectly modern) center-hole fit (YouTube: VintageWeightsPGH)
+Value: mid-range vintage collectible, on par with comparable-era Marcy 45s (YouTube: VintageWeightsPGH)

−Build quality: casting flaws are common -- missing letters (BFC/BFO instead of BFCO) and a disproportionately tiny brand mark next to the oversized number lettering (YouTube: VintageWeightsPGH)
−Functionality: 45 lb plates run a slightly smaller diameter than standard (~17.75in), so they won't touch the floor when deadlifted alone and need a deadlift jack (YouTube: VintageWeightsPGH)
−Value: 2.5/10 lb change plates are hard to find and carry a high price per pound, the same collectibility gap seen in comparable vintage lines (YouTube: VintageWeightsPGH)
−Durability: no independent long-term testing beyond one collector's assessment -- Bell Foundry itself appears to have exited weight-plate production and its site is currently unreachable, so there's no manufacturer spec sheet to cross-check (YouTube: VintageWeightsPGH)