If you’ve seen the strongest men on Earth take on our Elephant Bar during the Deadlift competition at the Arnold Strongman Classic, then you’ve seen the plates that inspired the Deep Dish design. Like those Arnold plates, the Deep Dish Plates are also a call back to a golden age in weightlifting; built from clanging cast iron with a classic look and greater thickness and surface area than most modern plates.

Rogue developed this series with two of the leading metal casting foundries in the Midwest. Cadillac Casting, Inc. (Cadillac, MI) has designed and produced a wide variety of complex and safety-critical components for the automotive industry and other industrial clients since the 1920s. This reputable, privately owned foundry employs 400 highly skilled workers, and they were more than equipped to produce the tooling for our Deep Dish Plates in-house. Additional production for the 5LB USA Olympic Change Plate was provided by OSCO Industries (Portsmouth, OH), which has operated foundries in South-Central Ohio for nearly 150 years. Both of these firms are playing a key role in bringing quality cast iron weight plate production back to the USA.

All of our Deep Dish Plates (as well as the 10LB Change Plate) are cast in ductile iron, aka nodular cast iron, which contains strong graphite nodules that make it considerably tougher than standard gray iron. Ductile iron is regularly used to make automotive components, wheels, gear boxes, and machine frames, and its superior tensile strength, yield strength, and corrosion resistance makes it an ideal option for a long-lasting, extremely robust weight plate. Please Note: The 5LB USA Olympic Change Plate is made from Class 30 Grey Iron.

The entire back portion of each DD plate is precision machined, as is the center hub (where the bar sleeve goes through) and the outer rim. This unique 3-surface machining process ensures that the plates fit tightly on the bar, are uniform in diameter, and sit flush against each other when loaded.

This electrically-applied paint coating was also initially developed for the automotive industry, due to its excellent adhesion, even coverage, and corrosion resistance. As a wet application, E-coat goes on thinner than powder coating, resulting in a smooth feel that retains more of the natural grit of the casting.

Our Deep Dish Plates are available in four sizes:
25LB: 10.87" (276mm) diameter, 1.35” (34.5mm) width
35LB: 14.17" (360mm) diameter, 1.35” (34.5mm) width
45LB: 17.72" (450mm) diameter, 1.97” (50mm) width
100LB: 17.72" (450mm) diameter, 2.95” (75mm) width.
Our USA Olympic Change Plates are currently available in two sizes:
5LB: 7.5” (190mm) diameter, 0.57” width (14.5mm)
10LB: 9” (229mm) diameter, 0.80” width (20mm)