OK, I can get an olympic barbell on craigslist for $60, or a new one for $80. A welder says he will transform it for $60, but I told him I'd pay him a lot more if he did a super job. So he said for $100 he'd do a super job. So I'll meet him later.
Basically, for $160, I can have a better bar than I could buy, with no shipping. My alternative is to pay $250 for a shorter bar that is parallel and just fits on the bench, or to hunt around for the elusive football bar which is $350 and funnier looking than I want. Or I can pay $160 for a log bar that is too round for a spotter to grab, and too big for me to go low, and still is perfectly parallel.