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Race To The Red Nail


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I have finally managed to film bending video. I had problems in finding steel and filming but here it is. Any technique advice is welcome.

Things i try to focus on are;

1 take a Deep breath before you start the bend and tense up your whole uppger body.

Engage those lats, arms, chest and shoulders!

2 press the hands right on the ends of the nail.

3 squeeze the wraps haaaard.

4 imagine that your elbows are going to meet infront of you.

Do 2, 3 and 4 all at once after 1.

Holding hits on the bar longer can really make a difference too.

Hope it helps!

Edited by PeterSweden
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Alright, I'm the new kid on the block (this thread took a (bad word filter) of a long time to read).

Though I am not too concerned with certification at the moment, I really want to bend a red nail in all three major styles. Right now, I have bent in my 12 inch long suede wraps: an "I" O1 drill rod x 7 inches to just over 30 degress Double Underhand, an "H" O1 drill rod to just over 50 degrees Reverse, and a 1/4 inch x 6 inch piece of weld rod Double Overhand in my 16 inch long suede wraps.

So basically, I feel like a Double Underhand Bender who dabbles with Reverse and can't Double Overhand anything to save his life.

I will try to keep the spirit of this thread alive, even if I find myself posting all by my lonesome.

Edited by wulfgeat
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I have finally managed to film bending video. I had problems in finding steel and filming but here it is. Any technique advice is welcome.

Nice to

see someone posted here, good job! You should try a red

I have tried, many times. Kink of approximately 5 degrees is what happens. I know that 8mm drill rod calibrates usually harder than red nail at 7 inches but steel i am bending here feels weaker.

This was only round stock at reasonable diameter they had and i got it free because it was last meter and they didn't find product number from computer. Not even sure is this same drill rod you are talking about. Anyway, it seems that i need some more of it. Thanks for watching.

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1 take a Deep breath before you start the bend and tense up your whole uppger body.

Engage those lats, arms, chest and shoulders!

2 press the hands right on the ends of the nail.

3 squeeze the wraps haaaard.

4 imagine that your elbows are going to meet infront of you.

Do 2, 3 and 4 all at once after 1.

Holding hits on the bar longer can really make a difference too.

Hope it helps!

Will try to focus on those. We shall see what happens...

Thanks.

Edited by FJM
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  • 4 weeks later...

I tried red nail in double leather wraps today but it proved once again to be worthy opponent. Had a good fight of maybe 10 minutes and got it down to 18 degrees. It felt that i had problems to use my lats for some reason.

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I tried red nail in double leather wraps today but it proved once again to be worthy opponent. Had a good fight of maybe 10 minutes and got it down to 18 degrees. It felt that i had problems to use my lats for some reason.

It helped me to think of steelbending like Powerlifting. What you just described is like trying to DL 150% of your max over and over again and hoping you will improve. Bending steel is no different than bench pressing. If you want a 300# bench first you have to have a solid 250# bench. And you don't get a 250# bench without working up to it.

I'll give you the advice that was given to me. Put away the doubles. Don't use them again. Only bend in IMP's. Only bend 7" stock. Get a decent progression of steel and work up. toolanddie.com. J, K,L,M and 19/64" bars will get you to the Red.

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I tried red nail in double leather wraps today but it proved once again to be worthy opponent. Had a good fight of maybe 10 minutes and got it down to 18 degrees. It felt that i had problems to use my lats for some reason.

It helped me to think of steelbending like Powerlifting. What you just described is like trying to DL 150% of your max over and over again and hoping you will improve. Bending steel is no different than bench pressing. If you want a 300# bench first you have to have a solid 250# bench. And you don't get a 250# bench without working up to it.

I'll give you the advice that was given to me. Put away the doubles. Don't use them again. Only bend in IMP's. Only bend 7" stock. Get a decent progression of steel and work up. toolanddie.com. J, K,L,M and 19/64" bars will get you to the Red.

Shipping to Finland seems to be quite expensive in that store so i think i ned to work with what is available in here.

Is there any reason to bend only 7 stock in IMP's, other than personal preference?

It seems to me that variety is winning strategy in all physical development including bench-press, so why would unbraced bending be different?

And i know that you are just trying to help but my mind keeps asking these questions.

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I tried red nail in double leather wraps today but it proved once again to be worthy opponent. Had a good fight of maybe 10 minutes and got it down to 18 degrees. It felt that i had problems to use my lats for some reason.

It helped me to think of steelbending like Powerlifting. What you just described is like trying to DL 150% of your max over and over again and hoping you will improve. Bending steel is no different than bench pressing. If you want a 300# bench first you have to have a solid 250# bench. And you don't get a 250# bench without working up to it.

I'll give you the advice that was given to me. Put away the doubles. Don't use them again. Only bend in IMP's. Only bend 7" stock. Get a decent progression of steel and work up. toolanddie.com. J, K,L,M and 19/64" bars will get you to the Red.

Shipping to Finland seems to be quite expensive in that store so i think i ned to work with what is available in here.

Is there any reason to bend only 7 stock in IMP's, other than personal preference?

It seems to me that variety is winning strategy in all physical development including bench-press, so why would unbraced bending be different?

And i know that you are just trying to help but my mind keeps asking these questions.

Ah. I didn't know you were in Finland. I don't really know where to get steel in Europe, but David Wigren in Sweden may be able to give you some advice. Whatever you find, you will need a decent progression of progressively harder bars. I bounced around for years trying to bend this and that, jumping between 6" graded bolts and never really getting anywhere. Once EJ explained the progression clearly to me, it was a straight road to the goal. Maybe Ivan's new site will offer some options for testing your poundage and shipping from Russia might be cheaper.

In general I agree with you, variety is wonderful for physical development. However, steelbending is the result and demonstration of physical strength and in order to be an effective bender you have to learn how to channel every available muscle fiber into a quarter of a square inch. This is a very specific skill that requires intense focus on the technique. Different length stock are totally different physical processes. Its not analogous to changing hand position on the bench press, its more like bench press to dumbbell press. Though there is carryover, they're not the same. 6" or under stock is not going to challenge your kink position in the way the 7" stock will. If you want to cert the Red, bending shorter stock is not going to be useful. Its just a different animal. Also you are talking about something that is relatively small compared to a human. A 7" bar has much less variation that you can apply to it then a 7' barbell. As you get smaller in size, little differences become vastly magnified.

As far as IMP's are concerned, besides the strength to do it, you have to condition your hands for bending steel. The way to do this is to use minimal wraps, especially in the beginning and also establish a clear system for knowing where your bending is really at. Actually for the first year you need to toughen tissue AND the skin. This doesn't really happen with leathers. Slapping the doubles on is like wearing a bench shirt once in a while and thinking you lift 100# more than you really do. Its more of an advanced technique and in the beginning you will only be fooling yourself and cheating yourself out of progress. Further your setup will be different for IMP's and for doubles, and with bigger wraps you stand a much greater chance for injury, i.e., you can put more force into the bar than your body will accept. Its a good way to tear a pec. With IMP's your hand toughness and pain tolerance will be a good limiting factor. The kink in IMP's is as technical as any Oly lift. You have to discover exactly how the bar sits in your hands. I hope this helps.

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Everything Mike said is 100% correct. The long and short is this: 7" stock and only 7" stock will allow your body to get in and stay In the correct position. Your kink, sweep and crush will all be done at the same spot every time. Hand position will always be the same. Shorter stock will make you re-learn bending. IMPs will help you become mentally and physically stong. Doubles allow you to bend bigger stuff, making you strong. However what's the point of being strong if your hands hurt and you can't put the power into the bar?

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Mike and EJ, thanks that for clearing things out to me. I bend 7 stock until i want to bend something else.

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FJM,

You moved the red so that should be an encouraging sign. Mike's advice is good and is definately a good way to work up but alot of it depends on what kind of bender do you want to be. Is the Red your only goal?

I bend in IMPs, and probably half a dozen different thicknesses of leather and cordura and even took a stint of bending in a hankercheif which is not a fun experience. I also bend various lengths but try to not go under 6 inches just because of personal preference.

As was stated above, not sure what kind of steel is available in Finland so that's tough to give advice on but I'm sure there's something you can make work.

Keep at it and you'll get it.

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The last few guys to post here helped me a lot with advice. Take their advice. I only used the imp's so that's really all I know and stuck to 7" stock, the drill rod, to bend the red. And now I can bend reds. I bought a three foot I j k and two l and m pieces and that was more then enough to et me to the red. I still have a good amount of drill rod left.

Learnjng to transfer your strength into the bar is the most important thing IMO. When I first tried a red I fail big time because my teq. Was crap. Two mo later I was bending reds. I didn't get stronger in those two mo it was just my technique got a lot better.

Hope this helps.

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FJM,

You moved the red so that should be an encouraging sign. Mike's advice is good and is definately a good way to work up but alot of it depends on what kind of bender do you want to be. Is the Red your only goal?

I bend in IMPs, and probably half a dozen different thicknesses of leather and cordura and even took a stint of bending in a hankercheif which is not a fun experience. I also bend various lengths but try to not go under 6 inches just because of personal preference.

As was stated above, not sure what kind of steel is available in Finland so that's tough to give advice on but I'm sure there's something you can make work.

Keep at it and you'll get it.

Right now Red nail is my bending goal. After that, i probably try something from "iron grip" list. Bending with pads touching seems an interesting challenge.

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Funny you say that. I just bent a 5.5 inch G5 last night for that list. Like you say, it was just something fun and a different challenge.

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  • 1 year later...

Anybody still interested in this race? This worked for me to cert MM0...would love to have a friendly race to bend/cert the red.

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Anybody still interested in this race? This worked for me to cert MM0...would love to have a friendly race to bend/cert the red.

Im not really going for the red cert at the moment, racing to get a bastard under cert conditions. I could probably bend a slightly weaker red nail right now in doubles as I'm around the 400-410lbs ball park

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Anybody still interested in this race? This worked for me to cert MM0...would love to have a friendly race to bend/cert the red.

Im not really going for the red cert at the moment, racing to get a bastard under cert conditions. I could probably bend a slightly weaker red nail right now in doubles as I'm around the 400-410lbs ball park

nice, almost there then...I bent a red in doubles the other day, haven't tried to replicate it...I cannot bend a red in IMP's, but can consistently bend hardware store 5/16 x 7 HRS

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I plan on doing some volume bending on some L drill rod then trying a bastard again

Nice stuff on the HRS, can be abit hit and miss with that though apparently. Either really easy or really hard!

We can still race though man, for motivation.

Did I read somewhere that you can kink the red in imps?

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not really...I can put a wobble in it but not much...the kink is my struggle...I'll post videos of my next bending session in this forum

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I'd be in for a bastard race, too if that happens. Best bends to date are 6" 1/4 stainless square and a 6.5" 19/64 DR. Got about 30 degrees of wobble last night on an N-bar after a long session, ~110 degrees on a 5.5" stainless square, and ~15 degrees on a bastard and red.

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My 6" is in the upper 400's but I'm training for the bastard so all bends are strictly 7" :D

Might be worth starting a race to the bastard thread?

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