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New To Bending?


EricMilfeld

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  • 3 weeks later...

How's it going Josh? Any updates bud?

Steel bending is addictive!!

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  • 10 months later...

Just got some IM nails in the mail today.

This thread has been massively helpful.

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Welcome to the addiction and stay healthy. Don't overdo it at first or you'll risk tendonitis and various injuries. Start with smaller pads, like ironmind pads or 4 by 10 inch suede and get the style down first.

Once you can bend a blue nail, you'll be able to get a decent 60 penny nail which is a classic feat of strength.

All the best.

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Welcome to the addiction and stay healthy. Don't overdo it at first or you'll risk tendonitis and various injuries. Start with smaller pads, like ironmind pads or 4 by 10 inch suede and get the style down first.

Once you can bend a blue nail, you'll be able to get a decent 60 penny nail which is a classic feat of strength.

All the best.

Thanks I got the IM Bag of nails, did some whites and greens today, felt like I could do the yellow but didn't want to push it. I must say, looking at that little green IM nail I thought it was going to be easier then it was.

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  • 1 year later...

Man!Just about any question I could have was answered by this post. I am going to be buying some 3/16" round rod tomorrow.

I have some questions about the wraps, though: How thick are the leather wraps? Not the diameter once wrapped around the steel, but the thickness of the material itself. Also, has anyone used Kevlar fabric for wraps? If so, how does it perform? Thank you in advance!

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Pick up some ironmind pads from cannonpowerworks..$6 or something cheap like that. Also go on this website as you can buy leather, cordura and suede wraps.

http://www.fatbastardbarbellco.com/BENDERSBAG.html

Judging from your current upper body strength, you will smash through 1/4" x 7" crs easily once you get the technique down.

also what style are you going to be using? reverse, DU, double overhand??

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Pick up some ironmind pads from cannonpowerworks..$6 or something cheap like that. Also go on this website as you can buy leather, cordura and suede wraps.

http://www.fatbastardbarbellco.com/BENDERSBAG.html

Judging from your current upper body strength, you will smash through 1/4" x 7" crs easily once you get the technique down.

also what style are you going to be using? reverse, DU, double overhand??

Great questions, Bro. I feel like I am stronger overhand, BUT, I have never done any bending before. I plan to try both ways, and try to get a feel for the steel in regards to my own abilities. I don't think I have seen any of you guys doing overhand bends, which tells me that underhand must be a safer/better/more efficient way to bend. I am strong along certain lines, as in punching, but I am not sure how much pressure I can bring to bear in a bend, so I am taking the advice in the first post, and starting with some 3/16" rod, which is $3-$5 for a 4' length at Home Depot(if I remember correctly). If I am able to bend 7" sections of that, then I will cut 6" sections, then 5". I was asking the wraps because I have some leather here at home from which I could maybe fashion wraps, and I also have 10 yards of high denier Kevlar fabric, which I think might work well if adhered to another fabric. Trying to save a buck. Thank you very much for answering, Josh, I appreciate you.

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Double overhand is for 99% of benders, their strongest style. mainly as it is the strongest position to apply heat to the bar, so many more muscles to use as opposed to reverse which is mainly wrist strength.

http://www.gripboard.com/index.php?showtopic=43922

This is pinned to the bending section, info on wraps, hand toughness and different bending style tutorials.

I started off reverse but then switched to double overhand as for me, bending a bastard or rednail is unrealistic for me at this time. Id stick to leather, suede and cordura for your bends to be recognized for certs

Edit: also what do you mean by you haven't seen us do overhand? what style are you referring to here?

Hope this helps bro.

Edited by JoshW
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Double overhand is for 99% of benders, their strongest style. mainly as it is the strongest position to apply heat to the bar, so many more muscles to use as opposed to reverse which is mainly wrist strength.

http://www.gripboard.com/index.php?showtopic=43922

This is pinned to the bending section, info on wraps, hand toughness and different bending style tutorials.

I started off reverse but then switched to double overhand as for me, bending a bastard or rednail is unrealistic for me at this time. Id stick to leather, suede and cordura for your bends to be recognized for certs

Edit: also what do you mean by you haven't seen us do overhand? what style are you referring to here?

Hope this helps bro.

I honestly don't know what I meant. I feel stronger with my knuckles pointed down at the floor, thumbs to the inside, whatever style that is. I was attempting to use bending nomenclature without a firm grasp of its meaning.

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haha no worries bro, read through the bending section and once you get some bars post some videos on the board here and we will get your technique sorted :D

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haha no worries bro, read through the bending section and once you get some bars post some videos on the board here and we will get your technique sorted :D

Ha ha! Will do, Bro! Thank you for not making me feel dumb!

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from the first post

Cheat kink a bar to varying degrees and work on finishing them.

any ideas how to do that if you have no tools available?

For overhead bending do you guys actually use your neck flexor muscles to help with the bend or do you usually just have the bar in contact with the neck? just started bending and my neck muscles are getting pretty sore

another question about double overhand: mentally I'm weak at the beginning because I'm afraid to push a lot into my neck as I don't trust the bar 100%. Have their been times that it broke and created injury? I understand that I need to get over this fear to test my max. I trust the bars more than the bolts

I don't have this fear of course with reverse and underhand bending but I think naturally we are weaker in those positions. With underhand now I also feel the inside of my L elbow a bit (used to hurt their in the past) since I bent a 1/4x6" bolt (must have been lower grade but not sure), so I'm trying to avoid attempting 1/4 + bars underhand for now. Reverse bending feels just like working with the wrist developer in terms of general muscle recruitment.

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from the first post

Cheat kink a bar to varying degrees and work on finishing them.

any ideas how to do that if you have no tools available?

I did so much cheat kinking of various bars that I could do it with my eyes closed. Here's something to keep in mind on the topic of cheat kinking. HOW you cheat kink the bar is going to effect the rest of the bend.

So if you use pipes, like I did most of the time, you will kink the bar "tighter" - in more of a straight line, with no curve - than if you cheat kinked it by braced bending it against your leg. You might be thinking that there would be no difference. But there is a noticeable difference in a bar that is cheat kinked with pipes vs. one that is kinked either by another bender (unbraced) or by a braced kink.

The braced kink provides the best payoff in terms of making you work a bit harder (not counting the braced bending part in this working hard comment) on the sweep and crushdown. Because it will more closely mimic the way a bar bends when it is bent unbraced. The crushdown is always harder on a bar that is NOT cheat kinked with pipes.

I've talked to a few other elite benders about this over the years. All of us agree that cheat kinking with a pipe negates some of the difficulty of the sweep and especially the crushdown. That doesn't mean it's worthless. Far from it. In fact, like I mentioned, I cheat kinked most of my bars with the pipes because it's so much easier and faster. And easier. :)

You said you have no "tools available." It's worth it (if you are going to bend a lot of steel over the coming years) to shell out a bit of cash at the hardware store and just buy some pipe to cheat kink the bars with. Mine were mismatched, but the general measurements were both about 2 feet long. The inside diameter was about 1/2". I cheat kinked KOABs, MOABs, and everything I wanted to work on.

It might've been Aaron (acorn) who used to put metal "caps" on the ends of bars to use as additional leverage...pure genius. Not his only pure genius contribution to bending, but one that is not talked about much.

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For overhead bending do you guys actually use your neck flexor muscles to help with the bend or

I meant double overhand, not overhead, lol

from the first post

Cheat kink a bar to varying degrees and work on finishing them.

any ideas how to do that if you have no tools available?

I did so much cheat kinking of various bars that I could do it with my eyes closed. Here's something to keep in mind on the topic of cheat kinking. HOW you cheat kink the bar is going to effect the rest of the bend.

So if you use pipes, like I did most of the time, you will kink the bar "tighter" - in more of a straight line, with no curve - than if you cheat kinked it by braced bending it against your leg. You might be thinking that there would be no difference. But there is a noticeable difference in a bar that is cheat kinked with pipes vs. one that is kinked either by another bender (unbraced) or by a braced kink.

The braced kink provides the best payoff in terms of making you work a bit harder (not counting the braced bending part in this working hard comment) on the sweep and crushdown. Because it will more closely mimic the way a bar bends when it is bent unbraced. The crushdown is always harder on a bar that is NOT cheat kinked with pipes.

I've talked to a few other elite benders about this over the years. All of us agree that cheat kinking with a pipe negates some of the difficulty of the sweep and especially the crushdown. That doesn't mean it's worthless. Far from it. In fact, like I mentioned, I cheat kinked most of my bars with the pipes because it's so much easier and faster. And easier. :)

You said you have no "tools available." It's worth it (if you are going to bend a lot of steel over the coming years) to shell out a bit of cash at the hardware store and just buy some pipe to cheat kink the bars with. Mine were mismatched, but the general measurements were both about 2 feet long. The inside diameter was about 1/2". I cheat kinked KOABs, MOABs, and everything I wanted to work on.

It might've been Aaron (acorn) who used to put metal "caps" on the ends of bars to use as additional leverage...pure genius. Not his only pure genius contribution to bending, but one that is not talked about much.

thanks Ben, this helps a lot!

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I think I could also use the RB pinch grip converter for grippers as pipes, and maybe the silvis adjustable handles

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just tried silvis t rex handles and work well with anything 1/4 (everything bends easy and fast if you have the extended handles), I don't have a thicker bar with me but there is still room for thicker bar with these handles. I don't know if this could damage the handles in the long run

Edited by Evan Raftopoulos
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so I am taking the advice in the first post, and starting with some 3/16" rod, which is $3-$5 for a 4' length at Home Depot(if I remember correctly). If I am able to bend 7" sections of that, then I will cut 6" sections, then 5". Trying to save a buck.

My advice is to save your money and buy 1/4" HRS at Home Depot. Skip the 3/16" CRS entirely. I've seen enough of your videos to know that you will without a doubt roll right through 3/16" CRS. It will be like setting money on fire.

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so I am taking the advice in the first post, and starting with some 3/16" rod, which is $3-$5 for a 4' length at Home Depot(if I remember correctly). If I am able to bend 7" sections of that, then I will cut 6" sections, then 5". Trying to save a buck.

My advice is to save your money and buy 1/4" HRS at Home Depot. Skip the 3/16" CRS entirely. I've seen enough of your videos to know that you will without a doubt roll right through 3/16" CRS. It will be like setting money on fire.

You have a fine way with words! Ha ha ha! All right, all right. I'll take your and Josh's advice, and go for the 1/4" Progress was never made by going the too-easy path. Thank you!

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so I am taking the advice in the first post, and starting with some 3/16" rod, which is $3-$5 for a 4' length at Home Depot(if I remember correctly). If I am able to bend 7" sections of that, then I will cut 6" sections, then 5". Trying to save a buck.

My advice is to save your money and buy 1/4" HRS at Home Depot. Skip the 3/16" CRS entirely. I've seen enough of your videos to know that you will without a doubt roll right through 3/16" CRS. It will be like setting money on fire.

You have a fine way with words! Ha ha ha! All right, all right. I'll take your and Josh's advice, and go for the 1/4" Progress was never made by going the too-easy path. Thank you!

Right on man. I'm not trying to steer you on the path of the bar being too hard either. Cut it to 7" and let it rip. It needs to be hard enough that you feel some significant resistance. But not so hard that it feels impossible. The super easy bends (3/16" CRS) feel great. Because they are super easy. But your biggest bang for the buck is going to be 1/4" HRS.

I have seen total couch potatoes bend 3/16"x7" CRS.

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  • 2 months later...
  • 6 months later...

This may sound like a dumb question: How do you know what style to use? Once you have a preference, is there any advantage to training other styles concurrently?

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Try all of them and see what's best for you. If you want to cert the red nail or bastard you will probably want to use double overhand unless you have freaky strong wrists. 

 

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1 hour ago, Old Dax said:

This may sound like a dumb question: How do you know what style to use? Once you have a preference, is there any advantage to training other styles concurrently?

The majority of people doing big metal use Double Overhand. While there is typically a need to develop flexibility for the starting position it offers great leverage for end-bending nails. 

I would suggest watching videos, reading and trying the various styles and see if any resonate with you more so than others. It also depends what your goals from bending are. Do you want to cert on the red? Looking for wrist strength?

You can train multiple styles at the same time, but personally I would save this until you are more proficient at one style (once you pick one). 

Overall the biggest mistake I personally see with people new to bending is they jump in way to fast. The wraps are too big and the steel too large. Take your time, the toll on your body is real. Stick to IMP's and maybe light suedes while your hands get use to the pressure. 

Hopefully this was somewhat helpful.

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Thanks guys, bending is on my 'wish list' but not looking to cert...yet. I'm hoping to eventually get a 'grip gym' put together at home.

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