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Ironmind Gripper Evolution


Brett H

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Mighty Joe has asked me to re-post the Ironmind Gripper timeline which had been previously posted on another thread. This is the final revision of the timeline and should be an accurate depiction of the evolution of Ironmind grippers. Considering the Ironmind grippers are arguably one of the most important developments in grip strength history, this would be a more appropriate place for the timeline. If any revisions need to be made please let me know.

Microsoft Word - Ironmind_timeline.pdf

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THANKS for posting this Brett!

Great work here buddy!!!

Much appreciated!!!

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Joe will have hundreds of grippers to examine at this years Summerstrong 6 on June 22 2013. There are so many there to identify and be given their proper place in the evolution of grippers.

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I was treated to meeting James Retarides his son, Jason Otto ,and Ronnie Miller yesterday at the after party Iron tossing following Summerstrong6.Flanked by Bob Sundin we had some fun. James was kind enough to show and let me give a jaundiced squeeze to a pair of truly off the chart IM grippers . There was a 3 and 4 though not heavily ( guess why) used were just amazing how difficult they were. I don't think I ever felt any so hard to even start to squeeze. The grippers appeared to be several years old.I would think the 3 easily would equal a 3.5 or even a bit more. The 4 was like crushing a brick. It is good to see different grippers than your used to and share information adding to the interest and lore of the instruments of grip. I saw the future of grip in the eyes of James' son.

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I was treated to meeting James Retarides his son, Jason Otto ,and Ronnie Miller yesterday at the after party Iron tossing following Summerstrong6.Flanked by Bob Sundin we had some fun. James was kind enough to show and let me give a jaundiced squeeze to a pair of truly off the chart IM grippers . There was a 3 and 4 though not heavily ( guess why) used were just amazing how difficult they were. I don't think I ever felt any so hard to even start to squeeze. The grippers appeared to be several years old.I would think the 3 easily would equal a 3.5 or even a bit more. The 4 was like crushing a brick. It is good to see different grippers than your used to and share information adding to the interest and lore of the instruments of grip. I saw the future of grip in the eyes of James' son.

I felt of the grippers James had with him as well and they are exactly as you describe Richard!

They were both IM single stamp grippers with clear bands and both were way harder than their designated #'s!

Glad to see James and his buddies getting involved in Grip! Some more good people added to a growing

world wide family!!!

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  • 4 months later...
Does anyone have pictures of Old Black CoC (1990), with black steel no

knurling handles???

I have never seen any pictures of these grippers.
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Does anyone have pictures of Old Black CoC (1990), with black steel no
knurling handles???
I have never seen any pictures of these grippers.

To be honest with you I have never seen one. I have been told by others about them and I still wonder if my timeline is correct in stating that these have no knurling. I still think guys many years ago had stated that these had knurling? I would ask someone who has a lot of knowledge about the older grippers like David Horne or Richard Sorin.

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IHckjKlKr8U.jpgL8qcWhbUO48.jpgqcL79H5CrPk.jpg

Does anyone have pictures of Old Black CoC (1990), with black steel no
knurling handles???
I have never seen any pictures of these grippers.

To be honest with you I have never seen one. I have been told by others about them and I still wonder if my timeline is correct in stating that these have no knurling. I still think guys many years ago had stated that these had knurling? I would ask someone who has a lot of knowledge about the older grippers like David Horne or Richard Sorin.

qcL79H5CrPk.jpgIHckjKlKr8U.jpgL8qcWhbUO48.jpg

What do you think - it could be one of them? But he has a chrome spring. And was all painted brown. The diameter of the spring, like the СоС №2

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Wow, I am not sure. I have possessed all types of grippers on my timeline except the "Old Black" and the old Ironman which is a Tetting gripper before Ironmind, so my personal knowledge of IM grippers really starts with the Silver Crush grippers. The old Ironman have a black spring as far as I know so I am not sure exactly what this gripper is? It definitely looks to be a Tetting gripper. Mr. Tetting did use chrome springs for the Silver Crush grippers in 1991 so I would suppose it is possible to have used chrome springs in 1990 when the "Old Blacks" were made. Very interesting! I would still try to ask the guys I previously mentioned or Dr. Strossen.

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The "prove it" gripper that was sent to me by warren Tetting to be sure my claim and secretary that ordered them for me to closing his correct super heavy duty in the late 80s (shortly he began building for IM )was a black spring knurled handled gripper that Warren painted a special red color and asked if while closed in my hand a picture could be taken. This was respectfully required by him to accept the validity of the feat.So ,that I guess was his up to the minute last gripper before he started with IM and represented the gripper by his word "no one could close".This gripper remember had .281 spring that had replaced the .277 he was no longer able to secure as in years before for the Super. The first grippers he made for IM were of the same configuration and wire size with the exception of being chromed on both spring and handle.

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So just to clarify Mr. Sorin; the first IM gripper, the "old black" as it has been called, had a black spring with black knurled handles? If so, I need to change the info on the timeline because I listed this gripper as non-knuled.

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I have seen and squeezed both Paul Anderson' s and Terry Todd's. Super duty grippers of the mid to late 60s. They had smooth black handle, tethered black spring( an s shaped wire choker) wire diameter of .277. In later years of the 80s the .277 spring according directly to Warren Tetting was no longer available so the .281 black spring was used and the black steel knurled grip ( at least what he sent to test me painted red) when he started building the first IM grippers the handle and spring were both plated and .281. I worked with him a day in his shop building grippers and the spring depth was set by eye so early differences in his and I M grippers could easily stemmed from this. I still have the gripper he sent me prior to 1991 the "prove it gripper" along with a few during the transition period in 1990-1991. They all are of that" hand crafted "look and knurled. I will check if I have any others that differ.

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  • 1 year later...

I have seen and squeezed both Paul Anderson' s and Terry Todd's. Super duty grippers of the mid to late 60s. They had smooth black handle, tethered black spring( an s shaped wire choker) wire diameter of .277. In later years of the 80s the .277 spring according directly to Warren Tetting was no longer available so the .281 black spring was used and the black steel knurled grip ( at least what he sent to test me painted red) when he started building the first IM grippers the handle and spring were both plated and .281. I worked with him a day in his shop building grippers and the spring depth was set by eye so early differences in his and I M grippers could easily stemmed from this. I still have the gripper he sent me prior to 1991 the "prove it gripper" along with a few during the transition period in 1990-1991. They all are of that" hand crafted "look and knurled. I will check if I have any others that differ.

Paul Anderson squeezed grippers? I want to hear more about this. The Dixie Derrick is a hero of mine.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Paul was very creative in his training making due with what he had available. He had simple fabricated barbells , spotter systems and smaller portable strength tools for his many exhibitions. At the 50 year anniversary of the Paul Anderson youth home there were pieces displayed for visitors to see. He had a spring bull horn type chest crusher( could barely move it) spring .277 Iron Man Tetting gripper, a 50lb. round bell with a finger loop so the weight could be held out to the side using the small finger. Paul's hands were not huge and there was not evidence in the small weight room or collection shown of any grip specialization pieces. Both Dr.Todds gripper he used as a "calling card" and Anderson's were similar in construction and feel. I was permitted to try and did close both of them.

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  • 1 year later...

Here is a picture of my # 2 & # 3 Silver Crush grippers. they are still in "Like New" condition.

SilverCrushGrippers.jpg

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  • 1 month later...
On ‎20‎/‎11‎/‎2013 at 8:00 PM, Brett H said:

So just to clarify Mr. Sorin; the first IM gripper, the "old black" as it has been called, had a black spring with black knurled handles? If so, I need to change the info on the timeline because I listed this gripper as non-knuled.

Hi Brett, do you plan to include the Left hand CoCs?

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On 3/10/2017 at 6:32 AM, Old Dax said:

Hi Brett, do you plan to include the Left hand CoCs?

Since both the Zenith grippers and the Left Turn grippers kind of "branched out" from the main IM grippers, as well as the fact that the interest didn't seem so high on these grippers, I hadn't planned on including them but if people would like me to do so, I can add them.

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On 2/3/2017 at 7:05 PM, OregonTod said:

Here is a picture of my # 2 & # 3 Silver Crush grippers. they are still in "Like New" condition.

SilverCrushGrippers.jpg

Very nice! I only have a #1 Silver Crush. These grippers are SO hard to find.

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1 hour ago, Brett H said:

Very nice! I only have a #1 Silver Crush. These grippers are SO hard to find.

I read in Ironmind's CoC gripper book that most of the Silver Crush grippers that were out there are broken now. I quit using mine after reading this and now just have them on display in my collection. That's crazy you have the one that I don't have and I have the two that you don't have, between the two of us we have the set :)

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4 minutes ago, OregonTod said:

I read in Ironmind's CoC gripper book that most of the Silver Crush grippers that were out there are broken now. I quit using mine after reading this and now just have them on display in my collection. That's crazy you have the one that I don't have and I have the two that you don't have, between the two of us we have the set :)

Yeah, I have spoken with Warren Tetting many times about this and he has always said those chrome springs were prone to breakage. Our combined grippers are actually one short of a set - we still need the Trainer, which may me the hardest of all to find since it would have the weakest and likely most used spring!

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  • 2 years later...

\

This was even before the chrome spring and pin. They were actually welded at the spring which really caused them to snap. Because of the heat and rapid cooling. My dad Gary "the Gripper" Stich would use these ones as warm ups before his famous grip machine and they would often break on him. Being a welder himself, he suggested they do a pin to hold it in place instead of the welding.

thumbnail.thumb.jpg.31f25a7984e6c9038112340b8fb8b4b4.jpg

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