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ID this Gripper? Tetting / Early IM?


eman

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This gripper just sold over the weekend on Ebay for $232.50! I reached out to Joe Musselwhite and some others to gather as much info on it as I could. Best guess at this point is that it is a pre-IM Tetting. Seems like a pretty steep price for such a gripper.   Curious to know if anyone else has any ideas? 

I did reach out to the seller and they did not have any knowledge of the gripper.

gripper2.thumb.jpg.22564448713f972d8e006304ed2f16b4.jpg

Gripper1.jpg

grippper3.jpg

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Could this be a Silver Crush gripper? I've never seen a photo of it so I am just guessing. But from Knowledge. Warren made the first batch of grippers for IM and it was called Silver Crush. 

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Is it even a Tetting gripper the knurling looks different to any I've seen. Early grippers are starting to hit $200 often now usually in good condition but guess as its an odd ball people will pay more.

Its not a silver crush here is a pic of one.

s-l1600gripper1.jpg

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You are correct and others have confirmed it is not a Silver Crush. Tetting did make grippers for Ironmind prior to the Silver Crush which did not come out until Late 1990. I also noticed the knurling and wondered if and when he changed it.

My best guess is this is either a gripper he made for ironmind in late 89 or early 1990 or was just a gripper he offered prior to his dealings with Ironmind. Tetting was also to my knowledge the only one using the pins  to hold the handles on at that time as his early prototypes or prone to breaking at the weld.

 

 

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but it is way cool 

it would be nice to have in a collection 

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6 hours ago, Busa said:

Is it even a Tetting gripper the knurling looks different to any I've seen. Early grippers are starting to hit $200 often now usually in good condition but guess as its an odd ball people will pay more.

Its not a silver crush here is a pic of one.

s-l1600gripper1.jpg

This isn’t the Silver Crush that is being referenced…although, the grippers after the original Silver Crush -the one above…still carried the name.

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On 9/27/2022 at 5:08 PM, Cannon said:

I thought Silver Crush grippers had pinned handles? 

EDIT: I now see that Busa clearly wasn't saying it was a Silver Crush. Sorry!

I believe the gripper that @Busa posted is simply an early IronMind gripper with steel handles. That would not be Silver Crush. 

I believe that a true Silver Crush gripper will have chromed steel handles which are pinned on the spring. Then for a very short period of time, IronMind made production grippers with steel handles. Those are also exceedingly rare. 

There are quite a few old topics where this is discussed and confirmed. 

 

 

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On 9/26/2022 at 1:19 PM, eman said:

My best guess is this is either a gripper he made for ironmind in late 89 or early 1990 or was just a gripper he offered prior to his dealings with Ironmind. Tetting was also to my knowledge the only one using the pins  to hold the handles on at that time as his early prototypes or prone to breaking at the weld.

This is a good guess. Silver Crush grippers also had number stamps and the bevels were never rounded like yours in any pictures I can find. I think this is simply an early custom-made Tetting gripper. Not related to IronMind at all.  

One thing I do know is that Warren worked on steel items, but not aluminum. Someone else made his aluminum handles for him. But when a steel handle was called for, he often made that himself. The bevels were often crude and clearly handmade with a file. The handles in your photo have that look. His steel extended handle Beef Builders are a good example of this. 

498D7084-8C4F-44F9-B3D1-D5C09508BC34.jpeg

@eman Will a magnet stick to the handle? That would be interesting to know. I bet it does.  

 

 

 

 

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Cannon,

I didn't win the auction I tapped out long before the $200 dollar mark🤨. I did reach out to the seller to see if the winner of the auction had any input on the time frame. I'd just wasn't aware that early Tetting grippers could bring that kind of dough.  Funny I actually haven't done any grippers in a very long time and just happened to notice this on Ebay as I was starting up again. I think I'll be spending some cash on those Standard grippers here pretty soon to help close some gaps but for now even the #2 is a challenge all over again.

Different Topic but I did finally get around to using the CPW bumper and I'm so impressed with how well that works! Excellent product BTW.

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The standard grippers are well worth the money 

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