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Modified Gripper Directions


Tom Black

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    Now that I've heard from a few people who are modifying their

grippers in accordance with my experiments I thought I would post a picture

showing my actual gripper and a description of how it is modified.

    Here is a picture of the bottom of the handle of the modified gripper.  The

picture also shows the file that I used to shorten the handle 1/32" to 1/16"

at a time.  Click on the picture for an even larger version if you can't see

it clearly:

Article....er=

    The first step when modifying a gripper is to file off the initial

bevel of the gripper (or cut with a hack saw if the modification is large,

but be warned that ¼" off a gripper is quite a bit of change).  Then the

outside edge of the handle is beveled holding the file as shown.

    Once I created the initial round bevel each time I modified the gripper I

simply flattened off the round part you see in the picture and the

re-created the round part by angling the file as shown.  While I don't have

an SOS press in which to check the strength of the gripper after the

modifications, I estimate that the gripper gets at least 5-pounds-inch

stronger for each 1/16" removed.  Hence, if you modify a gripper, be

conservative.  While you can cut off ¼" off of a #2, this would increase the strength of the gripper by 20 pounds-inch, which is quite a bit.  I believe cutting

1/16" off a #3 gripper would yield even more of a change per 1/16".

    Technically, no bevel is needed at all, you can simply file flat and

then remove any burrs on the sharp edge.  However, the round bevel looks

good and it turns out that it is easier to file this way.  Also, you do not

really need to measure how much is being filed with each modification; simply

re-creating the "button" takes off about 1/32".

  As far as training with this gripper, I was able to do reps until it got above the strength of the BB Master, now I can only do timed holds and singles.  I could really tell when it got stronger than the Master, which now seems easy to me.   This gripper is probably half way between the Master and #3 (I guess a 2.75).  I made another modified gripper Tuesday, and will attempt to tweak it to be a "2.9" gripper (for lack of a better term, because I don't know the poundage's).

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Mr. Black

Following your example I began to modify my BB Master and so far I have cut 3/8 of an inch off it.  It's still isn't as hard as my #3.  Is this on par with your findings?

I would also like to congratulate you on your fine achievements.  To my knowledge only one man has closed the #3 and bent the red bar, and that's John Brookfield.

Thanks,

Jesse Murray

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Very nice, clean modifications Tom.  Thanks for sharing your method- it's good to know that it's not all madness :) :)

BC.

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   I am perplexed by your findings on the BB Master, but it is possible.  Cutting off 3/8” from the Master should make a very hard gripper, to my mind, as hard as a new number 3.  It could also be that your #3 is a hard #3 (this is actually very likely the more I think about it).    Are you closing this gripper?  If not, it might be hard to tell the difference between the #3 and the modified Master.  Months ago some people did report that they had Masters that were not much different than their #2 grippers; this could also be the reason for the discrepancy.  I used a –3/8” #2 today in my workout and just closed it, thus it is not as strong as the #3.  A true Master gripper should have very wide handles (over 8 cm width in between) and the handles should be deeply mounted into the spring.  One correction, I have not quite closed the #3 gripper, and can only warp the Ironmind Red bar about 1/16” all in my hands with bracing.  I’m close on both accounts, but not quite there yet.

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Guest Russell Latterman

I modified A #1 about 7 or 8 months ago before I could close the #2.  It didn't work very well (I couldn't get it to be much harder) so I didn't use it much.  Recently filed off a full 3/4 of an inch on each handle.  If I were to file off any more, the gripper would be too small for my hand.  Even with this huge modification, it is still easier than my #2.  It is also easier than my friends #2.  I wanted to make it like a 2.5, but I can't get it any tougher.  Because of this, I'm surprised that you can turn a #2 into a #3 so easily.  

I'm also surprised that everyone likes the idea of modifying the grippers now.  I made a post about filing down the handles to make the grippers harder when I first thought of it (about 7 months ago), but nobody liked the idea of permanently altering the gripper.  There are also probably others who thought of it before I did.  I'm glad people finally see how useful it is.

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    I’ve never modified a #1 so I really have no idea how much you would need to modify it to make a #2.  I’ve tried some newer #1 grippers and they seem pretty flimsy, so I think that could be the problem.  I have said in some posts and maybe my log that the point is not to turn one gripper into another.   After all, you can simply use the gripper with the bigger spring.  To me, this is a way of micro progressing from one gripper to the next.  I have two different modified grippers now, both have 3/8” cut off of them and I can close them both.  They are stronger than my Master, but they are not as strong as my #3, but I never said they were.  The original #2 I modified was a very difficult #2 to begin with (One handle was mounted really deep into the spring). The jury is still out how much I need to cut off these #2 grippers to be equal to the #3.  I don’t intend to go that far, leaving one gripper at about “2.7” and one at “2.8”  I’m guessing when I say cutting off ½” is enough.  For those who want to test this without modifying a gripper simply grip up on your #2.  It would be interesting to see how far people who can close the #3 can grip up on a number 2 and still close it.  

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