MEB Boy Posted June 21, 2004 Share Posted June 21, 2004 Does the number on the challenge bar mean how much pressure it takes to bend it. So if a challenge bar is 270k does that mean it takes 270K (594 lbs) to bend it? How do these numbers compare to the IM Red as i thought the Red took 399 lbs (181k - 182k) to bend it? What am I missing, as it looks like there are quite a few challenge bars greater than 270k. Who in the heck can bend a 320k (704 lbs) challenge bar??? thanks, MEB Boy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SqeezeMasterFlash Posted June 21, 2004 Share Posted June 21, 2004 I've heard the 399lb figure for the Red, and the #'s for different nails and challenge bars vary because it's based on how much force to bend them a certain distance. The # to defelct a nail 1" off straight is going to be smaller than the # to bend it 2". Hope that helps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mobsterone Posted June 21, 2004 Share Posted June 21, 2004 On the challenege bars I think David Horne uses a small frame in which the bar sits and with a hook or carabina to which a weight pin has been added will slowly but surely add weight until it starts to go. Myself and Steve Aish (GB member) did a test with a standard 6-inch nail here and we had 125 kilos on it before it went to a right angle. We added the weight and then slowly lifted it keeping our hands v close to the center position. As with the grippers each batch of steel will vary slightly etc but an IM red, as per a post this weekend, takes about 260 kilos to bend. While numbers like 260-450 kilos seem huge you have to remember it is both a question of strength and leverage and it is over a very small distance. Example: your best full range deadlift may well be just 400 pounds but a top posiion partial deadlift may have you doing 800+. same with bench, leg press and squat. The same pseudo science applies to bending. The hardest part for me and for most 'benders' is the initial bend and getting it bent enough so that a chest crush and a 2-hand crush can be applied. For me this really hurts the right wrist and the forearm muscle that tucks under the right bicep (I tend to brace with the left and push/bend with the right) - esp if pushing/bending for any real length of time. Once the bend has been started it gets easier and easier and I suspect that the kilos/poundage required will be a lot less. Hope this helps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AP Posted June 21, 2004 Share Posted June 21, 2004 (edited) The numbers signify how much weight it takes hanging off of a loading pin to bend the bar. The # system was a rating done by Terry Duty, and also used by Tom Black. The challenge bars are rated by David Horne and are always rated in kilos. Basically the difference comes down to how they were tested. DH's rating system yeilds much higher numbers for the same steel just based on his setup. So, even though a blue nail ranks out at about 200lbs on Terry's site and about 180kilos according to DH, what's important is not the number but how difficult the steel is in relation to other bends. A 200 kilo bar is tougher than a 180kilo bar and a 250lb bar is tougher than a 200lber. Edited June 21, 2004 by AP Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick Browne Posted June 21, 2004 Share Posted June 21, 2004 I know it to be impossible, but I think to get the correct psi required to bend a bar would be to put test loads on each ends of the bar until it does bend. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clay Edgin Posted June 21, 2004 Share Posted June 21, 2004 AP hit upon a good point. It's not necessarily the exact poundage/kilo rating you should look at, but how that compares to what you are currently bending now. Terry Duty's red nail test says that the RED only bent like 3 or 7 degrees with 399lbs on it. From what I have read on here, guys who are taking down the 280k and 290k bars end up killing the red monster very shortly thereafter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mobsterone Posted June 21, 2004 Share Posted June 21, 2004 I know it to be impossible, but I think to get the correct psi required to bend a bar would be to put test loads on each ends of the bar until it does bend. Wouldn't work to answer the question. A 'bender' needs to know how much pressure or strength he/she needs to bend it. Not what a scientific test comes up with. In fairness none of the 'tests' so far are any better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick Browne Posted June 21, 2004 Share Posted June 21, 2004 QUOTE (zcor @ Jun 21 2004, 04:10 PM) I know it to be impossible, but I think to get the correct psi required to bend a bar would be to put test loads on each ends of the bar until it does bend. Wouldn't work to answer the question. A 'bender' needs to know how much pressure or strength he/she needs to bend it. Not what a scientific test comes up with. In fairness none of the 'tests' so far are any better. I was extrapolating how the steel industry performs a psi bending test on coldrolled steel, by placing loading weight in equal amounts to each end of a test bar until it bends in the middle. Impossible on such short length bars such as the "Red" though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MEB Boy Posted June 21, 2004 Author Share Posted June 21, 2004 Thanks all, You all gave some very enlighting info on my question. It was very educational. I initially thought it was "a stupid question" to ask, even though I didn't know the answer . Later, MEB Boy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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