Possible Stupid Levering Question

[polemides19]

What constitutes a full lever of a sledge hammer?

I have a 10lb sledge that I train with and I have short arms (or maybe a really long sledge handle )

When I have the sledge from nose to full extension of my arm, there is still 6" or so of handle past my hand. If I (could) lever with my hand at the bottom of the handle, the hammerhead will be and the far side of my head.

thanks

[SqeezeMasterFlash]

A full lever takes place when the handle of the hammer is parallel to the ground and the arm is extended to the side as far as possible. This created the maximum amount of force on the wrist.

Check out Tom Black's site. He's doing a strict lever of two clubbells here http://www.bigsteel.iwarp.com/

[Matt Brouse]

Is there any type of set standard as far as the length of the handle?

[polemides19]

Is there any type of set standard as far as the length of the handle?

That's the heart of the question. If the handle is arm's length or does it have to be the full 33" handle. Not very good at phrasing questions today.

[SqeezeMasterFlash]

As long as it's parallel to the ground you're doing well. Get as far down the handle as you can. Most sledges have the 33" handle, so I suppose that would be the standard for someone saying they levered a sledge. With a little math you can figure out the same amount of torque with a shorter handle by adding more weight. That way someone with shorter arms could do the double overhead lever without the hammers hitting each other.

Math example (anyone smarter than me feel free to correct this is my labeling is wrong )

16lb hammer on a 33" handle is 528 in/lbs

if you use a 24" handle to get 528 in/lbs you need to use 22lbs

[polemides19]

Thanks for the help!

[polemides19]

But it should be measured in ft/lbs. So a 33" handle is 2.75 ft so for a 16lb sledge it would be 44 ft/lbs of torque at the wrist. Sure brings the numbers down doesn't it?

[ishred]

ummm....44ft=528inches....

call it foot or inches...doens't matter.