What To Bend?

[Jonathan Barlow]

There are so many options. Rod, nails, and bolts being the most common, I assume. I see in one of the stickies that round stock from a steel supplier is recommended as the most economic, but I was curious what people actually train with the most. If it happens to be nails and bolts, what do you think of clipping the heads? I just purchased bolt cutters and I think every bender should have a pair. Cut your own rod with ease, clip the heads off of nails and bolts. Much more convenient than tightening up the vice and then hacking or pluging in the sawzall. I got 24" cutters and I was estatic with the way it went through my 5/16 plate steel like butter.

[gazza]

Jonathon

As a beginner if i was you i would buy alot of 60d nails and some easy bolts to start with and bend as many as you can each bending session dont cut off the heads and tips of the nails and bolts as these help toughen up the hands but make shure you wrap them enough not to get a puncture wound plus a bent nail or bolt with the head and tip on gives you more kudos here it looks visually more impressive.

As you get a feel for the bending buy some 1/4inch round HRS[hot rolled steel] and CRS [cold rolled steel] and experiment with that then as you get better look for some 1/4inch square CRS steel and some g5 and g8 bolts then some 5/16inch round HRS and CRS bars and just digest the info and videos of bending here and away you go.

You can also if you want to measure up against people here bending wise perchase a benders bag from FBBC sponsors link at the top of the page enter then go to benders bag click on this and there are 2 chioces beginners bag and advanced bag these have everything you need to progress with and measure yourself against other benders that are useing these established products the bending lists here that ERIC Milfeld puts up are of peoples bends useing mostly the fbbc stock and other stock from a company called IRONMIND looking at these lists you can see what a particular bar takes to bend poundage wise and also what you need to be able to bend to get onto these lists.

good luck and enjoy the journey.

[Tim71]

One thing I might add that has come into my philosophy lately and that is to bend whatever keeps you excited about bending. Whatever you look at when it's bent and makes you feel like you've got a good trophy. For some it's cut steel, for some it's bolts nails etc. Gazza can tell you better than anybody how to get better and reach the top (and bust right though it) but always make sure to bend some pieces that keeps it fun for you and not all work. That's what I have to do. I like bending different things even if it's not a great challenge for me. I've got some 70d nails that I just love to bend. They're not my hardest bend but they're just neat in my eyes and I like to bend on every now and then.

You can have TONS of fun with this "hobby" and get it great shape along with it. Plus the wow factor doesn't hurt either.

Have fun!

Tim

[gazza]

Yep i totally agree with TIM keep it FUN

If i was starting again i would try as many bending styles as i could think of braced and unbraced and always keep your first bends of a particular steel,bar,bolt,nail,horshoe,wrench whatever these are great to look back on and see how far you have come and like tim says some of the bent stuff makes great trophies.

It can be costly and end up an obsession but i think you will find it well worth it.

[dimmers]

Good replies, but two great benders! i agree a lot with what they've said, as keeping it fun will keep you interested in the long run.

My own personal experience (although its not been that long) is to mix it up all the time, although you may prefer one style of bending over another, try as many different styles as you can as it will make you a better bender overall.

Also invest in some steel that you can use for Isometrics, as this form of training will greatly benefit you further on down the line.

Just make sure you build a good strength base before going crazy on that steel, as it can be fairly easy to injure yourself with bending.

Good luck with your training! i'm sure you'll have loads of fun

[gerryg]

There is all kinds of good stuff here!

http://www.fatbastardbarbellco.com/BENDERSBAG.html

[crobb1320]

lots of great replies here.i agree with the bolt cutters,if you got a long peice of stock it is definitely the fastest/easiest way to cut it up. isometrics is agreat way to train. i also train d.o. crushdown on a #3 gripper.i am still new to bending but i have not clipped any heads off of nails or bolts yet. good luck with your bending.

[Jonathan Barlow]

Wow thanks for the great advice everyone. I've done a wee bit of bending and I'm familiar with IM, etc, but I'm sure I could learn a lot more. Could you elaborate on the isometrics or link me?

[vikingsrule92]

Wow thanks for the great advice everyone. I've done a wee bit of bending and I'm familiar with IM, etc, but I'm sure I could learn a lot more. Could you elaborate on the isometrics or link me?

Isometrics is when you take a bar you can't bend and cheat kink it to a certain degree that is usually your sticking point. You then attempt to bend it and place all the pressure you can on it for 8-10 secs. at a time. This is my understanding of it and hopefully this makes sense

[Jonathan Barlow]

Sounds cool, so it basically means "try, and don't give up for some amount of time", sort of like trying to pull a tree out of the ground? I like it.

[dimmers]

Sounds cool, so it basically means "try, and don't give up for some amount of time", sort of like trying to pull a tree out of the ground? I like it.

Exactly right! Just take it easy to start off with as ISO work can be very intense... and remember to breathe when doing ISO work as well, sounds silly i know but you can end up holding your breath without really knowing it while blasting those ISO bars which isn't good for you.

[Jonathan Barlow]

It's true I do have trouble remembering to breathe... it's kind of important!