I Fought The Steel And The Steel Won.

[Tim71]

Okay, I was feeling good after trying some bigger bends so I decided to try the 1/2 inch (12.73mm) by 8 inch. Big jump up for me but I thought what the heck.

Well, it was a half hour battle and I guess it was sorta a draw. I MAYBE could've finished it if I really threw caution to the wind since I usually don't fail at this point but man my body was telling me to quit while I was ahead. Sometimes it's scary to put SOOO much pressure into something. Really, I decided to not be selfish on this one even though I really wanted this bend but I thought of my health on this one. Maybe I'll finish it next time but man this steel is insane at this length. I guess a sub 90 degree bend isn't bad.

Tim

1/2 inch by 8 inch partial bend

Lord willing we'll get it.

[vikingsrule92]

That's an amazing bend Tim, even if you didn't finish it. I'm sure you'll kill that very soon.

[David Horne]

Tim,

Incredible effort - and there was me pleased with my 9 3/4" partial!

David

[wscorpion]

Very nice work!!!!

Now just use it for ISO's until it moves some more. Eventually you will get it!

[dimmers]

Great work Tim!!! you're the man

[Tim71]

David,

Nice job on that partial, especially pulling it like that. To a pusher like myself that seems crazy. I guess whichever style you don't use always seems like the hardest. BTW, your bend did inspire me to go for the 8 instead of just taking another 1/2 inch off. After I tried some new stuff with some bigger steel I thought of you attempting a piece that was 4.25 inches shorter so I thought shoot for the stars too.

Mark, that's what I'll do with this steel. I'm fairly sure I can move it some more but I'm not real sure about the 2.5 inches. It's going to start having that tendency to flip around like some steel does as it bends. Plus, it's a hand cruncher all the way.

Would've been so great to finish it even though it was nowhere near the 5 minute mark. All I could think was I got the 80d and now I could have a 1/2 inch piece of steel the same length but oh well. Thank the Lord I'm injury free.

Tim

I'm sure you'll kill that very soon.

Makes one of us!

[gazza]

TIM

Thats a very IMPRESSIVE attempt on a BIG piece of steel your makeing me want to hurt myself by wanting to try a piece its only the thought of no work thats stopping me

What do you think or you can do withe 3/8inch square hrs and have you tried any 1/2inch square hrs.

Again a very IMPRESSIVE attempt there my friend and as you said its very hard to work with that short cause of the bend radius it makes thats also another positive for training with stainless.

[neilkaz]

Very impressive, Tim and a fabulous workout it must have been. Will be something to see, once you finish it off !!

.. neilkaz ..

[Scott Styles]

That's a big bend Tim!

[Tim71]

Thanks guys!

Gazza, I've done 3/8 square at 8 inches recently and it was a pretty routine bend for me. I had it on vid but accidentally erased over it but it's okay, it's one I can repeat anytime. I'd say it was similiar in difficulty to a decent 80d only alot different feel. It actually started easier than I would've expected and finished with a harder crush than I would've expected. Like I say similiar overall difficulty but a different animal feel-wise.

I did try a piece of 1/2 inch square a while back with less-than-stellar results. Can't remember the length really but it was a while back. I'll attempt that one again soon though. I'm like you it would be nice to duplicate the 1/2 inch square the the Mighty Atom did but it will be very rough with today's steel. I tried to locate 7/16 inch HRS square also to duplicate a bend you talked about something like 9.75 inches or so. I think I can do that one if I can ever find it and it should be slightly easier than 1/2 inch round if my guess is right. Could suprise me though.

I forgot too the rest of my bends that day. Earlier in the day I had a 2 foot piece of 1/2 inch HRS so I thought I'd try the behind the neck method. Looks cool for shows and it is nice to be well-rounded in this stuff. I'm happy to say that I bent it into a "U" completely around my neck with one hand on each end of the bar. Good workout too and I get the feeling that method could build some muscles pretty fast. After that I made the smallest 1/2 inch "fish" I've ever made and it was pretty cumbersome because of my knuckles wanting to hit each other. Tough pull too.

Later in the day I tried (tried being the optimum word here) a new style on a 5/8 by 24 inch piece of steel. Didn't work at all. The knee pull went good even though it was about all I had to get maybe 30 to 40 degrees, but I couldn't get it from there. I started moving it by wrapping it around my leg but I begin to feel like I was going to snap my own leg so I stopped. Very very tough piece of steel that's going to be a great accomplishment for someone.

Later,

Tim

[ox3782]

Nice work Tim keep hitting it!!!

Brendan

[bencrush]

Awesome bend Tim! Looks like you'll be adding that to the list of accomplishments very soon.

[John Beatty]

Tim-

Be careful with the "around the neck" bends, that's a big pec tearer position. That's why they dropped it from the WSM, too high an injury rate.

Tremendous bends, BTW!

[Tim71]

John,

I'm very fearful of that. You'd know better than me, but would shorter piece of say 1/2 inch steel be less dangerous than a 4 foot piece of 5/8? Doens't feel as dangerous but you can't always go by that. I'm really trying to get into that slowly. I can do more than the 24 incher but I want to build up. I've tried a 4 foot by 5/8 and got a good bend but it felt like stretching out like that may be more likely to tear pectorials. What do you think?

I'll never forget Kaz and Capes trying the 11/16 CRS and both getting injured in 81. Kaz's injury killed his bench pressing for the rest of his life. I believe he would've hit 700 raw and strict if that hadn't happened. Plus the next year he had trouble with the 11/16 HRS where he got that same bend in 80. I love that old footage.

Thanks Ben! I hope to get this one and I think I will but I wouldn't run out and get a loan to bet on me. Even wrapped good and thinking it out the pain was about all I could handle. We'll rest up for a few days and hit it again though and see what happens.

Later,

Tim

[timiacobucci]

Wow, man that is just psychotic. I'm sure you will get it in time but at least for now we know you actually have limits as to how far you can cut down that half inch hrs and still keep bending it. It seemed before like whatever new challange you tried you always got it the first time.

Congratulations on knowing when to quit as well. This is my major weakness, I'm very hard headed and don't know when to stop even when my body is telling me enough is enough. It is one thing to push it and get tougher but nobody gets stronger when they are injured. I am getting a good lesson in humility in that department right now. Hopefully I will remeber it next time I really want to push it and know I should stop. I know how great the temptation must have been to want to kill that bend, it is a huge huge acomplishment. So again you have my respect for the feat itself and for the intelligence to know when to stop.