Braced And Un-braced

[Lukeallard]

Hello there!

I've been closing grippers for a while and now I want to start bending some steel.

My question is - what is the difference between a braced bend and an un-braced bend?

Thanks,

Luke

[maximus1]

http://www.gripboard.com/index.php?showtopic=23659

http://www.gripboard.com/index.php?showtopic=11889

[Tim71]

Typically, as a general rule, 7 inches and under are expected to be bent unbraced unless it's an odd object like a wrench or something. Unbraced is when you just make contact with the bar or nail with your hands, and your hands aren't braced against anything to give extra strength. These are not the specific rules but only the general ideas. You're allowed to put your hands against your body above the pecs to steady your hands.

Braced is basically what you do on anything 8 inches and longer and any body part is fair game except maybe the feet if you want to get on David's list. You use a body part as a fulcrum in braced bending and as a result you usually move some bigger steel. Bend around your knee, over the thigh, over the head, around the neck etc. are all examples of braced bending. Obviously you can't wedge it against the ground although some do that for scrolling shapes.

If you go to youtube and search "timshobbies" it will pull up my three videos and you can see an example of braced bending where I bend a 5 piece set of craftsman wrenches then the other will be a vid of unbraced where I bend some FBBC stock.

I really like both and both will give you a workout. Braced is more my thing right now though but it's personal preference. I go back and forth.

You can have a lot of fun with it and people really enjoy seeing stuff bent.

Have fun!

Tim

[antarath]

Tim

haha I love your encyclopedic-like posts Great stuff. You're good at explaining things.

Mats

[Lukeallard]

Tim,

Thanks for your reply.

I'm now off to do some bending....

Luke