airdevil Posted October 10, 2007 Share Posted October 10, 2007 Just wanted to here any feedback from some more experienced benders. I can bend a 6" G5 Bolt... Can't budge a Red Nail. How much harder/longer did it take form the 6" G5 to bend a 6" G8 and then the Red Nail.... Any comments??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim71 Posted October 10, 2007 Share Posted October 10, 2007 Hmmm. Tought to say exactly as I experimented alot but as I recall I think the jump to G8 was kinda rough for me from the G5. Then, the 7 inch length proved extremely hard for me for quite a while. I actually had to work on 7 inch stuff simultaniously with the G5 to G8 progression. I suggest starting with 7 inch stock with what you can bend. Possibly 1/4 hex or so. Then I went to 5/16 A36 HRS which when I finally got it to budge, it was all mine. From there it was to some chinese 70d nails that cal'd at 295. Then 9/32 drill rod, then 5/16 zinc plated steel works then 5/16 CRS from steel works. Through some 1/4 inch FBBC square in there about this time. From there I did some tough 70d nails that cal'd at 415 lbs then finally one of the new reds that hit 460 lbs. It was a great feeling to get that legendary piece of steel. People always used to see the red as the next step up from the G8 and it is kinda but the length can really make it difficult. Even if you get some of the 5/16 zinc plated from the hardware stores then it will tell you which way you need to go. It's significantly easier than a red or bastard but still a very good bend. Hope this helps! Tim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
climber511 Posted October 10, 2007 Share Posted October 10, 2007 Technique is huge in bending. I was stuck at G5 for a long time - Franky visited me and showed me better body positions - 3 minutes later I bent a G8 and 5 min later a cut G8 to 90 degrees. Then came 7" stuff and I had a hard time adjusting to the length which seems pretty normal. Having the strength to bend a Red is not enough - you have to be able to put yourself into position to utilize that strength - which is at least as important to your success. Don't make the mistake of working hard bends all the time to reach your goal - if your goal is a certain length, for example the Red which is 7", then work the flexibility and positions until you can use what strength you have. Then do a variety of strengths at that length and build yourself up gradually to avoid injury. At some point your technical skills and your strength will equal out and that will be your true limit until your gain strength. Good Luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timiacobucci Posted October 10, 2007 Share Posted October 10, 2007 I am right in this range right now. I just got my first chance as some graded bolts and had some fun. I got a 5" g5 and a 7" g8 and later a 6" g8. I'm not sure why but I thought the g8 was gonna be allot harder than it was. The crush is not overrated though I will tell you that. I got it to 2" easy but I like to go as far as I can, after a big fight it isn't moving more than 1 1/8", I think I can actually touch the ends like this and they just spring back. Anyways I have been aiming for 5/16" and have had a hell of a time adjusting to 7", but what has really helped me so far is doing some 8" stuff, even if you aren't at g8 or square stock yet I would say to start it early in preperation for the red or bastard. I got about a 5 degree kink the other day. Felt waaaay better hitting the 7" after the isos I've been doing on the 8"s. One other thing that just clicked for me was spreading the fulcrum? load at the pointer finger to both it and the middle somewhat, the pain was allot less and the force has a much greater area to dissipate over and you can apply allot more force. If you look close at allot of the big benders I think this is how they do it too. You just need to open the pointer up a tiny bit instead of a straight death grip and it feels allot different. Unfortunately my middle finger is not toughened at all for this and got really beat up and now I need to wait for that to toughen up too to keep going. Also I think for the same length that square stock is harder than g8 so I would go to that after g8 or start hitting the square at 8". Damn Tim, you had like 4 steps at 5/16" before the steelworks stuff, maybe I am even skipping a few steps too. Where do you guestimate the 9/32 drill rod and zinc plated 5/16 weigh in at? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bencrush Posted October 10, 2007 Share Posted October 10, 2007 Tim, the rating I've seen for 9/32" Drill Rod was 310 pounds at 7". It's great stuff for progression. A 7" Grade 8 would rate around 322 pounds. And the 1/4"X7" Square-FBBC rates around 380 pounds. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timiacobucci Posted October 10, 2007 Share Posted October 10, 2007 Ya I see your right. 5/16x7" Steel Works HRS=380 1/4" SQUARE 7"=380 I think they seriously must mislabel some of the steelworks hrs because there is no way that 1/4" square I can destroy now at 7" is anywhere close to the 5/16" I have, there is a world of difference. I really expect to be able to get a bastard soon after I can bend the steelworks stuff I have now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
airdevil Posted October 10, 2007 Author Share Posted October 10, 2007 Thanks for all your input... one more thing... do you all bend with IronMind cordura or leather? I have both and it seems a bit easier to bend with the leather. Obviously double wrapping the leather will increase leverage, I suppose If I am training for the Red Nail cert then I should just stick with the cordura pads. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EricMilfeld Posted October 10, 2007 Share Posted October 10, 2007 Ya I see your right. 5/16x7" Steel Works HRS=380 1/4" SQUARE 7"=380 I think they seriously must mislabel some of the steelworks hrs because there is no way that 1/4" square I can destroy now at 7" is anywhere close to the 5/16" I have, there is a world of difference. I really expect to be able to get a bastard soon after I can bend the steelworks stuff I have now. The Steel Works does vary a lot. The round 5/16" version has ranged from 560 to 615 at 7", and I only tested a few different batches. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
acorn Posted October 10, 2007 Share Posted October 10, 2007 Ya I see your right. 5/16x7" Steel Works HRS=380 1/4" SQUARE 7"=380 I think they seriously must mislabel some of the steelworks hrs because there is no way that 1/4" square I can destroy now at 7" is anywhere close to the 5/16" I have, there is a world of difference. I really expect to be able to get a bastard soon after I can bend the steelworks stuff I have now. The Steel Works does vary a lot. The round 5/16" version has ranged from 560 to 615 at 7", and I only tested a few different batches. Eric do you mean the 3/8 version? - Aaron Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EricMilfeld Posted October 10, 2007 Share Posted October 10, 2007 Ya I see your right. 5/16x7" Steel Works HRS=380 1/4" SQUARE 7"=380 I think they seriously must mislabel some of the steelworks hrs because there is no way that 1/4" square I can destroy now at 7" is anywhere close to the 5/16" I have, there is a world of difference. I really expect to be able to get a bastard soon after I can bend the steelworks stuff I have now. The Steel Works does vary a lot. The round 5/16" version has ranged from 560 to 615 at 7", and I only tested a few different batches. Eric do you mean the 3/8 version? - Aaron Oops! Yes, 3/8" version. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brad Manion Posted October 10, 2007 Share Posted October 10, 2007 Take what I say with a grain of salt, for I just started bending the Bastards and haven't tried a Red yet under IM conditions. My experience parallels Tim T's post in a lot of ways. Once I kinda figured out the DO style, I was able to kill the 6" x 1/4" G5 no problem, though it was noticeabl tougher than the 60d nails I'd been bending for awhile. Like Tim, it took me a little while to make the jump from 1/4" G5 to 1/4" G8. After a few months, I was fairly consistent with the 6" x 1/4" Grade 8 stuff, and occasionally would get a 5-1/2" or even 5" x 1/4" G8 with a lot of effort. Fast forward a bit, and I hadn't bent much due to my focus on powerlifting competitions. I found that on a good day, I might be able to bend a 6" x 1/4" G8, but anything tougher would just kick my ass. Then, after attending GripFest a month or so ago, I learned that coaching and proper form are key. After Ben Edwards and Scott Harris tweaked my form ever so slightly, everything fell into place, and I've been able to kill the tough (5/16" round) stuff ever since with little problems at all. All that being said, I do bend with double leather wraps, so it may be a little bit before I can for IM-Red certification, but I'd say that since the Bastard and Red are at least close to each other in difficulty, if you can consistently bend anything in the 6" (or less) x 1/4" G8 range, you are ready to start bending the Red (with the same type/thickness of wraps you were using to bend the G8 bolts). Good luck to you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim71 Posted October 10, 2007 Share Posted October 10, 2007 The steel works 5/16 zinc plated cal'd at 325 a while back. It's easier than both the HRS and CRS of the steel works variety. They were noticably tougher. Very similiar difficulty to the 9/32 drill rod but the drill rod had a tougher crush where the zinc was much harder to get a kink. Hope this helps. Tim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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