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Hair dryer: the key to close a higher gripper ?


amaury

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Hi everybody,

let me explain the topic title: today i tried for the first time to clean my grippers. So i washed them with water and soap and then i used a hair dryer to remove all the water.

Right after that i tried to close my #2 and...done !

Yesterday i was still 3mm from closing it  :0 ...

It's clear that the temperature has influence on a spring resistance but that much ?! And i didn't even use the hottest position on my hair dryer.

Have you experienced the same thing ?

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If you set the dryer on 'permanent curl' does the

gripper remain shut after you close it?

BarBender or Nathan: Will this amount of heat damage

the gripper if someone were to use this heat treatment

to close the final distance for a straphold?

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If you set the dryer on 'permanent curl' does the

gripper remain shut after you close it?

And what happens if i try to permanent curl my hair dryer ?

I would finally get my wife's arms i guess... :p

Just a precision, but try it yourself : the gripper feels just a bit easier...but my #2 didn't turn in a #1...

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Will this amount of heat damage

the gripper if someone were to use this heat treatment

to close the final distance for a straphold?

I don't think so. A hair dryer doesn't even get too hot for someone's hand, much less steel or whatever the grippers are made out of.

Maybe the #2 was easier because of perfect conditions that day? (like recovery/energy/etc) I notice a big difference between when I've been training hard for a few days & when I'm fresh.

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Maybe the #2 was easier because of perfect conditions that day?

I would be satisfied with that : i would have closed the #2 for the first time ! But the sensation was really weird and i'm truly not convinced ???

I'll try it again in two days !

A hair dryer doesn't even get too hot for someone's hand

Not mine and perhaps not yours too : try to put the dryer at the same place on your hand for 3 minutes (the estimate time used to dry the gripper perfectly...don't want a rusty spring :) ) !

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I doubt that unless you heat up some metal enough that it turns red or something, it won't affect the strength of it very much. Maybe Tom Black's materials-scientist buddy could help? I also found that my grippers were noticably easier when I WD-40ed them because they worked more smoothly. I can't see how a hairdryer would help though.

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I agree with Nathan in that it was probably a culmination of a variety of training factors that led to a peak performance.

However (and I am only semi-jesting here) how about an experiment? I am sure that there are enough people with enough grippers to test this on.

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I know the whole thing may sounds like a joke but i wasn't kidding...

I think the temperature of the spring was around 50-60 celsius (at least)  and it MAY causes a PERCEPTIBLE reduction  in the gripper resistance... I think the fact that i was already near to close the #2 may have helped to notice this...

Anyway i'm just curious !

Feed Back wanted  ;)  :D

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If you hand the trainer gripper to someone who cannot

quite close it, then you close it 20 fast reps and

immediately hand it back to that person, he may close

it because of its more 'weakened'  or warmed condition.

Indeed there used to be (have not checked lately) a

warning against very high reps because of the increased

liklihood of metal fatigue.

I always use eye protection during my high rep sets

with the #4 for this very reason :p

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Guest DavidHW

For me, the difference between a No. 3 that's been sitting in the sun for a few hours vs. one that's been in my dark gym bag all week is immense, measured in millimeters. Try it.

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Guest DavidHW

<bs> I only use tanning lotion on the No. 4 to make it slippery and more challenging. </bs>

:-)

No, I'm serious about the difference in difficulty between a warmed gripper and one at room temperature. Maybe it's mental. Maybe the warmer gripper warms the hand and increases the "feel" of contact. I don't know. No snake oil was intended.

David

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The opposite is true also. Put a gripper that you can easily close into the freezer overnight, and it will be much harder.

One of the suspicions floating around is that heating a

gripper with a torch will permanently make it easier.

I know you are kidding and I agree with you, and further

wish that warmed barbell plates became lighter to lift ???

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The heating this is most likely true if you heat it hot enough.  The 'hardness' of a metal is determined by the heat at which it is tempered and then cooled quickly.  If it is 'retempered' at a lower heat (ie : with a hot torch) then you could cool it and the spring would be softer.  The references I'm using to state this all apply to sword making but steel is steel I'd say.

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