eman Posted October 10, 2022 Share Posted October 10, 2022 I was able to track down these two grippers I'm 95% sure Warren made but at what time I am unsure. They were pretty rusty when they arrived but I cleaned them up pretty good with a wire wheel brush and some soap and water and a little 3in1 on the springs. They could still use some work on the springs to remove some surface rust. Overall the spread on both grippers is 3.25 inches or about 3/4 handle more than a modern Ironmind gripper. Both grippers appear to have the same spring diameter (I haven't checked with calibers yet) and both appear to be somewhere around a 2.5 rgc give or take. (My current RGC pr is about 120 at the moment and I can get within 1/4" on the larger handle one) The smaller gripper looks to have been originally painted black on the handles and the handle diameter is the same as my grip genies grippers the other gripper has really large handles (at least as large as the Barraban handles). The small handle gripper weighed 1 pound 2 ounces and the larger handle weighed 1pound 8 ounces. By comparison my Ironmind grippers with aluminum handles weight just under 8 ounces. The hole pins line up exactly with my Tetting Thor grippers but both grippers have no markings on the bottom. Best guess is these are early "heavy" or "extra heavy" grippers or came later before Tetting started stamping the bottoms. Either way I'm super happy to have them without breaking the bank! They are both a mystery to me though in that the knurling on the small one does not go all the way to the bottom and changes directions at the top and the larger handle gripper has such large handles that I wasn't aware if he made any like this or if it was a custom build. I'm not sure the pics I took last night do it justice I will put a #3 next to it and post later. I'll probably send these both in for rating as well. 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cannon Posted October 10, 2022 Share Posted October 10, 2022 These are really cool. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slazbob Posted October 11, 2022 Share Posted October 11, 2022 The one looks just like a Silver Crush. The other may be an earlier version just before the Silver. The COC book has pictures of their grippers over the years…including the early Tettings. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Knowlton Posted October 11, 2022 Share Posted October 11, 2022 Supper nice, we’re did you find them Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eman Posted October 11, 2022 Author Share Posted October 11, 2022 9 hours ago, John Knowlton said: Supper nice, we’re did you find them There was a post on Reddit last year that I happened to bookmark and forgotten about and funny enough Cannon had commented on that post as well about the larger one being a silver crush possibly. I reached out to the owner and he wasn't using them and had them in storage. I need to take a really close look at that spring but I can tell you it doesn't feel like a modern COC spring. Hard to describe but it has a bouncy feel to it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cannon Posted October 11, 2022 Share Posted October 11, 2022 29 minutes ago, eman said: There was a post on Reddit last year that I happened to bookmark and forgotten about and funny enough Cannon had commented on that post as well about the larger one being a silver crush possibly. Are the handles magnetic on these? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cannon Posted October 11, 2022 Share Posted October 11, 2022 32 minutes ago, eman said: There was a post on Reddit last year that I happened to bookmark and forgotten about and funny enough Cannon had commented Are you sure that wasn’t here at the GripBoard? I don’t post a lot on Reddit and could not find the topic in my comment history. I remember replying to your post here though. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matek Posted October 11, 2022 Share Posted October 11, 2022 Very cool grippers. Based on the corrosion, it looks like these have steel handles. I bet they feel heavy and nice in the hand. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eman Posted October 11, 2022 Author Share Posted October 11, 2022 47 minutes ago, Cannon said: Are you sure that wasn’t here at the GripBoard? I don’t post a lot on Reddit and could not find the topic in my comment history. I remember replying to your post here though. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eman Posted October 11, 2022 Author Share Posted October 11, 2022 A magnet sticks to both of them. The do feel heavy which I believe at first makes you think they are harder than they really are, just because I've only ever used Aluminum handle grippers. I'll probably send them in to get rated soon but I'd be shocked if either one was over 140 rgc. Matt would you even rate something like this and would you require a disclaimer on my part that if the spring should break you not responsible.. (seems only fair to me?) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cannon Posted October 11, 2022 Share Posted October 11, 2022 36 minutes ago, eman said: Oh sure, there it is. LOL This is what I posted there apparently: "Wow. Those definitely look like old Tetting grippers. I am also curious what’s on the bottom. Since they are knurled they seem more recent than the smooth-handle Tettings sold through “Ironman” magazine. And they could be silver crush but do not appear to have chrome plating, tarnished or otherwise. I suspect they are from that era though, just direct from Tetting instead of what he was making for IronMind. I am very curious what’s on the bottom." And both the questions are addressed now. The new pictures show nothing on the bottoms (no stamps) and you clarified magnets stick to them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cannon Posted October 11, 2022 Share Posted October 11, 2022 57 minutes ago, eman said: I'll probably send them in to get rated soon but I'd be shocked if either one was over 140 rgc. Matt would you even rate something like this and would you require a disclaimer on my part that if the spring should break you not responsible.. (seems only fair to me?) Sure I would rate them. I'm not too worried about them breaking. We've put 400,000+ reps on some 12,000+ grippers and I've never had a spring break. I believe the springs that break have an actual defect in the steel at the right place. For the breaks I've heard about from others, it happened immediately. I know people have reported springs breaking after TONS of use, but I think that is the even more rare exception. It sounds like you know that breaks happen and the older the gripper the risk goes up a little so that's good enough. (As a side note, I've always wanted to try and put a million reps on a gripper. The thing is that it would be boring. Even at 1000 reps per day, we're talking about 3 years and 9 months of non-stop 1000 rep days. If I miss a day, which I will, the time gets even longer. It would be interesting to blog about this and post updates with pictures of how the gripper degrades and see if the gripper ever breaks. If I get 1M reps on the gripper, I would feel confident saying it's the only gripper in history to have that many reps. Some really old warm-up grippers could have a ton of reps, but I doubt a million. Take a really old Trainer for example. Let's say you consistently put 200 reps on it 4 times a week which I think is generous. It would take 24 years to get to 1M reps. Doesn't really seem feasible for this to happen by accident. I'm rambling now but this is just something I've thought about a few times.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cannon Posted October 11, 2022 Share Posted October 11, 2022 3 minutes ago, Cannon said: Even at 1000 reps per day, we're talking about 3 years and 9 months of non-stop 1000 rep days. Not trying to hijack the thread, but I think the better target would be to try and sustain 10,000 rep days for 100 days. For some reason that sounds more doable. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eman Posted October 11, 2022 Author Share Posted October 11, 2022 10,000 reps in a day. There are 3600 seconds in an hour so your looking at minimum 3 hours daily of non-stop reps. Even alternating both hands I'm not sure I could pull that off with a sport. Also not sure I could pull of 1000 reps with a Trainer. But since the challenge has been thrown out there I think I'll give it a shot - Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Knowlton Posted October 11, 2022 Share Posted October 11, 2022 I think you should go for it. You can break it down into segments. Like commuting to work and back home .lunch break. Or TV time. Of course it's easy for me to say. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cannon Posted October 11, 2022 Share Posted October 11, 2022 10 minutes ago, eman said: Even alternating both hands I'm not sure I could pull that off with a sport. I wouldn’t use my hands Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick Browne Posted October 11, 2022 Share Posted October 11, 2022 Tetting's grippers for Ironman I believe were knurl free. Smooth steel. I am trying to recall conversations I had with Warren back in the day. The grippers he made for Ironman were named "Hard" "Harder" and "Hardest" and knurl free. I believe David Horne owns either 1 or 2 of the 3. He may have all 3 ( I cant remember). I remember Tetting saying he added the knurling for Ironmind grippers but still used steel for the handles. Those grippers have a a 3 inch spread inside the handles. That spread was what allowed the deep set for the small handed guy to use for a cert on the #3. I do not have a date when Ironmind went aluminum. I do have a '96 aluminum, one band no lettering, single stamp #3 with a 3 inch handle spread. A possible reference year to get to the actual year for the aluminum change over. Anyway, this has been my 2 cents. It is about as close to the facts as I can remember. I am sure there are better details on what I just posted. Any corrections can have at it 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cannon Posted October 11, 2022 Share Posted October 11, 2022 6 minutes ago, Rick Browne said: Tetting's grippers for Ironman I believe were knurl free. Smooth steel. I am trying to recall conversations I had with Warren back in the day. The grippers he made for Ironman were named "Hard" "Harder" and "Hardest" and knurl free. I believe David Horne owns either 1 or 2 of the 3. I totally agree here--knurl free. You can see pix on Horne's site. The lowest one in the photo exhibits the same drastically rounded bevels like in eman's photos. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cannon Posted October 11, 2022 Share Posted October 11, 2022 11 minutes ago, Rick Browne said: I do have a '96 aluminum, one band no lettering, single stamp #3 with a 3 inch handle spread. A possible reference year to get to the actual year for the aluminum change over. Based on data complied at the GripBoard, the switch to aluminum was during 1995. So you're right in the ballpark. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick Browne Posted October 11, 2022 Share Posted October 11, 2022 19 minutes ago, Cannon said: I totally agree here--knurl free. You can see pix on Horne's site. The lowest one in the photo exhibits the same drastically rounded bevels like in eman's photos. Ahhh yes those are the ones... Ha ha way off on my part for the names. Thanks for the cool post on clarification Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eman Posted October 14, 2022 Author Share Posted October 14, 2022 I thought I would provide an update as Both Grippers and Time frame of Manufacture have been ID by Mr. David Horne. I also purchase David's Gripopaedia Vol 5 (The best resource I have seen on gripper history & training!) and it goes into great detail on all the Tetting and Iron Mind Grippers. Based on Dimensions of Handles, Knurling, and Spring I was able to determine that ... The small handle gripper is an Iron Man Extra Heavy likely manufactured between 1966-1970 (pre 1966 are all no knurling) Also of note sometime in 1965 he switched to cold rolled steel. If there was a way to know if this was cold or hot rolled steel it may be prior to 1966. The larger handle gripper is also an Iron Man Extra Heavy manufactured some time between 70-77 (The only real mystery is why this one has such large handles .88 diameter and if that was a custom order? *** Additional provenance these grippers were sold with a Cambered bar that Tetting also would have built sometime approx in the mid-late 1970's because these bars were made specifically for Mike MacDonald https://ditillo2.blogspot.com/2015/02/how-i-train-bench-press-mike-macdonald.html I think I will restore that black paint on the original gripper and leave the other one the way I found it. Thanks everyone! 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slazbob Posted October 14, 2022 Share Posted October 14, 2022 Some rare gems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Knowlton Posted October 14, 2022 Share Posted October 14, 2022 very cool Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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