martincerven Posted January 10 Share Posted January 10 Has anyone tried to make pinch blocks out of wood? I checked some websites https://www.roguefitness.com/eu/rogue-pinch-blocks and 85€ for a piece of steel seems like a brilliant marketing idea. I don't mind spending 100's of $ on grippers, but would it be possible to make blocks out of some hardwood? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mitch Jones Posted January 10 Share Posted January 10 13 minutes ago, martincerven said: Has anyone tried to make pinch blocks out of wood? I checked some websites https://www.roguefitness.com/eu/rogue-pinch-blocks and 85€ for a piece of steel seems like a brilliant marketing idea. I don't mind spending 100's of $ on grippers, but would it be possible to make blocks out of some hardwood? Here is some good info on this from Jedd. He don't show you how to make one in the video though. And I've personally never used home made stuff. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Climber028 Posted January 10 Share Posted January 10 If you just want to get stronger you can make a rectangle of any material it really doesn't matter. If you have a competition or something in mind that is the time when you should actually train on the real implement since specificity is key in that case. The only difference between materials is friction, but that only changes the load lifted it doesn't change the strength signal you get via training. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slipshod Posted January 10 Share Posted January 10 Wood should be fine, and really simple to make as long as you have a saw and some sandpaper plus a hooked screw. Metal is generally used because it's straightforward to manufacture and generally has a more consistent surface, as well as being more resilient to potential damage. If you take decent care of it and dont slam it into thing then I'm sure it would sork perfectly well Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mental_Vortex Posted January 10 Share Posted January 10 I have quite a few diy wooden grip tools (pinch block, hub, blob trainer, anvil horn,...). They work well as training tools. But I haven't compared them to metal ones yet. If you don't need the specificity wood should be fine. If you want to change the texture the recommendation on reddit was to use truck bed liner. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cannon Posted January 10 Share Posted January 10 The only pinch block I used for YEARS was two short 2x4s screwed together with an eyebolt. $0. It was stuff I already had in my garage. One of the main differences for me is that you can sand a nice edge and I don't think I ever got a single skin tear on the wood block. It was good for workouts with more volume. Euro 2HP was the premier pinch exercise at this time, so I would do my 2-handed stuff there. But I did all 1-handed stuff on that wood block. Good post from @Climber028 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scottex92 Posted January 10 Share Posted January 10 55 minutes ago, Mental_Vortex said: I have quite a few diy wooden grip tools (pinch block, hub, blob trainer, anvil horn,...). They work well as training tools. But I haven't compared them to metal ones yet. If you don't need the specificity wood should be fine. If you want to change the texture the recommendation on reddit was to use truck bed liner. could you share some pictures of the blob and the anvil horn? I have made some pinch blocks on wood myself and I would like to make some other implements Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
martincerven Posted January 10 Author Share Posted January 10 Thanks all, I still have some walnut left so I'll try making it from wood! Thanks @Cannon for eyebolt idea, I will check it out in store. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mental_Vortex Posted January 10 Share Posted January 10 3 hours ago, Scottex92 said: could you share some pictures of the blob and the anvil horn? I have made some pinch blocks on wood myself and I would like to make some other implements 9 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scottex92 Posted January 11 Share Posted January 11 12 hours ago, Mental_Vortex said: Jeez that is some professional looking equipment!! that blob looks amazing, any more info on how to DIY it? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PumptheBrachs Posted January 11 Share Posted January 11 Blocks for rock climbing appear to be more typically made from wood. I haven't trained pinch block very much but my favourite is a wooden one I got on Ali Express. It's more or less perfect in terms of being as wide as I can grasp while getting the ends of each digit around it properly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mental_Vortex Posted January 11 Share Posted January 11 2 hours ago, Scottex92 said: Jeez that is some professional looking equipment!! that blob looks amazing, any more info on how to DIY it? Thanks. We occasionally have access to a wood-turning machine, which was used to make all 3 tools (and some others). The blob was made from leftover wood, which was glued together. If you have a big enough block you could skip that step. The main task is to turn the block into the right shape. I think the size is modeled after some measurements found on the gripboard. After that you only have to drill a hole and insert the eyebolt. Without the wood-turning machine I think sawing and grinding could be an (less fun) option. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scottex92 Posted January 11 Share Posted January 11 1 hour ago, Mental_Vortex said: Thanks. We occasionally have access to a wood-turning machine, which was used to make all 3 tools (and some others). The blob was made from leftover wood, which was glued together. If you have a big enough block you could skip that step. The main task is to turn the block into the right shape. I think the size is modeled after some measurements found on the gripboard. After that you only have to drill a hole and insert the eyebolt. Without the wood-turning machine I think sawing and grinding could be an (less fun) option. Cool, I'll talk to a friend that works making furniture and see if he can get me access to a wood-turner. If not it's elbow grease as usual haha. Thanks!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
martincerven Posted January 11 Author Share Posted January 11 Walnut can be polished almost like a mirror I wonder how chalk will affect it? @Mental_Vortex do you use chalk with yours? 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
climber511 Posted January 11 Share Posted January 11 Any steel retailer will also sell you appropriate sizes of steel. Everything the equipment companies are selling are typically very simple. Steel comes in all those commonly used in Grip and while steel is more expensive than wood the cost for simple small pieces like pinch blocks are reasonable. Remember that A 2X4 in wood is 1.5 x 3.5" but in steel a 2 x 4 is just that 2"x4". A Retailer will cut to size for you meaning you won't have to. Drill a hole or use a rope through it to attach the weight. You can easily make a Professional looking set of steel grip tools yourself. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WorksinaPinch Posted January 11 Share Posted January 11 (edited) 1 hour ago, martincerven said: Walnut can be polished almost like a mirror I wonder how chalk will affect it? Walnut is a poor choice of wood species if a person has options. I made a batch of climbing holds from scrap walnut and they were way too slick. Maybe walnut would work if you hit it hard with the coarse rasp on a 4-in-1. I would choose a "soft" hardwood like cherry. I made my campus rungs from Engelmann Spruce and that is perfect. Edited January 11 by WorksinaPinch Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
martincerven Posted January 11 Author Share Posted January 11 15 minutes ago, WorksinaPinch said: Walnut is a poor choice of wood species if a person has options. I made a batch of climbing holds from scrap walnut and they were way too slick. Maybe walnut would work if you hit it hard with the coarse rasp on a 4-in-1. I would choose a "soft" hardwood like cherry. I made my campus rungs from Engelmann Spruce and that is perfect. I thought point of pinch block was to get it as slick as possible so that you don't "cheat" by having rough surface. The more slick the surface is, the more you have to press with force 90 degrees to the weight strap, no? There was come competition (King Kong?) and Russians used resin or something to get the block more sticky, so similar thinking is with polishing wood (but in opposite direction): more polished -> more hard . 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WorksinaPinch Posted January 11 Share Posted January 11 22 minutes ago, martincerven said: I thought point of pinch block was to get it as slick as possible so that you don't "cheat" by having rough surface. The more slick the surface is, the more you have to press with force 90 degrees to the weight strap, no? There was come competition (King Kong?) and Russians used resin or something to get the block more sticky, so similar thinking is with polishing wood (but in opposite direction): more polished -> more hard . I know that keeping the training implements more slippery than the competition implements is favored by some competitors. My training philosophy is to try to approximate the surface of the competition surface, but a "little" more slick. For pinch driving with the fingers is important and if the implement is a bar of soap, so to speak, then that finger drive is less intense because the weight would necessarily be lower. I also assume that the other supporting musculature is not developing as it should to pick the heavier weight. I don't think this applies to a light lift like key pinch type of lifts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
martincerven Posted January 11 Author Share Posted January 11 It came out nicely: 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mental_Vortex Posted January 12 Share Posted January 12 18 hours ago, martincerven said: @Mental_Vortex do you use chalk with yours? Yes, I use chalk. The surface of my implements is rather slick and I get slippy hands easily. As long as you don't expect the same result with and without chalk. If I would use both methods I would track them seperately for my training. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
martincerven Posted April 13 Author Share Posted April 13 I have more walnut “lumber” (I cut it with chainsaw ) available, what should I do besides stand and pinch block? 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CruxGripman Posted April 13 Share Posted April 13 (edited) On 1/10/2024 at 9:21 PM, martincerven said: Has anyone tried to make pinch blocks out of wood? I checked some websites https://www.roguefitness.com/eu/rogue-pinch-blocks and 85€ for a piece of steel seems like a brilliant marketing idea. I don't mind spending 100's of $ on grippers, but would it be possible to make blocks out of some hardwood? I’m not deep into the arm lifting/grip world, but in rock climbing, wood is used very often for grip implements, pinch blocks included, I’ve not used wood specifically for pinching, but I’ve used it for containment type training (known as slippers in rock climbing) and it is very good. Wood is a heavily favored texture for training grip in the climbing scene (a great example of this is the beast maker) edit: only just realized how old the original post was Edited April 13 by CruxGripman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CruxGripman Posted April 13 Share Posted April 13 1 hour ago, martincerven said: I have more walnut “lumber” (I cut it with chainsaw ) available, what should I do besides stand and pinch block? You could make a wooden hilt, or a horn? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cannon Posted April 15 Share Posted April 15 On 4/13/2024 at 7:59 AM, martincerven said: I have more walnut “lumber” (I cut it with chainsaw ) available, what should I do besides stand and pinch block? A bass guitar. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blacksmith513 Posted April 15 Share Posted April 15 3 minutes ago, Cannon said: A bass guitar. That idea rocks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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