Gripper Comparisons

[cjcocn]

Hello all

Here is the thing ..... my CoC#1 grew legs last fall and I have not had access to one since then. In other words, I cannot remember what it is like to close one.

I just received my Advanced today, which is supposed to be comparable to the CoC #1.

Issue: The Advanced reminds me of a CoC Trainer in that it seems ridiculously easy to close. I am at work, so cannot measure the wire size and do a closing comparison with an actual CoC Trainer (i know, i know, get back to work and quit goofing off ..... ).

Question: Has anyone compared the Advanced to the CoC#1 and, if so, how do they compare? Advanced to the CoC T?

I will take the digital calipers to them when I get home to determine the wire size and will also compare them to the CoC T, but if anyone can offer input on their comparisons it would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks guys

Chris

[Matt76]

Well the wire size should be the same .235

[cjcocn]

Well, I am at home now and the wire size of the Advanced is at 0.235, which is that of the CoC#1. A local fellow who works in the same building will bring his to work tomorrow so I can do a direct comparison in regards to required closing force.

The GM with 4.5" handles I can close, but the SM I cannot. My hands are fried today (from pinching on Friday, then a bit more from grippers yesterday), so will try again after they recover.

Thanks Matt

[Rick Browne]

Well, I am at home now and the wire size of the Advanced is at 0.235, which is that of the CoC#1. A local fellow who works in the same building will bring his to work tomorrow so I can do a direct comparison in regards to required closing force.

Compare the springleg depth in the handles with each one or how

low the bottom of the springcoil is in relation to the top of the

handles. If one of the springcoils sets lower in the handles, that should be

the tougher one

[cjcocn]

Good point Rick .... I had forgotton about that .... the MMGs are like that and it should have clicked in, so thanks for the reminder.

[3djim]

My comments are relative to grippers made within the past 5 years or so.

My "T" ranks ~102lbs, "A" at ~135 lbs and #1 at a bit over 140 lbs, where the force is normalized to the handle center (a convention I believe is used by IronMind). I use a standard torsion spring formula that has proven fairly consistent for the grippers I own, assuming the needed measurements are done accurately (not a very easy task for some of the parameters). It takes into account such parameters as: coil mean diam, dist from coil center to handle center (related to "handle set"), wire diam, angle between handles, etc. I believe the target forces-to-close would roll out a ranking (easiest to hardest) like: "T", "A", "#1".

However, given the multitude of possible manufacturing errors that occur during mass production, a gripper model's "force-to-close" can vary 10 to 15%. So, it would be no surprise to find some "A"s stronger than some "#1"s and vice versa. Also, a hard "T" could rate 115lbs and an easy "A" could rate 115 lbs as well! So, it is essentially pot luck when you try to compare grippers that are close (i.e. targets are within 15%) in force-to-close. That is why, IMO, IronMind has such a spread in their gripper products. It would be highly unlikely that you will find a hard #1 that is nearly equal to an easy #2, but not impossible!

There are other posts on this board that treat this general and specific subject.