I've thought up and built various aids to help me with my training over the past year.
These are presented below.
Strategy for being able to bend the Ironmind Red nail. Presently, I have not yet U-Shaped an unmodified Ironmind Red nail. These are 7 in. X 5/16 in. rods with red paint on the each end of the rod. But I have U-shaped modified Red nails and am using this modification strategy to advance to bending the unmodified Reds. The modification is to "shave" down the middle 2 inches of the Red to different thicknesses. In the pic above, you'll see that I had the Reds shaved to 0.25", 0.26", 0.27", 0.28", 0.29", and 0.30 " thicknesses. The unshaved red is 0.3125" (5/16"). This way after I can bend progressively tougher Reds until I can U-shape the unmodified Red at 0.3125".
This is a simple invention that consists of an analog clock that is powered only while the grippers are shut - when the handles touch, the electrical circut to the clock battery is completed-activating the clock. This device is useful for validating true (not imagined) gripper closings and for "timed-holds". A timed-hold is training with a gripper by shutting the gripper and keeping the gripper shut as long as possible (or for a pre-determined length of time). The clock is afixed to the gripper via a common plastic spring-operated clip. The battery wires are connected to the ends of each handle by a simple plastic cap that has been cut away where the grippers will touch - in the cut-away space, thin aluminum foil has been placed to allow the circuit to close. A thin strip of electrcian's tape is placed between the thin aluminum foil and the gripper handle. Remember to run the wires along the insides of the handles to keep them out of your way. Before closing, I set the clock hands to 12:00 to easily see the elapsed time.
For pinch gripping, here is a wooden "egg" that I use. I drilled a hole through the center, length-wise, and fed a long shank screw though it and then bent the end of the screw into a hook. Using the hook, I hang weights from it and then pinch grip the wooden "egg" - progressively increasing the amount of weight used. [Thanks to my wife, Barbara, for being my model.]
This is a tool I'm toying with the idea of constructing to increase my crush-down strength in nail-bending. Take 2 long rods each 1 foot long and drill a hole through the center of each rod. For each rod, at the same height, drill another hole 1/4" from the end of the rod that will run perpendicular to the center hole. Then feed a small screw through the center hole and threaded a bolt onto the screw and hand-tightened. Now we have something that resembles a pair of sissors. Next, take 2 cables and fit one to each end thru the holes at 1/4" from the end. Then I run each cable over opposite horizontal bars to a carabiner and a weight loaded loading pin for each cable. So, when you crush the (non-cable) ends of the rods together (or close the "sissors") you'll be lifting 2 sparate sets of weights off the ground (or table - depending on where your weights sit). May end up needing to anchor or brace the center screw assembly.
This is another tool that I'm toying with the idea of constructing. This one is a gripper that let the handles be increased in length so that they close with less force. The extension of the handles is done by using short cylinders that can be fitted together to make a longer cylinder. These are only usable for you if you can get your gripper handles closer than parallel. You would add equal amounts of clinders to each handle until you can just shut the gripper. You'd train by taking off 1 cylinder from each handle - thereby slightly shortening each handle. You'd work with this gripper until you can close it. Then repeat. With the handles getting progressively shorter, eventually there won't be any cylinders left to take off and you will shut the natural gripper. Good luck!
Future inventions will be added to this page as they are closer to realization.
