Steel Scrolling

7/27/2019 Steel Scrolling

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Steel Scrolling/Coiling 101

4ft long square bar left, 20ft long " round HRS bar right, 3/8th HRS paperwieght on the collar.

I dont know how I got into scrolling/coiling. I guess Tommy Heslep introduced me.

Thanks to him I got to meet Big Steve and I saw a clip of Brookfield scrolling some square bar.Well, after that Im hooked. Ive searched the internet and the beloved Gripboard to learn as much

as possible. Unfortunately, I didnt learn that much. This is an area of grip strength/classic

strength feat that has very little info available. Fortunately, Brookfield touched on this area in the

book The Grip Masters Manuel (GMM). If you havent read it you should. Nobody is better than

Brookfield when it comes to this stuff.

I started out with short bending. Pieces of steel 7 inches in length and shorter. These

pieces of steel were cut to specific lengths to simulate specific nails. (If you need information on

short bending go to the Bending forum of the Gripboard. Theres tons of info there.) I purchased

my steel at a local steel supplier. This is by far the cheapest way to buy steel. Well, I had some

1/4" square and 3.8ths rods and they were too tough for little old me to do any short bending with.After getting sick of lookin at the tough bars I decided to coil em up. So I guess you could say I

got hooked by accident or my own weakness. Hehehehehe.....

Well, after coiling the 1/4" square and 3/8ths round HRS ( Hot Rolled Steel) Id gotten a

decent amount of practice. This had allowed me to learn some of the basic techniques. Brookfield

recommends this in the GMM. Practice with the small stuff first! Youll reap a lot if you do.

Before we get too carried away Ill touch on some basic terminology before we all get


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confused.

Coiling means you put as many coils in the steel as possible. So the steel ends up looking like a

gripper spring or a garden hose rolled up.

Scrolling refers to bending the steel into an artistic shape. This is vague. It may mean you bentthe steel into the shape of a clover leaf, or some abstract art. Basically, the steel has more twists

and turns and it is not just coiled. We will focus on coiling.

Again, Brookfield talks about this in GMM. We wont get too wrapped up in definitions because

the 2 are so closely related. For example, in the previous picture you could say the bar that looks

like a fish is scrolled. Even though the same techniques were used to bend it.

Left pic: 1/4" square and 1/4"round scroll. Notice how thesquare bar bends on the edge! Youll see this again!

Right pic: 3/8 ths left, " right. You can tell the difference in diameter and the size of the coils. Practice with 3/8".

If you want more pictures examples outside of this article go to www.samsonscroll.com. This is

John Brookfields web page. There are loads of pictures.

Starting Off

If you want to get into this area of steel bending youll need a few things.

1. Gloves. You can use any type of good leather work gloves. These are important for cutting

and for providing protection to your palms when youre exerting a lot of force.

2. Glasses/face shield. These are important when you cut steel because there will be sparks flying!

You may want to use them when you are bending bigger pieces of HRS (Hot Rolled Steel). HRS

has a coating that flakes off when bent. This can get in your eyes too.


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3. You need some way to cut the steel. Bolt cutters only work for small steel, 3/8ths in diameter

and less. So, you will need a hacksaw, a sawzall, or an angle grinder. I highly recommend the

angle grinder! The cuts are very clean and it cuts the steel quickly. Its also cheap compared to

the sawzall. Be sure to buy extra cutting wheels and replace them as needed.

4. Finally youll need steel. Now dont go to Home Depot or Lowes. Youll spend way too muchmoney. Go to your local steel supplier and buy your bars in 20ft lengths. Trust me on this, you

will save a lot of money.

Cuttin steel. This is cool stuff!!!!!!

Ok, so weve gone to the local steel supplier and weve purchased a few steel bars! Man

this is great! Oh crap! The 20ft bars will not fit in my little Japanese Jellybean of a car! Well,

HAVE NO FEAR! Because we brought an angle grinder. We are about to make a whole lot of

sparks and cut this steel. But first you need to pull out you tape measure and permanent marker. I

know, I know. I didnt say you needed the tape measure and the marker. Well you do! Im

writing this and youre reading it! Unless you want to waste steel youll do what I say!Youll measure you lengths and mark the steel with the marker. If you do this you only

have to cut once. For example, you have a 20ft bar of inch round HRS and you want 4ft

sections. You need to mark it correctly so you get 5 perfectly cut 4 ft bars to bend the crap out of!

See, no wasted steel. The only time you should be cutting steel and discarding small sections is to

shorten bars as you get stronger or if you are trimming the extra off a complete bend.


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This is what I use to cut steel and I couldnt be happier with it!

Practice makes perfect!

Remember I said start off with 3/8" round? I meant it. Dont think What does that

Hammered know? Hes a small wimp I can start with bigger stuff!! Im a badass!! The 3/8"

round is great. Youll get a feel for coiling/scrolling, and youll make some super cool

paperweights too! Besides, its cheap compared to the bigger steel sizes so there is no reason not

to practice with it.

Sierra with a 3/8ths inch scroll.


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Bigger Steel!Sorry I got carried away with the font size. I just got excited since we are moving on to

the bigger stuff! Steel comes in different diameters which is great for us. It allows us to use

progressively get stronger kinda like using weights or a shot loadable kettlebell. Brookfield

explains bar diameters in depth in GMM. Basically, you pick a bar like " round HRS. The next

step up will be the same size in CRS (cold rolled steel) if available. Finally, the next step will be

" again but square HRS. Then you move to the next diameter. Talk to the steel supplier in

you area. Some suppliers may carry different diameters and HRS/CRS.

round ----> square ----> 5/8" round----> 5/8" square > etc......

5/8" round left, "round right

The bigger the steel the bigger the coils. You can see in the above picture how the coils in

the 5/8" round steel are much bigger than the ". The is dwarfed by the 5/8"! Both pieces

have 4 coils. The 5/8" was 7ft long and the " was just over 6ft.

Before we get into technique I want to talk about how steel bends. If youre not careful it

will bend the way it wants to. This doesnt seem to make sense until you start bending bars.

When you first begin try to control the coils so they lay next to each other or close to it. Like the

coil on the right in the above picture. This will make your bend more uniform and easier. As you

get stronger you can allow the steel to bend the way it wants. Sometimes this is more difficult

because the coils will overlap or twist making the bend much harder.


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This is hard to explain and it is best understood after youve done some bending. The

picture below demonstrates how different a bend can be. All the pieces are 4 ft long " round

HRS. You can see that some are coiled very neatly and others are not. (The bottom right piece is

square.)

The same pieces of steel can bend very differently!

As you can see an easy 4ft bar of " round steel can do all kinds of crazy things. This isnt

a big deal as you get stronger; however, if you are inexperienced this can mean the difference

between getting that extra coil! So, as I said before, when you are starting out be sure to examine

every bend you make and study how the steel bends. Try to make it bend the way you want it to.

Youll learn a lot.


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Heres a 5/8" x 7ft bar that didnt coil as clean as I would have liked.

Theres one more point I want to make before we go into technique; Safety! Bendingbars like this can be dangerous! Im serious. You need to be careful. Always analyze your body

positioning to ensure safety. I know your thinkin what the hell is this Hammerhead talking

about? Well Ill tell ya! If youre not paying attention the bar can slip outta your hand and

literally knock you on your ass! This is one of the reasons to practice with smaller steel like

3/8ths.

Let me give you a couple examples.......

The first time I tried this kind of bending I grabbed a piece of rebar that was lying around.

It was about " diameter and 4 ft long. I knew nothing about scrolling/coiling. I got one loop and

kept struggling with all my might. My grip slipped and the bar, which was now a spring, slammed

into my chest. It hurt like hell. I am very happy that it didnt hit my head!

My brother, a 6ft 2" 300lb monster was coiling a piece of 3/8ths. This was his first time

and I figured there would be no problem. I was wrong. He was manhandling it and trying his best.

Unfortunately, he had the bar positioned badly, and his grip slipped. The steel punched him in the

forehead and his glasses went flying.

Thank God he didnt get hit in the eye! So pay attention! If not you can take your head

off. Now I watch carefully. The last time I watched somebody coil some steel I was yellin


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Stop!!!!!!!! over and over again. He didnt know what he was doin and was gonna knock himself

out. So the point is, if youre a knucklehead you should probably stick with tearing phone books.

The paper wont hurt you.

Technique!All right, pull out your bars, grab a towel, and put on your gloves. Its time to have fun!

Remember, weve practiced with the small stuff. Even the really small stuff that youd use for

short bending like 1/4" round and 1/4" square is great to practice with. Anyways, we got some

basics down and now were applying what we know to the big bars!

For the first set of pictures we are going to mangle some 4 ft. long x 5/8" round HRS. This

is a fun size because the bends are pretty tough compared to the smaller diameter steel.

Now this is one ugly pic.

But it shows how to start a

bend using your head! I

recommend always using a

towel. You can also start this

by pushing down over your

thigh. Another option is to

kneel on one knee and row

the bar back over the other

knee. You could also place

the bar in you mouth and bend it but Im not able to do this with 5/8" as Im writing this. One

word of caution. Dont bend Square bar in your teeth! Square bar twists as itbends. This twisting motion will probably break your teeth! Im a sissy and it was all I could do to

do this over my head. I guess I should get a neck harness and strengthen some of my weak areas!


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Now we have a good kink in the bar that we need toincrease. Keep that towel folded up and place it in

your hip. This is important because its going to keep the end of the bar from poking through

your leg! Post and pull baby, post and puuuullll!

Heres a

position where

youll find that

you are very

powerful.

Youll notice

my hands are

not at the end of

the bar. Grab

the bar as close

to the initial bend as possible. This will make a tighter coil, and a tighter coil can mean the

difference between getting that last bend or not.


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Ok, we bent the bar into a U. Lay it on the

ground and jam you foot in the U. Just like in the

pictures. Now post with one arm and pull like a

madman with the other! Pull the two ends as far

apart as possible.

In the picture below all Ive done is pivot the bar to

my left so I could post and pull with the opposite

arms. Do what ever feels comfortable in this

position. As you can see in these 2 pictures there is

plenty of room for my foot. This is because 5/8" isa tougher bar and makes a bigger coil. " round

bar makes a tighter coil, and if you have a big old

foot you may find it difficult to jam that monster in

there.


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As you may have noticed, the steps

alternate between pulling and

pushing. We just finished pullingand now we need push these ends

apart until they are180 degrees

apart. (at least thats the goal)

In this picture Ive removed my

foot and placed the coil directly on

the ground. Use your thighs to

guide the ends of the bar as you

drive down. This is a good

technique when you are bending

steel bigger than " round. Youcan do this step with " round by placing a towel and the coil in your hip. (There is a pic of

Tommy doing this at the end of the article.) Its tougher but is doesnt matter. I will bent the "

round on the ground when Im tired.

This should look familiar. Time to pull again!


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Ok, we got out 180 degrees.

Lay the bar coil up and wedgethat thing you call a foot back in

the coil. Now we are pullin

again. This picture on the right

may call for a little flexibility,

but I think most reading this

could get into a close enough

position to get it to bend.

We are now almost done. Heres a tip.

Shhhhh..... Dont tell anybody. Notice

here I have a couple of pieces of leather in

the palms of my hands. This is to provideextra padding. The less pain the better.

Youll notice as you progress in your

scrolling that your hands take a beating.


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Lets finish it! Push with all your might!!!!!!!!!!

Now aint that purtey?

Thats one piece of freshly

cut 5/8"round HRS x 4ft

coiled for your viewing

pleasure! I guess my dogisnt impressed. Shes in the

corner snoozing away. I

wish I could be in good

shape like her just by

sleeping all day!


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Here is an example of scrolling which most

of you would probably be able to do. Well

cut a foot off our 4ft bar. Now weve got a3ft long piece of 5/8" HRS.

In the first pic Im marking the exact center

of the bar. This little tip will help you a lot

when you want to get a coil smack dab in

the center of the bar. This probably makes

sense to a lot of you. I know there are

many of you that have marked the center of your nails and bolts to help avoid off center bends.

This is a good way to start a tougher bar. Again, I

recommend using some padding on your knee.

Remember, weve marked the center so there is no

question about placement. Just align the mark on the bar

with your knee and row the ends back.

From here on things should look familiar.

Remember to use enough padding in you hip

or you will be bruised up at best.


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This is a crappy picture, but it

serves its purpose. Ive kept thepar in my hip. Ive got a hand on

each end of the bar and Im

pushing hard.

Remember, what I said aboutpush/pull? Well, here we go

again. You can tell, this is gettin

hard for me. I had to adjust my

grip a couple times

There we go. Huffin and

puffin with a fresh fish.

You can see here how big

the coils that 5/8'ths

makes.


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Coiling!Over the last month Ive really gotten excited about steel coiling. Weve all read or heard

about Brookfield coiling up a 20ft steel bar. He talks about this in the GMM. Ive fallen in love

with coiling 20ft long bars. It is a total upper body workout and your grip is worked to the

upmost. The day after I coil a long bar Im sore not only in my upper body but my hands and

forearms are sore as well.

The first time I read about this I wanted to try it. Well, a good friend of mine Tommy

Heslep, a Grip Master in his own right, was itching to try to coil a 20ft long bar as well. At one

of our workouts we decided to take a little trip to my local steel supplier. We bought a couple

20ft long bars of " round HRS. We hauled them to the parking lot and went for it. We were

both very impressed with the difficulty of this. We were amazed how the whole body had to get

involved and the endurance it took to finish.

Heres a pic of that first coil that I did

with Tommy. You can see how

loose the coils are when compared to

one of my newer coils on the right.

The tighter coil took not only more

time but it took a lot more outta me!

When I was done I was sweating

bullets and suckin wind.

Dont get me wrong both were difficult; but, when the coils are made as tight as possible

the steel fights you every inch of the way. When you first try this you will understand that it is a

hard battle to keep the steel in a tight coil. My first attempt, while difficult, was relatively easy

compared to a much tighter coil.

I know, I know! Your sayin less talky, more pictures. Ok here we go.


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Here were gonna take a look

at coiling a 20ft piece of

1/2round HRS.

Ahhhh, you gotta love visiting

you local steel supplier. Its

like a steel benders Valhalla!!!

The Bar. Now this doesnt look so intimidating.

Heres the first bend. Try to make that first bend as close

to then end of the bar as possible. This is more difficult,

but it will allow for a much tighter coil. This should look

familiar to you since the technique to start this is similar to

the previous scrolling .


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Here, the coil is starting toemerge. This part is very tough

because there is no width to the

coil and it wants to fall over as

you coil it up. As the coil gets

wider it has more lateral

stability when you apply your

force.

Im already takin my first breather. How

does Brookfield to it so fast and tight?!?

Keep your foot on the

bar too keep the bar

from slipping around.


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Again, I dont claim to be the best at this, and

this picture proves it! Heres another pic of me

takin a break. This is kinda like a boxer

sitting down between rounds. When you go

back and read the GMM. Brookfield writes

about how difficult coiling a 20ft bar is. He

wasnt lying!

Look at the pic! Im barely half way done! I

told my brother to take this picture because I

wanted to show how difficult this was for me.I can only hope that with practice I will be able

to duplicate this feat without taking a break to

catch my breath!

Here we go again! Youll

notice that sometimes Im

standing and other times Im

kneeling. Adjust your body

positioning whenever you

need to.


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One more break! And the end is in sight! At this point youll notice that the coil is much wider.

This provides lateral stability while you apply force. This is very good for us; however, this is

double edged sword. Every gripster knows that the wider an object is the more demanding it

becomes on the hands. I will tell you this much, at this point my hands and forearms were

completely fried!

Almost there! Just a little over a foot left!


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As you can see, coiling works you body at many different angles. It will also work your

hands, wrists, and forearms to their absolute limit. Remember when you first try this, that

Brookfield wasnt blowing smoke when he described the difficulty of this feat in GMM. So be

sure to warm up and stretch a bit before you start. Give it your all and you will be very pleased

with the outcome.

20ft long bar x " round HRS

Thanks to my wife Laurie and my brother Ingvar for taking all the pictures!


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Here are a few nice scrolling pictures from fellow GripBoard members!

Heres some cool flat scrolls by Anson! (Thanks for the picbuddy!)

(Courtesy of Mark Dixon)

Heres 2 good action shots of Tommy scrolling!

Here are 2 more flat scrolls by Anson. The flat steel looks

very nice when scrolled.


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Heres a cool pic of Eric Godfrey and one of his

scrolls. This is 3/8 round HRS x 3 ft. Look at

those tight coils!

This cool scroll is by Jonathan.

Underdawg

Good luck with your training! I hope you enjoyed this article. This article along with John

Brookfields book The Gripmasters Manuel, should help you along the road to scrolling and

coiling.

-Hammerhead Erik Vining

Steel Scrolling

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