Calvino Architecture Studio & CNC Works

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In Collaboration with Rodney Alford of Intense Band Fitness

Rodney's patented idea was to make a grip to use with workout bands that had a more natural feel and have a more comfortable feel like a hand grip on say a motorcycle or bicycle. This collaborative adventure ensued . . .

Rodney's first prototype grip was a pretty great product, he cast it in urethane & had wood ends. That was our starting point

Some of the first digital models of the concept are shown above right & above far right. The trick was getting the slot to be able to accept the band without too much effort and also have a way to lock the band in place to keep it from slipping out too easily.

The development of the grip involved having prototypes 3dPrinted using a thermoplastic urethane that we could get in an exact durometer hardness that Rodney had determined was pretty much the ideal for the grip. The red one to the right was really close and we just needed to tweak the tabs that lock the band in a little more. The trick was getting them to lock it in while still allowing you to pop the band in and out easily. We finally got it and the results are really pretty cool.

At right is a very early version of the grip and some thoughts about how we could make some silicone molds to make a short production run in cast urethane.

Below: Rodney testing another cast urethane prototype.

Right: as it developed, we found small issues to tweak to help the longevity of the grip and the band like easing the edges where the band exits the grip.

Below: We're getting closer to the solution with these modified end tabs cut bu Rodney into one of the prototype prints . . .

Right: another tweak idea to get the band to stay in place better . . . This texture could not be made by injection molding but it was tweaked so it could be.

At one point we did a fairly in depth study of costs and possibilities of making silicone molds to cast urethane grips for a medium production run including sourcing a custom Urethane from a Canadian company.

The final texture on the Grip holds its own design patent by Intense Band Fitness and is a textured layout that is derived from the Lion's Head Logo that was designed by another Artist hired by Intense Band Fitness. The main lines from the top of the Lion's head are repeated and transformed to make a texture that is more longitudinal than radial to increase grip especially when wet.

The design is laid out in Rhino3d and then is wrapped around the cylinder and a boolean function is used to produce the final texture in the model.

We ended with Version 19.4.01 with many sub-versions along the way. The result is nothing short of an awesome grip with every detail worked out and making it into the production grips.

You can pick up a pair here and try them out . . . https://intensebandfitness.com/shop/grips/

They're great for keeping in shape without taking a ton of time at a gym, or making a big deal about space for weights and all . . .

Cheers!