1). Wait until you have a good base level of hand and wrist strength.
Bending places a lot of stress on your hands and wrists. That is a fact. It's also true that you've probably never used these tendons and ligaments before with any intensity, let alone the intensity needed to bend steel. Before you even pick up a 3/16" bar for the first time, ensure you have a good base level of strength in your hands and wrists.
Because of the new strain you are applying to your hands, there is the potential of minor injury. To avoid this, start hand-strength training. Try the grippers, plate pinching, and thick bar, but most of all, try the sledge techniques on my bending page. If you are a non-strength athlete and have never stressed your hands before, I would recomend an absolute six-week period of total hand strength training before you start bending. I say six weeks, because it's the amount of time a person could possibly wait before starting, but the real time I'd recommend is six months. In this time, your hands and wrists will drasticaly change, increaseing the strength of all of your lower arms muscles, tendons and ligaments. They will change so much, that you will physicaly notice the new shape and look of your hands.
When I went home on leave for the holiday season, I inspired my brother to start bending. He had minor grip-strength experience, but no wrist work. I told him a number of times "Dude, play with a sledge for 6 months before you start bending". Instead, he bought some HRS and started bending. Two weeks later I recieved an e-mail from him saying "I tried to bend the YELLOW nail today, and messed up a tendon in my right hand. Perhaps I should play with a sledge for a few months first". Don't be my brother, and start too fast. Take the time to develop that base level of strength in your wrists, thumbs, and hands.
2). Start slow
The second thing you should remember when you begin to bend, is start bending slowly. I don't mean the speed of a bend, but the actual act of bending. When you begin, use the easiest steel you can find, like 3/16" HRS, and bend it until you are very comfortable with the feel and technique; VERY comfortable. 1/4" HRS is the next step, but take your time. When 5" pieces start to feel too easy, start lineing up 3 pieces of it, and bend one after the other. Each "rep" will make you use better and better form as your lower arm tires. It's never, ever worth it to just start with heavy steel.
Consider the dead lift. If you had never dead lifted, would you try 135 lbs a few times, and then 225? And then after a horrible attempt at 225 where you finished the lift with a rounded back and a half dozen minor injuries along the way, would you then slip on 315 for another set? No, that's stupid, but an easy option when bending, as it doesn't "look" like there's that much of a difference between different nails.
For this dead lift, wouldn't it be a better idea to just stick with 135 lbs until you know your form is great? When you can knock out 10 reps with perfect form? You need to be comfortable with the lift and feel what it feels like before you start to add weight. The same goes for bending. Stick with low weight until you understand the bend, have great form, and are comfortable with the feeling of bending.
3). Advance slow
Once you have a good base level of hand and wrist strength, and you've developed the knowledge of how to bend and have understood a good technique that fits you, it's time to start advancing in "weight". Move on to 1/4" HRS, in 7" lengths. It is very common for a begining bender to bend that 7" length of 1/4" steel, and then try a 6.5" piece immediatly. The thrill of bending stronger and shorter "nails" is addictive and is very fun to do. This is where my third point comes in, take your time and advance slowly.
If you perfected your dead lift, would you start throwing on 25lb plates and try to max out again? No, you'd increase slowly by 5 lbs or so each work out, and gradualy build your strength.
The same needs to go for 1/4" steel. Take your time. On that first work out, bend 1 or 2 of the 7" bars, and call it a day. Even if it's easy, stop and do not progress to shorter bars. Wait until the next work out, and try a 6+7/8" bar 1 or 2 times. Then, each work out , either increase the number of bars bent, or decrease the length by an 1/8" inch.
Slowly, over time, you will work down to a 6" or 5" bar. It may very well be so that you can bend a 6" bar on the first work out, but your hand won't be ready for it. Then, you'll keep trying that length or harder steel with out the correct total hand strength to do it correctly. This will cause many minor injuries, and will result in a major injury.
You see, muscle grows relativly quick, but tendons take time to strengthen. If you have the smarts and dicipline to progress by 1/8", you will build the tendon and ligament base to allow you to progress as a serious bender. Then, you can take on harder steel, and be ready for it, instead of taking it on too early with more insane-o-intensity than tendon strength.
Also, during this slow advancement of bending, you are also working your sledge hammer, grippers, thick bars and plate pinches, slowly building total lower arm strength.
4). All you have is Time
Once again, TIME is the key to hand strength of any kind. It is possible to make leaps and bounds in hand strength, but generaly, it's a slow process but also one with very little plateaus. Time is all you have, unless you are 80, so use it. As I've stated before, have the discipline to see what your hand strength will be like 5 to 25 years from now. Sure, the next year will change your lower arm strength drasticaly, but take it slow and ease into it. Once again, you can't have a 600 lb dead lift after 6 months of training, so don't shoot for too-high grip goals too soon. You will get there.
On a final note, I'd just like to try and capture the seriousness of slowly easing your way into bending. It comes down to two different situations.
1). You blasted into bending, bent the BLUE and some 60D nails, and then went on to 5/16" HRS in the first few months, but suddenly cranked a ligament in a finger. Devistated, and unable to grasp anything, you change your style and try to keep bending the same weight and hear a snap coming from the other hand. Crippled, you are unable to bend with one severe strain and a partial tear of a ligament and a tendon. You are unable to bend for a half a year with out pain, and after you feel you are ready to bend, you work your way up to 60D's again, but experience and old familiar pain each time you attempt to go farther. You then stop trying to advance as a bender, as your hands hurt too much to keep going.
2). You relax, take your time, and slowly learn how to bend, and then slowly follow a deliberate system of advancing through the bending-weights of nail bending. It takes you longer before you get to 60D nails, but when there, you do it with perfect form and they feel easy. You slowly advance farther with cut 60D's and double bends, and step onto 5/16" HRS. There, you use your strong hands, strong tendons and strong wrists to slowly conquer 5/16" HRS, and now the RED nail is actually an option.
This is not in any way suposed to scare you, it's just to educate you about bending and what happens when you get excited and try to advance too quickly. I just want to tell every interested bender to slow down and take your time. Time is your greatest asset when you start to bend, so use it. You will NEVER regret going too slow, but you WILL regret going too fast. Enjoy, bend safe, and good luck with your bending.
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