a gripping arrangement for longitudinally advancing elongated workpieces , particularly for use in a drawing bench , a stripping machine and the like , comprises a pair of supports which are mounted on guide rails for movement in paths which are parallel to one another and to the direction of advancement of the workpiece , and co - extensive . jaw elements are mounted on the supports for movement therewith and for displacement between closed positions in which they engage , and open positions in which they are disengaged from , the workpiece . the gripping arrangement is located downstream of a die and operates in such a manner that always at least one pair of the jaw elements associated with one of the supports engages the workpiece and advances the same in a given direction , thus drawing the workpiece through the die . while one of the supports with its jaw elements draws the workpiece through the die , the other support with its jaw elements in their open positions returns to the upstream end of its path past the one support and its associated closed pair of jaws . the jaw elements of each of the supports extend beyond the support toward the path of movement of the other support , but the jaw elements of the two supports do not interfere with one another when at least one pair of the jaw elements is in the open position thereof . the two supports are independently driven into movement in their paths so that the speed and direction of movement of each support can be selected independently of the speed and direction of movement of the other support .