Dunk_c Posted March 26, 2016 Share Posted March 26, 2016 Hi Just starting out. Scrounging around my shed looking for forgeable items. Is there a standard way to take worn out aviation, or Wiss snips, and reforge them into tongs? Coming from a family of plumbers, we have plenty of worn out pairs kicking about. Seems like the straight cutters just need handles welded on and some forging of the blades to make scrolling or flat tongs, or something equally usefull (looks like a good shape to start a small knife from as well). Not sure What the steel is, molybdenum carbon steel according to the Wiss site. Must have been tried before! Please advise. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Cochran Posted March 26, 2016 Share Posted March 26, 2016 I have a pair I've thought about trying to do something with but have yet to try it yet. Be sure to share your results with us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted March 27, 2016 Share Posted March 27, 2016 I'm sure you could if the steel isn't too much pain to forge and weld. It's not that difficult to forge tongs it's just not a beginner project. However, once you've forged a few punches, cold chisels and a couple rivet sets you should be about ready to give a pair of tongs a shot. When forging the punches, etc. use long stock so you don't need tongs. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BIGGUNDOCTOR Posted March 27, 2016 Share Posted March 27, 2016 Awww c'mon Frosty. Facebook link removed They tell everyone that tongs are the perfect beginner project............ Personally I wouldn't mess with snips for tong ends because they are a heat treatable steel which isn't needed for most tongs. Of course you could always rivet some handles on to avoid the welding issues. I would lean more towards figuring out a way to resharpen them, or maybe use them for making small trimming scissors. Draw the handle parts out so you don't have to attach a handle, then get the blade section shaped, adjusted, and sharpened to where they will cut plant stems, cloth, etc.. Hmmmm, they could be handy as garden scissors. You could snip plants as well as wires, mesh, and the metal buckets that some plants come in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the iron dwarf Posted March 27, 2016 Share Posted March 27, 2016 on that fb page they also tell people how to melt drinks cans for casting and not to worry about liquid in them as it soon evaporates and that it is perfectly safe to use chromed hydraulic cylinder rods in your forge as the plating soon burns off, and to weld or grind anvils. wish I could make good tongs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted March 27, 2016 Share Posted March 27, 2016 I wouldn't make tongs from snips either. If it is a forgable steel I'd be thinking of adding it to billets. Then again I'm not a bladesmith guy so I'd probably just let the pile grow. Oh cool, ANOTHER FB page that not only demeans the craft but endangers folk in the process. While I don't wish ill on anybody I just hope people making such dangerous suggestions are practicing the processes themselves. That end of the gene pool maybe could use a little chlorine, hopefully before they pass on the stupid gene. I'm not very good at making tongs myself but I don't practice. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the iron dwarf Posted March 27, 2016 Share Posted March 27, 2016 I try to warn them but often there are more saying it is safe or right. after that if they still want to get an award they can Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted March 27, 2016 Share Posted March 27, 2016 I only go so far to warn people anymore, there's always someone who doesn't know didly but are more than willing to share what they don't know. You see it here all the time. The big problem with idjits encouraging folk to inhale things like hexavalent chrome is it takes a long time to die of cancer so they get to share the stupid for far too long with far too many people. While you can't cure stupid you most certainly can pass it around. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frozenforge Posted March 27, 2016 Share Posted March 27, 2016 If your gonna be stupid you better be tough! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the iron dwarf Posted March 27, 2016 Share Posted March 27, 2016 a few pounds of molten metal in your face may cause you a problem no matter how tough you are as would breathing some fumes Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted March 28, 2016 Share Posted March 28, 2016 I have forged scrolling tongs from the old fashioned snips As for the steel; that's rather like saying "I have a gas engine in my car tell me what make it is?" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SmoothBore Posted March 29, 2016 Share Posted March 29, 2016 On 3/27/2016 at 1:35 PM, Frosty said: I only go so far to warn people anymore, there's always someone who doesn't know didly but are more than willing to share what they don't know. You see it here all the time. Frosty The Lucky. A M E N . -------------------------------------------------------------- Being of a thoroughly pragmatic nature, I would not hesitate to modify a big pair of tin snips, into "tong-like objects". While I'm sure that all the "true blue", "bona-fide" Blacksmiths out there are horrified at the thought of making a useful device by any means other than traditional forging practice. My inclination would be to cut away the worn-out "snip" jaws, and arc weld new, useful jaws, onto the remaining portion of the snips. ------------------------------------------------------ Decades before I ever considered acquiring an anvil, and forge, I was making specialized "tongs" for transferring preheated stators, for electric motors, from conveyor ovens into automated powder coating fixtures. I would fabricate the oddly shaped and very specialized "jaws", and weld them on to various types of pliers. Since the powder coating process was very new at that time, there were no commercial sources for tools of that sort. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Ling Posted March 30, 2016 Share Posted March 30, 2016 On 3/27/2016 at 0:35 PM, Frosty said: While you can't cure stupid you most certainly can pass it around two most common elements, in this world, hydrogen, and stupidity. Littleblacksmith Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.