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Jaw type and size tongs you use the most?


Glenn

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For me, the V-bit bolt tong has proven to be the most useful when you only have a small collection of tongs and need to get the most bang for the buck.

I prefer to have a box jaw tong for every size needed, but the V-bit does a good job of capturing flat stock as well as round and square.

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I have three pairs of bought tongs all v bit bolt tongs I use regularly. I occasionally use flat bit and then I even more rarely use my funky flat bar tongs I made and posted in the tongs section a while back. If I was buying more tongs (or could learn how to forge them myself) I'd definitely go with v bit bolt tongs because they are so versatile. 

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As a horseshoer many moons ago, I used flat jawed tongs almost exclusively. They had to have parallel closure on the horseshoe and I would be constantly changing their position on the shoe depending on where the bend or unbend was to occur. Horseshoer's tongs are light, often 14" long, and the jaws are small and sometimes oval in shape.

I used bolt tongs when dressing the pritchels.

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Most of the time, the one that sits on my left arm :D

Second: An 8" channellock - not in the fire. For simple things like picking up something hot, bending off a nicked piece or bending thin sections or holding the other end when bending around something.

Third: A 16" wolf jaw ( if that is the right word) from I think Peddinghaus 

When that is too big, I use a flat jaw hollow bit I bought as an "antique" at a "medieval fair".

The other tongs I have acquired I hardly use at all but I try always to use long stock and nick off at the last moment.

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I picked up a set of small bitted shoeing tongs---not the round bit ones with dimples. They hold 1/4" and are my favorite, short and light! A lot of projects start off hamming one end down to fit the tongs *first* rather than mess with less comfortable tongs till late in the project when the size hits 1/4".  Definitely my favorite for knifemaking!  (They cost me US$1.50 at the South High Fleamarket in Columbus Ohio 20 years ago or so...)

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  • 3 weeks later...

I tend to use my 5/8" V bit jawed bolt jaw tongs as they obviously hold railroad spikes, but will also hold a wide range of flat and round stock that I tend to use a lot. Also use a pair of flat jaw tongs that have 1/4" round grooves in them. Use them a lot when making leaves, they hold them pretty well. I actually need to make a new pair, because the ones I'm using are my earliest surviving pair of tongs that I made, but they don't look like they will last much longer.

                                                                                                                          Littleblacksmith

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I have to say the pair that fits the stock I am using best.

While I like v bit bolt tongs and they are a more versatile than other tongs,  I do like round tongs for round stock . Round tongs do grip round stock better than v bit tongs and they are much better for flat stock than v bit.  I find v bits want to twist the jaws when holding flat stock, round are much nicer holding flat..   Bolt tongs have much more versatility for holding steel that has features on the held end and holds steel well but tongs with shorter bits have more leverage and holding power.     I will make or modify dedicated tongs for jobs where I am making a lot of parts the same and it helps hold the stock. 

Tongs that don't hold the steel well can be dangerous,  Very dangerous on power hammers. 

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  • 2 weeks later...

well that is a great question. I like flat jaw tongs and V jaw tongs when hand hammering.

But if I am working a lot of the same type of pieces I just weld on a piece of steel as a handle I find it easier when going back and forth from the forge to the power hammer. If you look on the old videos they have bolted on fixtures 

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On 12/28/2016 at 6:27 PM, Frank Turley said:

As a horseshoer many moons ago, I used flat jawed tongs almost exclusively. They had to have parallel closure on the horseshoe and I would be constantly changing their position on the shoe depending on where the bend or unbend was to occur. Horseshoer's tongs are light, often 14" long, and the jaws are small and sometimes oval in shape.

I used bolt tongs when dressing the pritchels.

Frank, you being a "horseshoer many moons ago", I have a question regarding the farrier's tongs.  I see many of them with the dimple in the jaws, not just a plain flat face.  Does the dimple really serve a purpose or is it just for decoration?  Seems like the dimple reduces the gripping area of the jaws.

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1 hour ago, arkie said:

Frank, you being a "horseshoer many moons ago", I have a question regarding the farrier's tongs.  I see many of them with the dimple in the jaws, not just a plain flat face.  Does the dimple really serve a purpose or is it just for decoration?  Seems like the dimple reduces the gripping area of the jaws.

If the tongs are left dead flat on the jaw insides, eventually you get a wear pattern, more near and on the edges than in the middle. You then get a high center and the work wants to spin or twist between both jaws. To a smith, this is not a biggie. He or she can heat the tongs and refit them. On the other hand, with the dimple in the center, you don't get a high center. Regarding gripability, grabbing cold steel with the tongs, the dimple doesn't do anything. Gripping hot steel however, you might get a better hold, since you have a sort of concentric circle of flat surrounding the dimple. You have the edges of the dimple and the edges of the outer flat working for you. I used to put the dimple in with a 1/2" round punch.

Not to forget that blacksmiths' flat tongs usually have the center lowered with a half round or vee fuller, lengthwise.

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21 hours ago, Frank Turley said:

If the tongs are left dead flat on the jaw insides, eventually you get a wear pattern, more near and on the edges than in the middle. You then get a high center and the work wants to spin or twist between both jaws. To a smith, this is not a biggie. He or she can heat the tongs and refit them. On the other hand, with the dimple in the center, you don't get a high center. Regarding gripability, grabbing cold steel with the tongs, the dimple doesn't do anything. Gripping hot steel however, you might get a better hold, since you have a sort of concentric circle of flat surrounding the dimple. You have the edges of the dimple and the edges of the outer flat working for you. I used to put the dimple in with a 1/2" round punch.

Not to forget that blacksmiths' flat tongs usually have the center lowered with a half round or vee fuller, lengthwise.

OK, that makes sense.  Thanks for the explanation on the "dimple".  I have tried the shallow "V" on flat bit tongs, both in the lengthwise manner and an "X" pattern as well...didn't seem to improve anything for me.  I have a spare flat bit tong that I'll put a dimple on the faces and give 'er a whirl!!

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  • 2 weeks later...

1/4" fire tongs, from my shoeing rig;-) some Tom Clark bolt tongs, and some lovely tongs that I made in various styles.  I use the Rivet tongs that I made a lot, I always seem to have some tool chucked up in them,,,  Whatever fits the bill...

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