Tongs

Hi Guys, does anyone know the name and function of this type of blacksmith tong? When i first saw one, i thought it had a piece broken off one of the jaws, but there is obviously a reason for having this design. There are three such tongs in the attached picture, two on the far right, and one in the centre. Any help would be appreciated, Cheers.

Will you folks share how you set tong rivets without locking up the tongs? Do you set them hot or cold? Thanks Dave

I came across some old tongs, something like V Groove. they are unusual in that each half is completely different from the other. They're made of wrought iron from two of three pieces welded together. They give a super grip on a range and variety of shapes and sizes. The length of the V shaped portion (measured along the axis of the tongs) is about 5/8 inch. When you grip a piece of iron the V shape forces the iron flat against the opposite jaw. No wiggle, rotation or anything else. I don't want to mess these up so I'm making similar pair. Don't know if anyone has seen similar tongs. See attached images

I thought I would post a pic of how I turn nippers into good usable tongs..These are plain bolt head style tongs from a couple pair of nippers I picked up at the flea market today..Often times they can be had for two or three dollars..First of all there are two things that I think are important when turning nippers into tongs... 1. Work them HOT!..I work mine at least a low yellow.. 2. Anneal them after your done..I anneal my nipper/tongs when Im done. Good nippers are made from high carbon stuff and annealed they are still very,very strong.. . Doing it this way I have had good luck with these tongs..They make one super strong pair and are great for turning and twisti…

Well that was fun, now we have to use them!

Hi all. Made another video today. Hope some of you like it and gets inspired to forge your own pair of tongs. There are several videos covering the topic already, I know, but I hope to add something new.

Hello, I have some nippers I have no use for and I want them to become tongs. I saw the $2 nippers to tongs post but I don't see instructions, just the results. The nippers are very thin on the end as they are meant to snip, so how can I get enough material from this thin chisel like end in order to form a shape to hold onto stock? If anyone knows of a tutorial or could give some instructions how to do this that would be great. I also am not sure I can take the rivet out of one pair as it is completely flush on both ends so I don't know how I would get it back in effectively. I figured doing this would be an easier introductory tong project rather than going full bor…

I was thinking about the offset box tongs I've seen for sale that allow a grip on bar stock without having the hinge pin in the way. It occurred to me that a three legged stool doesn't wobble so what if a set of tongs were made with two pins on the lower jaw and one pin on the upper jaw. The pins would be perpendicular to the length of the tongs creating a three prong grip on whatever size stock they were sized for. I was thinking those prongs could be attached to any tong that had sufficient metal on the bits effectively giving a "two in one" setup. For example a 1/2" round bolt head tong could have those pins attached allowing 1/2" round stock to be griped a…

the day before the tournament, i realized that i didn't have a tong for holding round stock smaller than 12-15mm round stock so i decided to take on this long overdue project and made myself this pretty pair of short reined tongs that hold 8mm round and will also hold flat stock pretty well, it's very nice for holding knives by the tang i had a bit of a problem with the rivet, first when i thought i was done the parts were a bit wiggly to the sides, so i popped it back in the forge and whacked the rivet better down, turns out i did it a bit too well and it was so well stuck together that i had to put the reins on the horn of the anvil pointing up and wedge it down on…

Why do modern smiths weld on tong reins, and why did they do it in the recent past?

found some tongs what where they for:

Hi. I'm just getting started in blacksmithing and trying to get my foot in the door. I have a small, 40# stretch of railroad track and a brake drum-inside-a-55-gallon-drum forge. (Almost, at least. I just need to hook up a blower). I don't have much for tools - an assortment of four hammers, three cross peins and one ball pein. The largest being about 2 pounds. I do not have any tongs, however, and I was looking to make some. I have a very limited experience in metalwork, only doing odd jobs in sheet metal, welding, and a little but of cold cutting. Not very much forming or forging, but I'm a fast and dedicated learner. Now, in any circumstance where I needed more g…

They look pretty good for holding chisels etc. just thought I'd share. Taken from here: http://gaatha.com/iron-tool-making/ All the best Andy

Well I was poking through a heap of papers and had a few pages from an e-book I had printed up. Anyways Fig. 1 is the tongs I found over in Dads stuff and they are for repointing picks. They might work great for holding a bick since the shapes are similar.

I got it in my head that I need some scrolling tongs since I bought Mark Aspery's books. Tried to follow the instructions as best I could. Started off with 1 1/8" x 3/8" mild, which was way too big but it's all I had spare. The tongs are chunky to say the least and the boss is way too fat but I'm quite happy with them. I had started to draw the reigns out but this was a huge waste of time, I struggled to get a decent long heat and after far too long I decided to give up and mig welded on some 10mm round bar. Cleaned up the welds and they look ok. Let me know what you think. All the best Andy

All this chat about welded reigns got me curious about the ones that I had picked up last summer. I believe that only one pair of pickup tongs out there didn't have welded on reigns. And they were fairly crudely made from long piece of rod that had been threaded at one end during it's life. What I found interesting is the welded on reigns for the one farrier tool (pull off tongs maybe google fu is weak ) Anyways it's quite an assortment of welds and finished quality of the tongs. One reign is broken but it is a little ways back from the weld.

I snagged a couple old pairs of tongs last weekend after digging through piles and piles of stuff a roadside antique shop didn't even know they had. One of the sets is a very nice, very long pair that unfortunately has an extremely loose rivet. I'm comfortable (once I get my anvil! newbie) fashioning a new rivet for it, but I'm not clear on the best way to remove the old one? I'm new to blacksmithing but VERY comfortable with tools and have a wide range of them. How would you suggest I handle this? Apologies for no photo, but I think tongs are pretty standard fare (and also I'm on a break at work as I post this....shhhhhhh.... don't tell anyone!) :D

Just trying a few new styles, I think Ive settled on the ones with the scrolled ends, little different look and really comfortable in the hand. 17" long, nice and springy, 3/8" round reigns. I'm ok with putting my stamp on these.

Here is a pic of the tongs I have made to date. I started smithing a little over a year ago, and besides the few other pairs I received when I bought my anvil here are the ones I have made. From point of the anvil to hardy: first pair not used often made from half in round, second pair is an attempt at brazeal style pick up / hammer tongs made from 9/16 coil spring, the next 2 are my lasted made from mild 3/4 and 1 in flat bar respectively. I am starting to get the hang of it. Still hard to punch good straight holes, and remember all the steps, but I almost have it down!

A friend let me use his box style Tommy Tongs to forge with. I was going to order a pair on line and came across a post that said it was bad to quench Tommy Tongs? Is this true for Tommy tongs or any tongs? I didn't let them get orange or yellow but did heat them up good. I didn't want to leave them around hot because of my kids so I put them in the water bucket when I was done. Thanks, Jacob

I made a pair of bolt head tongs yesterday and I notice that the curved section between the bit and the hinge is a bit large. Are there some ratios that smiths use when making tongs to avoid wasting material and still get the sizes they want? Thanks, Rob

I just wanted to inform those in the northern Delaware area that there is a "retired" smith in northern Wilmington selling a large variety of tongs. I picked up two but don't currently have a need or a budget for more. He is selling them on an average of $12 to $25 bucks each. He has an ad on Craig's List in Delaware under the search "Blacksmith". Do me a favor, if you find this helpful, let him know that Josh mentioned it.

Managed to make my first set of tongs. I am pretty happy with them. I did end up with a small cold shut on one of the jaws but Ill use them till they give up. Think this is my 5th project, still working on all my forge tools. Having a blast!

Some time ago I ran acrossed a thread with plans for a simple pair of tongs using flat bar stock. I want to say the name started with a P but can't for the life of me remember. There was a picture that showed step be step. They had v groves cut into the edge which was upset to thicken it I believe. Anyone know what I'm thinking about?

Hey everyone, I am planning on starting my first set of tongs this weekend if the weather allows. Based on availability and cheapness I’m planning on using re-bar, now with limited tools and resources, what would anyone suggest as far as making these bad boys. Mostly going to be used to pick up ax heads and blades? Any help is beyond appreciated. I’m most concerned about punching a hole for the rivet, and I don’t really have any punches, which I intend to make using the tongs.