Tongs

Here's my first set of tongs I made to hold flat bar.

A couple of months ago, I bought a Bradley Cushioned helve hammer at an auction. Included with the hammer were a few different dies. One pair is obviously for making tongs. The final tong form is apparent in the pictures, but I don't really understand the intermediate steps that I need to take to get to that point. Are there any tool and die guys out there that can help me figure out how to use them? Thanks!

Well, I finally forged my first set of tongs. These started life as 3/8 square mild steel. They are based off of the tongs illustrated in Basic Blacksmithing by Harries and Heer. The rivet is just some 1/4 round scrap I found. After forging them, I used them to forge the candle socket and drip pan. Like a knuckle head, the drip pan actually started life as a plug of 3/4 coil spring about 3/4 inches long. Mark

Well I wanted to make "V" tongs, but my forge got the better of me and melted one of them so they became pliers HA HA!! Its not to bad for the first time I guess.

Beginning smith here - I've had two sets of classes - got the bug. I have an anvil that I'm rehabilitating, a hammer, and I'm building a gas forge. In my last class we started making tongs, but I ran out of time. How do you build tongs without having tongs to hold the metal? My first thought is to go to Harbor Freight Tools and buy vise-grip knock-offs and use them until the spring goes slack. Surely there's an answer other than "go to Blacksmith Depot and buy some." BTW, who has decent tongs for sale at less than $30 a pop? Suburban Maryland - zipcode 20878

I am new to the forum and also to blacksmithing. I have arranged for some lessions from a seasoned vetran - but he doesn't want to start untill the snow is gone - so I am banging on some metal on my own for now. I am gathering parts for a brake drum forge to replace the $10 propane torch I am currently using and I picked up a couple books "New Edge of the Anvil" and "The Art of Blacksmithing" I have a junk China anvil and I am looking around for something better - but I have something in the mean time. I just bought a couple real tongs to replace my vise-grips. I bought an Off-Center Wolf Jaw and an Off-Center 1/4" V-bit chainmaker (16") - for making those mandito…

OK, guys I was really unhappy with the shape my first bolt head video came out with, so i made another one.:cool: YouTube - Forging a pair of Bolt Head Tongs 2 You could also check my other 2 latest videos: YouTube - How to forge a Nail-header YouTube - How to forge a nail Joe

well not my first attempt but the first finished pair I used some potato digger chain it is 1/2 inch round 13mm for metric folks. I got this material years ago and now I cant remember what it is it gives a good spark of high carbon nice tight patern. the top pair is what I used as a guide to forging they are tom tongs actually tsur tongs I believe I needed 1/2 inch tongs and they look like they will work good and they feel good in the hand. anyone know what they use for the potato diggers? also I am resising my pics can someone give me some feed back on the dowload speed and quality of the pics I am on dsl and some of the pics I look at take too long to open up can imagin…

Just received my first tongs today. All 3 are Grant's OC brand. 1/4" V-Bit, 16" handles, 1/2" gooseneck 18" handles and 18" wolf jaw tongs. You can tell that these are quality items and have a long life of forging ahead. What's the best way to adjust the jaw alignment? Also, being new they are somewhat stiff. Is it best to let them work in naturally or is there some way recommended to work them in quicker? Thanks. Grant, great products! Eric

I am frustrated with trying to make tongs. I think they are slightly advanced for my skill level. Pliers and channel locks are not ideal either. I am thinking about BUYING NEW AT RETAIL PRICE two (2) pair of tongs. At $40 or so a pair this will kill an entire months hobby budget. I am learning on "smaller" materials such as 3/8 and 1/2 inch square and round. I also have some thick sheet metal. I expect to want to use larger materials in the future. I have a gas forge currently, and may build a solid fuel forge in the future. I am not currently interested in reworking another tool, or adding long handles to pliers or channel locks (although I likely will d…

Hi, All. Just getting started here. My mother in law has would like to buy something for the smithy so I thought some tongs might be useful, especially since we are working mostly with scrap. I am thinking of getting 3 pair. What sizes and styles? I thought 2 pair of OC V Bit and one wolf jaw. I need to hold 1/4" and up, square and round stock mostly at the moment. Any opinions would be appreciated. Thanks.~Eric

thought I'd make a quick pair of tongs this morning as i don't have any yet :/, so i got a bit of strip mild steel and just made a pair of about 1/4" flat hold tongs, i was really pleased with them till one of the jaws fell off, i reckon it was cause i cut half way through with a hot cut chisel not fullered 1/2-2/3 way through then twisted think the cut just made a weak point and it cracked, ahh well it's all experience, i did get a good forge weld though even with wet borax I'll have another go at tongs tomorrow i think if i get the chance, and post a photo of what i come up with, i may mig weld the jaw back on the broken ones too seeing as i have none and it would be v…

Forged my first set of tongs today ... kinda ... I bought 5 sets of tong blanks 2 years ago. After inheriting 40 pairs of old tongs, I didn't know what to do with the blanks. Then I had the brainstorm of forging them to look like Norse-style tongs for my re-enacting kit. That's what I made today - and while I didnt make it from scratch, the modifications were a lot of work. I like the way they turned out - not fabulour repros, but I still like em. Sam

I will try to get pics tomorrow if possible. I bought a huge set of very old hand forged tongs. They are 4.5 feet long, weigh at least 60 pounds, and have hammer-eye points with a chain to lock the bottom of the tongs tight on something. Any ideas what these type of tongs would have been used for? I would like to know before I do something stupid with them. Sorry about not having pictures yet, Cool Hand

2 new threads from me in 2 days. This really is like old times. I want to make some big tongs to work with the power hammer. I have made plenty of small one handed tongs but never anything any bigger. Is there anything special I should do or are they just a bigger version of ordinary tongs?

Hi all, I recently acquired some smithing equipment and one of the things that was included was the following tool. The guy who was selling the equipment didn't know what it was. It has a hole that goes through the side and out the bottom and a round fuller next to the hole. Does anyone know what it is?

Hi, All. Have an old pair of snips that I would like to make into tongs. It is bolted, not riveted. What is a good shape to turn then into? I don't have any tongs yet. Thanks.~Eric

ok so since my first pair of tongs broke i decided i had to make a second pair. these are ok, ut im dissapointed with the pin i made... it's too thin and i messed up the peening on the other side... during this i deffinently figgured out a better way im going to try next time.

I am a new bladesmith and have very rudimentary equipment. In my first attempt at forging, I found that the tongs (a.k.a. the longest pair of needle nose pliers I could find) I found that they are in fact ill suited to the task of grasping the hot metal without two hands. So I have been forced to ask for the help of a friend to hold the metal while I hammer out a blade. But sometimes he is not available. So what can I use to hold the metal by myself until such a time when I have the ability to forge my own tongs? To clarify, I with am making blades out of rail road spikes which are pretty thick. Also, I can't make tongs unless I have good ones. My friend and I are still…

Greetings all, I haven't posted in a while so I thought I'd update everyone with my tongs restoration project. When last we spoke, my friend and I had inherited a pile of rusty old tongs. In turns out, in that pile were a grand total of 40 pairs of tongs !!! Five of them were damaged and need some kind of repair (still have to work on those). The immediate problem was that most of them were completely seized up with rust. Most people recommended a reconditioning regimen of HEAT and BEAT. Worked like a charm. Usually I just needed to heat but some needed some "gentle" persuasion with a hammer. All of them now move freely. So far I've reconditioned 13 pairs. A l…

alright, here they are. i know they're not pretty but they work.

some I made for a friend and the first ones for me

I was always under the impression that tongs should be made from mild steel, but at a meeting recently, a smith made a pair from some railroad spikes. He also suggested that one make them from old coil springs. What do you make yours out of? Rob

hi everyone, I'm still new at this but had realized how badly I needed a good long pair of tongs rather then the vise grips I'd been using:rolleyes: So i found some rebar, and started hammering and this is what i ended up with... there not pretty but they work. I also used a bolt just cause I didn't know how to make a rivet. Also this is my first real project I've done start to finish

I have been thinking about making some Ti tongs. Anyone have experience with using Ti tongs? What do you think? What sort of thickness is necessary to make them durable?