Tongs

just thought I'd post this blueprint of some "quick tong" blanks I had designed and had burnt out of 3/8 thick plate steel. I've made several pair of these and modified them to what I needed at the time. Feel free to use it anyone who can. It leaves enough meat on the bits to be modified to personal preference and the reigns can be left as burnt out or drawn out to a more slender graceful feel. Anyone with machining or cnc ability can draw them up and have them cut out, or anyone in their garage can follow the blueprint with a cutoff wheel and make them. I figured it might help someone out, this place has helped me enough to say the least. God bless, K…

I recently started blacksmithing and have mostly finished my first set of tongs. It took three attempts to get where I am on this set. I'm still refining some details such as adding grooves for grip in the jaws, rounding corners on the reigns, and adjusting the pitch of the reigns. Lastly I'll need to quinch and heat treat.

I've got quite a bit of this 5/8 round stock to play with so... I did clean the paint off before slenderizing the reins.

Hello! I'm relatively new to blacksmithing and bladesmithing (I'm also a college student strapped for both time and cash, lol!), but I recently got about 20' of 3/4" mild steel square stock and wanted to start making my own tongs so I can get rid of the Harbor Freight mechanic's needlenose pliers I've been using (they're good, but I want better <shrug>). My question is, do I have good enough material to make decent tongs, or should I look for better material? Also, any suggestions or tips on methods for making the aforementioned tongs would also be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!

I needed a pair of scrolling tongs for some desk legs I have been working on. I have some 3/16" x 2" flat stock scrolls that will be attached to the legs; my hope is that these tongs will help me refine the imperfect scrolls. These are the third pair of tongs I have ever forged. I have yet to test them and at face value, they could certainly use some improvements in a few areas, but they feel sturdy and comfortable in my hand. I learned a lot along the way in regards to number of heats used, hammer techniques and control, and overall confidence in my abilities. They are forged from 5/8" high carbon sucker rod. They are 11 1/2" from the tine tips to bottom of the rein…

Well, I can't believe I did this but I thought I would share...

Today with the interenet there are a bunch of different smiths, different levels of understanding and different understanding of what they think they actually had seen when so and so did such and such. This post is spurred on by the fact a few people out there are claiming that a left hand jawed tongs work for both lefty and righties. and just to make what ever. I get tired of talking about which is right or wrong from a traditional point of view.. A righty tong is, flat, turn 90 to the left (counter clock wise) , then 90 to left ( again counter clockwise).. A lefty tong is , flat, turn 90 to the right (clockwise), then 90 to the right (agai…

Hi. I'm a total newbie, and am looking to get some tongs. Right now I'm primarily forging rebar and 1/4" mild rod, but I hope to get some 1/2" mild round bar + square bar, 1/2" O1 drill rod, and maybe some 1095 flat bar, and I'm looking at leaf and suspension springs. Right now I'm just getting started, working on leaf keychains and kiridashis. I'm looking at Ken's Custom Iron rapid tong blanks. They have a bundle with v bit, flat jaw, scroll, bolt jaw, and slot jaw tongs. However, this bundle isn't much in the way of savings as opposed to buying those all separately. What I'm trying to figure out is what I need for those plans on a budget. Thanks. Chimaera

attempting to make some tongs...and im stumped. I watched black bear forge's video on making square tongs to get an idea as to how to make tongs. Looked easy enough, a notch in a few locations and some hammering, viola. And i did that....but now i hit a snag. Ive made a few sets of the business ends of tongs as practice, and keep running into the same issue. They line up well, but when i go through the motion of closing the jaws togwther, they snag on the metal left over. Looking at the picture, hopefully, you can see where the metal curves and interferes with the action. Sure, i could take a file and file away this metal and get them to close, but watching…

My first pair of tongs is far left..5/8th rebar, with drilled bolt hole and peened over bolt. Got ambitious on the second pair (2nd from left)...Pelgrom tongs with wacky proportions and weak area in one of the jaws. These were drawn out from some heavier rebar. They haven’t broken yet, but do have some unwanted flex. 3rd from left pair....kind of a cold mess (they’d be a hot mess if I actually used them). Jaws went awry and one is very weak. Ended up with odd boss/handle junction angle. But like the previous pair, I punched the rivet hole and peened a rod for the rivet. Made the pair on far right today. These are much stronger than the previous 2 efforts. I…

Here is the latest project from the forge. Some bladesmithing tongs. Definitely not pretty. But they do the job. I made these for working with large leafspring. The next set will have to have heavier reigns, these ones have just a little too much flex im thinking. First time doing a rivet as well. Lots of fun learning along the way with these ones. And I finally got a clean impression from my hand made touchmark.

Hi folks! I've recently been attempting to make some it-but bolt tongs from blanks, and am having a lot of difficulty chiseling the v-shape into the jaws. I've been trying to hold my tong blank in my approx 30lb antique leg vise, but as I hit my chisel, the blank slips down and pretty much out of the vise after just a few blows. This means that my force isn't translating into effective chiseling. I'm going to assume the old vise is probably just not up to holding as tight as needed and probably has been abused and may have some thread damage. It was a freebie thrown in with some tools I bought and works pretty good for twisting. So before I ruin my blanks…

Just like the hooks, I've made a few tongs, finally happy with these. It is made from a 12mm square bar with a 12mm reins. Reins are stick welded and blended in. On the picture I'm holding a 12mm square and a 10mm round.

This might be a dumb question and I tried searching but couldn't find an explanation that worked with what my brain is telling me but here goes. When making tongs, do you forge the 2 pieces to be exactly the same? Or do you make them a mirror of each other? I've almost come to the point where I'm going to pull apart a pair of pliers to just get my brain to understand. I've tried drawing it on paper but when I make the jaws offset from where the pivot is, do I make them both the same or do I flip one to the right and one to the left when I'm forging them out?

Some months back, I came into possession of a couple of bed frames. It’s basically 1-1/4” angle iron with 3/32” thick sides. Sparks like high carbon. An idea came into my mind for making some bolt tongs, and today — after thinking through a few issues — I finally gave it a try. Here’s the process. Cut two 18” long pieces. Mark both sides of one end of each for a long notch, with dimensions as shown: And cut: Clamp both pieces back-to-back in the vise (spacer blocks come in handy) and clean up the notches: Ready for forging: Flatten both pieces: Shape jaws, punch, and rivet: Heat…

I couldn't find a set of tongs the size I needed so I forged some. These are made to hold 1 1/4 inch x 3 inches.

Here's a pair of tongs I made for Lyle,LDW, for his birthday today. I initially made this type for prying with when making tools from spring, so the reins are a little stouter than I normally make. I also made them like the tongs I posted quite a while back that would hold tapered stock. What I didn't count on though, was the versatilty of these tongs. These tongs will hold 1/4" round or square and everything in between all the way up to 1 1/8" as they are set right now. They will also hold tapers, round or square, and flat bar, 1/2" to 1". They are the most versatile tongs I have ever used or seen.

I have 6ft of 5/8th's A36 mild steel coming and also 2 pieces of 1080, 5/8ths x 6ft... Also managed to sneak in a nice 6ft x 1/2" 4140... I was going to make a couple sets of Fire pit tongs and before I asked to inform myself properly, I ordered the 4140 thinking I would use the round stock as my boss stud/pivot.... My thought was that I wanted the most durable and tough "stud" in the boss as possible, and am wondering if my thinking is correct in using the 4140 after proper quenching? the 1080 tool steel is going to be used to make my own personal tongs for smithing as well. Any information to help clarify all this for me would be greatly app…

Well, they were complicated for me. They aren't pretty, but they danged sure work. Started with 3/4" sq bar, 8" long for each half. That's a piece of 3/4" bar in the jaws. They securely hold from 5/8" square to 1 1/4" square............and the same with round. Top jaw is split like a snake's tongue. I'm happy with them and they'll fill a gap I have in tong sizes. Reins are 16". These sure do make a guy yearn for a power hammer!

So I didnt want to just go and buy a set of tongs. Wanted to do some of the work so I got a set of Ken's Custom Irons. Made the scrolling tongs and flat tongs today. Not great but I'm happy with them. Might play with the jaws on the flats. I also got my new anvil mounted! The stands for my buffer anvil and vice turned out pretty good. Will make the other two tongs in the set then try my own. Love this stuff!

Finished a little pair of tongs to be used for 1/4"-5/16" S-hooks and such.

Reader warning: uneven, not symmetrical, messy as something you've just stood in. So after 3 years of having an anvil, I finally built a forge last Sunday (along the lines of the Essential Craftsman youtube video). And I appear to have made a working pair of tongs! It certainly took some trial and error, and more error. Here are a couple of pics. The second one is before it was riveted. (I should maybe put 'riveted' in quotes, but it seems to be holding). I used an 8mm drill to make the hold - I don't have any punches yet. Though drilling does seem a bit more sensible anyway. My dad says they look like something made in the 1700s. I'm flipping that as a complime…

I got notified of a Facebook online meeting of FABA. Francis Trez Cole demonstrated his method for making "bolt jaw tongs." I don't know if you can watch it after the fact but it was well worth the time. Especially for you new guys who need tongs. Certainly worth searching FB for "FABA" or "Francis.T.cole/videos" His method is pretty straight forward and a great example of combining basic techniques to make more complicated products. This is the first online meeting I've watched but I'll be all over any other invite I get. My only regret is they're smart enough to keep non-members from commenting and you know me and wanting to talk. I have one comment f…

I've tried searching for this, but haven't found it yet. My local scrapyard just got in a bunch of 1045 and 4140 in various sizes. There are several hundred feet of 5/8" round 4140, that I was thinking of using to make some more tongs. Is there any reason that 4140 makes for a bad set of tongs?