Leeknivek

Thanks for all the replies, this has been really informative. I think I'll just make a few pairs of regular tongs - I have some scrap rebar, all conveniently about 14" long. That should suffice for tongs, right? I have some of my grandfathers tools, too - he did auto body for 40 or so years. What do you think about taking the old style shears/snips (the ones that look like scissors, not aviation-style kind) and forging them into tongs? They don't cut at all, and I have multiple pairs. Worth a try?

That seems a lot more reasonable, from what I've heard and pictures I've seen there were walls of tongs and I feel like I wouldn't be able to work too efficiently with that - so to cut down on it would be good. Do you have any links to v-shaped tongs? Well that's why I asked! They've always gotten me by before, thought I'd see what you fellows thought about it. Good idea, I just did. I looked at the wolf jaw tongs, have you used them? They also seem a lot less complicated to make. I'll look more into them and maybe try making some after practicing more. Yeah, I watched the video that Brian Brazeal made on making tongs from an 8" long piece of 1" round stock. I feel like I might be able to do that if I try hard enough. What are some things that are typically first made by aspiring smiths? I was thinking a hot cut hardie, tongs, as billion a-hooks, fire stoker.

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 grip and leverage than human hands could provide, I've always preferred to use channel locks, seconded by slip joint pliers - or a combination of the two. I don't like vice grips, and I don't know if there's a lot of practicality in having 100 different tongs for 100 different operations that may rarely be used. I do not say this offensively, rather I say it objectively as looking at it from an outside perspective. I like tools as much as anyone else, but it's a hassle searching for the right tool already as it is. I'd like to make it simple. I read through a thread on here before posting this - a new member asking about galv. Steel channel locks who was told he was bound to hurt himself and that they are no good. I'm hoping the same won't happen to me. I was thinking something along the lines of regular, typical, ordinary blacksmiths tongs. Simple and effective, yet with the added advantage of being able to adjust jaw width. So, something with a regular jaw, for now - ie: suited flat-, square- or round-stock holding. - with the tongue-and-groove portion of channel locks, allowing them to be adjusted so you have tongs for 1/4" up to 1", instead of 1/4", 3/8", 1/2", 5/8", etc..... I'm thinking a specific punch could be made to make the crescent "grooves", maybe a reverse die for the "tongues". Just curious what sort of input the members of this thread might have. I'm not trying to make some sort of revolutionary tool and expect to change the way things have been done for thousands of years - but innovation is a friend, also, and I am not afraid to benefit from convenience. Thank you for reading.