Ranchmanben

Thanks for the replies. This question is more from a selling stand point. So for the tongs I’ve sold are to people I know and have a pretty good idea about how they use their tongs. The ones who get them too hot before cooling off are getting 1018 and those who don’t are getting tongs made from sucker rod. I personally like the springiness of the sucker rod tongs but am leaning towards just using 1018 so everything is the same. Thomas, where’d you round up the commercially made titanium tongs?

Those are some fine looking hammers!

Got the other pair of tongs done today. Managed to get them to match fairly closely.

I’m trying to figure out what material would be best for farrier style tongs. Ideally I want the springy durability of 5160 and the forgiveness of 1018 when it comes to cooling the tongs off while they’re too hot. I know I can’t get both so I’m hoping someone knows of a happy medium. Thanks, Ben

Thanks Gergely, now if I can only make another pair exactly like those I’ll be getting somewhere.

Thanks Mark. The farrier style rounding hammer was my goal, glad you picked up on that. The tongs worked like a dream but I wish someone had told me that there’s a learning curve to using them. After a while I got the hang of it and things started going more smoothly. Das, I’m guessing you’re getting ready to buck stitch something? I built one set of half inch bolt tongs today and I’m hoping I’ll get a chance tomorrow to build the other set in need to make. Felt pretty good to use a hammer I made myself.

A piece of curly maple would really do that hammer head justice. If it’s good enough for a baseball bat, should be fine for a hammer.

Thanks fellas. Arkie, miraculously I ended up right at the target weight of 1.75lbs on one and a little over at 1.83lbs on the other. Here’s both of them handled.

Finally got around to forging a pair rounding hammers. A buddy of mine struck for me so he gets to keep one of the inaugural pair. They’re a far cry from Mark’s Damascus cross pein but hey, he’s better than I am.

It holds really well but I cut the lever too short so it a little bit of a pain to use...so I remade it. This is version 2.0. This one holds better and is more user friendly.

Thank you fellas. Das, that’a my buddy’s dog Bandit. She’s a good dog.

Not exactly forge related but I finished up a short vise stand and made a small filing vise. Still need to hang some little hooks or something or other the hang my files from. The filing vise was purpose built for filing on spur rowels, The Lady is getting a set of spurs for Christmas.

Pretty neat! I’m going to have to give those a whirl.

It would make a better story if he was dating Temple Grandin but alas, he only wanted to make the rose for her.

Looks Mousehole-ish to me.

Thank you Jerry. I haven’t made one in quite a while but it just so happens that a buddy was helping me work on the lead up to my squeeze chute and when we got do he said he’d like to make one for his girlfriend. It was Friday afternoon, the drinks were cold and I didn’t feel like building the gate I need so we set up the flower shop. Here’s what I did near the shop today. The rose was build by largely by him.

Bingo!

Definitely finish that set even if you’ve got to bolt them together. You’ll be able to size them for thinner stock, 3/16”-1/4” range. The more sets you finish, or not, the more you learn and gain hammer control. As Thomas said, s hooks are a good project to work on for practicing drawing out and rounding material.

You’ve got a coal forge that’ll ruin you steel if you’re not paying attention, an anvil and you don’t quit after a one failed attempt! Sounds like you’re off to a pretty good start. Tongs are pretty tricky project for a beginner but you’ve gotten this far so you might as well join the two pieces and have a useful tool. To be perfectly honest, those aren’t too bad. It looks like you’ve got the basic concepts down, now you just need to refine and practice what you’re doing. The first thing that jumps out at me is the thickness of the jaws, they need to be thicker. I like mine to be in the neighborhood of 3/8”. Next is the boss, and take this with a grain of salt because yours will function well, it needs to be a little more defined on both sides. This is somewhat to give it a more finished look but also allows you to grip your material closer to the pivot which will give you more gripping power with less fatigue to your hand. I also like my boss to be 3/8” thick as well. Your reins just look like they need to be straightened and rounded off so the don’t tear your hands up while in use As I said before, tongs are not an easy project and getting as far as you have without quitting is an accomplishment. You’re off to a pretty good start, keep it up and show us what happens. You’ll hear this elsewhere on the forum, put your location where people can see it. There are smiths all over the place and some might be close to you. If they are, they’re probably willing to link up with you and help.

I think that's a little pricy but in my neck of the woods people would buy it at that price.

That one looks mighty rough. Unless it was free, I'd pass on it.

I'm going go out on a limb here and guess it's an Acme.

If this is going to be in your shop long term, trick it out like your second to last picture. If it's long to be moved around frequently then do the tripod. I really like seeing a well built, thought out vise stand that is also embellished more than is stickly necessary.

It looks to me like both end could possible been the same in the beginning and one side is a lot more worn from use? It's hard to tell from the picture though. Any chance of a couple of shots from other angles?

I'd scoop that up in a heart beat. Personally, I'd use the edge as is and see if the crack gets bigger. If not, carry on. If it expands, whip out the grinder. It all depends on the size of work done on it too.