I just got back from a tong making class at Adams Forge. It was a 6 hour class on Box Tongs. I had 1 previous class. A introduction to Blacksmithing. We made a bottle opener.
The class was super informative. There were 10 students. One left after a few hours. Unfortunately he got very frustrated.
The class entailed detailed lecture while the instructor did. We then went and tried to follow suit.
Man do I have some nice blisters now. I was one of 3 people to actually get their tongs riveted to a functional state. I feel really good about that. I will need to tune them up more. But heck I made me some tongs.