April 7, 200917 yr Unsure as to whether this goes here or in blacksmithing so please correct me if it is in the wrong hooch! Here goes... I got my hands on a wonderful set of heavy duty tongs that appear to have been slightly abused. One of the handles has a side to side crack in it located almost dead center of the tong arm. I can't do pics at the moment so I will do my best to 'splain it. The arm is about as thick as my pinky (half inch or so) where the crack is located. The crack only goes about halfway through the arm. I applied every ounce of pressure I can physically generate to see if I could get it to break and I couldn't just using bare hands. Should I fix it? (Yes) How? Forge weld? Cany you forge weld a crack? Any other techniques? Thanks from down Georgia way... Steve:)
April 7, 200917 yr had the same problem once, if you have access to a O/A tourch or welder. just weld that area makeing sure to melt it together and grind of all the access hope this helps
April 7, 200917 yr We normally will grind out the crack and mig or arc weld it. Make sure you get good penetration and have a clean weld. After welding it we don't grind it but get the rein hot and forge the weld to the size of the rein thus refining the weld metal grain. Very rarely have any problems with this method, we are using these tongs under largish power hammers every day. You should always inspect your tongs for cracks defects etc before use anyway. Phil
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