I thought I would post a pic of how I turn nippers into good usable tongs..These are plain bolt head style tongs from a couple pair of nippers I picked up at the flea market today..Often times they can be had for two or three dollars..First of all there are two things that I think are important when turning nippers into tongs...
1. Work them HOT!..I work mine at least a low yellow..
2. Anneal them after your done..I anneal my nipper/tongs when Im done. Good nippers are made from high carbon stuff and annealed they are still very,very strong..
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Doing it this way I have had good luck with these tongs..They make one super strong pair and are great for turning and twisting..

Looks good, thank you for sharing.

Another good idea to stash in the "To Build" file. Thanks for the info and for posting the pics.

nice job...would make a good blueprint!!!

I once found an old horrible set of hand forged nippers with very large jaws (steeled too!). They were so large I was able to forge them into a set of tongs for hot firebricks---a really useful thing to have if you run a gasser with bricks for the ends!

Another one you can do is to forge cheap old tinsnips into scrolling tongs.

May I ask a newbie question? I thought annealing made things softer. Is that right? Why would you do that to the tongs? If I'm wrong....nevermind.

Umm...what's nippers? What did the original look like? Thank you.

Hi LTF. Welcome to IFI. Yes, annealing does soften the metal. The tongs are going to be in the heat so much that they will probably anneal anyway. As for "what's nippers"? They are used to trim horse hooves. The riens and joint are already formed. So all that you have to do is reforge the jaws. Saves time and keeps the tools in use. Hope this helps.
http://www.anvilbrand.com/p-469-item-000466.aspx

Edited October 23, 200916 yr by CurlyGeorge
Added Link

ahhh. I see. Thank you. I'll know what to do if I see them at the flea market now. Until then it's long channel locks or vise grips.

The reason I anneal the nipper /tongs is that nippers are usually made from such hard high carbon steel. It lessons the chances of breakage. Seems to work well for me anyway :D

Those are REALLY nice. Very good job forming the jaws on them. I agree with others an indepth blueprint would be nice.

I had a quick look over here in Oz on the net and saw a set brand new for AUS $265. I'll definitely keep my eyes open at the flea markets for acheap set.

Cheers,
Rob

I pick them up at the fleamarket when I can get them for US$1; boy I love rust!

That is an excellent idea and job. I wish we had more of those discarded tools around here. You'd think we would be tripping over them but that's not the case. It looks to me that you forged the alterations without removing the rivets. If so did you have any difficulty which could have been avoided by separating the halves?

Bill

No, it was pretty easy and only took a little while to do it.

I have a drawer half full of various size nippers. I've made several pairs of special tongs from them. I will have to try these. Did you form the Jaws in a swage?

Why would anyone think they would be common in places with pretty much zilch population density "back in the day".

NM is the same; most of the smithing stuff is brought in from other states recently though I keep hearing tales of tongs and stuff abandoned at old mine workings out in the nowheres!

I have a drawer half full of various size nippers. I've made several pairs of special tongs from them. I will have to try these. Did you form the Jaws in a swage?

Yes, I just happen to have a swage block but you dont have to have one. You can just flatten out the jaw then bend it around whatever size stock you need it for.

Just a couple of thoughts..good nippers have a little flare on the smith end of the reins....Good nippers are pricey..if you find a pair cheap seek a farrier and see if he or she think that they may be rebuilt if so they may buy them from you. PUll offs look a lot like nippers but not as good of steel, they usually have a ball end on the smith end of the reins.....Either will make good stock for reshaping,,pull offs usually have a little more metal in the Jaw end and most of them are sold for less money where I find them.....

Thanks for the link to this thread. I like the idea of reshaping nippers to make tongs.
I have found a couple of pairs that look like reasonable candidates. I would like to make bolt-holding tongs and my plan is to reshape the jaws usng a piece of stock the size I want to hold. Hope to do this without removing the rivet.
This pair of nippers is the usual type and should work well:

But this pair appear different. I first thought they were broken, but it seems the ends of the jaws could have been cut like that for some (mysterious) purpose. I'll cut them level, but I wondered if they were meant to be that way.

If so, anyone know what they were for?

Nice work, I have a pair of these sitting around I am anxious to work on now.  Thanks

ausfire: Looks like the second set is designed to "shear" instead of nip. I'd agree with your guess that it's a modification / re-purposing of stock nippers. Maybe one of our many farriers will know... 

I've seen numerous pairs of those one side sharp nippers.  Just a different style I think.  Definitely NOT custom altered or there would not be so many of them around!

Hmmm. I feel a bit bad about remaking them into tongs if they are a perfectly good pair of special nippers. Still, I have no use for them so tongs they will become.

Another option is to cut a v-notch into the jaws so you can hold square stock.  This allows you to reach around the head of a railroad spike without taking up a lot of room on the shank.

Now there's an idea. I'll find some more old nippers and do both.