Brian,

Thankyou very much for your videos, they were both instructive and inspirational.

I am one of five blokes who get together once a month to heat-&-beat steel. We started yesterday's day of smithing by watching your steel and clay videos several times, and then went to work with a much clearer idea of what was possible.

I discovered that using the ball pein, half face, is a very good measure for just how much work I have to do in hammer control. That said, it is also a good way to improve hammer control, because the results are very good when accurate, and very obvious when inaccurate.

Cheers from the other side of the world,

Richard

Brian- I had to watch the video twice to be sure that you did it in only one heat. That's really impressive. My buddy and I just finished making some tongs a couple of weeks ago. Took us a good bit longer. I sent him the links to your videos with the caption "Now don't I feel inadequate?" I'll be trying your method soon. Thanks as well for the clay tutorial. It really clears things up.

- Wesley

Brian, Will you be attending the ABANA conference? Great tutorial Thanks !

Dick

I have yet to use my 3" and 4" tongs for hand work, but have used them quite a bit for power hammer work. I have 3/4 and 1" tongs that are fine for hand work and light power hammer work but if I were working a long heavy piece I would have to be careful with them under the hammer, I have sprung bits that are 3/4"x1/2" while straightening out forgings under the hammer.

I doubt many would forge 3" or 4" by hand as it is not really physically possible to do it effectively. I have not had the experience of tongs failing or springing wile forging under the hammer. Unless I am doing a long run and the tongs get hot in that case I just fix them and get back to work. There are some tongs I don't trust to use under the hammer only because they don't grip well. but I would call these junk tongs or tongs waiting to be made useful. I have found I like lighter tongs for under the hammer because if there is some miss alignment you are a lot less likely to walk away with bruised hands. That being said any tongs being used should grip the work piece well. I guess that excludes most flat jaw tongs. But like i said I see no real dividing line between power and hand forging. A power hammer is just another tool just like a treadle hammer sledge hammer or hand hammer just different chess pieces on the board.

Brian, thanks for the videos. I think the combination of the clay instructional vid and the "real" thing work together really well. Thanks again.

I'm glad to hear some of you are trying this out. I was amazed when I saw Bob Patrick do it and had to try out myself. The only thing I changed was using my round face instead of the flat face, and, yes, misses and good hits are more obviouus. I will also use my round face when cutting on my hot cut hardy for the same reasons (more pounds per square inch and less likely to hit off on either side). It is similar to hittng a nail on the head. Understanding that you have to hit that small spot squarely will make you more accurate with practice.

Dick L, I don't believe I will be able to attend the ABANA conference this year, but I will be giving a demo at the Metal Museum in Memphis on the 27th of March.

I'll apologize in advance for this question, but why do you tap the anvil every so often?

I'll apologize in advance for this question, but why do you tap the anvil every so often?

No apologies necessary. I'm just laying my hammer to the side while I turn my material and looking for my next spot to hit. You would have to tense up to make it stop or hold it in the air. I don't like doing either. I hammer alot and I like to stay relaxed so I can hammer all day,

Great videos Brian. Last week I forged my first tongs inspired by these videos, the tongs didn't turn out too good, I made the jaws too thin. But anyway now I have a clear picture of the whole process of making tongs and I'll be making loads of them.

Here's the first try.

Still, not bad at all, very good in fact, but, yes, the jaws are a bit thin.

Great videos Brian. Last week I forged my first tongs inspired by these videos, the tongs didn't turn out too good, I made the jaws too thin. But anyway now I have a clear picture of the whole process of making tongs and I'll be making loads of them.

Here's the first try.

Nice first try! I beleive most people's first few tongs tend to be a bit weak in the jaw area. I knom mine were. The area on both sides of the rivet need to be strong. Instead of trying to make a pair of tongs, I'd encourage everyone to try the steps it takes to make a one heat tong blank. Give yourself only one heat, go through the sequence, cut it off, and do it again at least 10 times. If you leave enough to draw a rein out, you can always come back and make some tongs. I've never learned much from trying to make something, but I've learned alot from repeating steps.

Good point there Brian, I just made the whole tongs right away because I needed a pair.

"...The only thing I changed was using my round face instead of the flat face, and, yes, misses and good hits are more obvious. I will also use my round face when cutting on my hot cut hardy for the same reasons (more pounds per square inch and less likely to hit off on either side)..."



Hello Brian

I'm diggin' that hammer of yours , what was the parent stock? I saw some of your tooling to make the rounded face on picassa, at least what I think
was the bottom die. Is there a reference I might turn to to see your steps? Not that it would be to hard to figure it out, but I guess I'm lazy like that.
Thanks

Hey 2dogs here is a link to one of the earlier web albums when Brian first made it to Mississippi. I tried to get the steps so I could remember. This may not be completely accurate but I think it is a help. http://picasaweb.google.com/LDWynn/LDWSInterpretationOfBrianBrazealMakingAHammer#

"...The only thing I changed was using my round face instead of the flat face, and, yes, misses and good hits are more obvious. I will also use my round face when cutting on my hot cut hardy for the same reasons (more pounds per square inch and less likely to hit off on either side)..."



Hello Brian

I'm diggin' that hammer of yours , what was the parent stock? I saw some of your tooling to make the rounded face on picassa, at least what I think
was the bottom die. Is there a reference I might turn to to see your steps? Not that it would be to hard to figure it out, but I guess I'm lazy like that.
Thanks

That hammer was made from 4" of 2" round 4140. I prepared a rectangular billet on a power hammer when I was visiting a friend who had a power hammer. We made a few of them on our road trip for some people that wanted one. The only difference from the rounding hammer was to forge the fullering face in a 3" swage that I made to fit in the hardy hole, just like the cupping tool. There is a reference of some of the steps in "Forging a Hammer" in the Tools section, August 11, 2009. You can look it up in the Members section at the top of the page under my user name and then click on "Find Topics". There weren't that many questions, so there's not alot there.

Thanks, LDW for posting those pictures. That saved me trying to find mine.

Today I had another attempt at tongs and these turned out usable. (Sorry, I won't be spamming this topic any more than this)

Now, ya see, different stroke for different folks. I Absolutely cannot do exercises (forging or otherwise). I gotta be making something. I know; it's my "instant gratification" thing rearing it's ugly head again. That's why you need more than one mentor, find what suits your style. A little from here, a little from there..............

Today I had another attempt at tongs and these turned out usable. (Sorry, I won't be spamming this topic any more than this)

Those are alot better, but they are still a bit smaller in the area next to the hole in the jaw than the rest of the jaw. That spot should be at least the same as lhe rest or bigger. I cannot stress this enough.

Here are some pictures I dug up of the steps of the one heat tong blank. The first four are the passes. I made the first pass then stopped, then I made two passes and stopped, then 3 and stopped, and finally 4. I usually carry these around with me to show the passes because it's a blurr if you attack it and do it in one heat.

Hi Brian,

I've been following your threads on tongs and hammers. The geometry of the hammer you are using in the one heat tong video struck a note with me so I thought I would give it a go. I went through my resource pile and found a drop of 4150 to use as the parent stock. I have been assembling a version of your traveling kit for hammer making in the evenings. I made a slitting punch and eye drift from an axle of unknown heritage. I have yet to make the top and bottom fullers and the rounding swage. I will have to tinker with bolsters while making the hammer to see just how high they need to be for my setup.


I have it in mind to try the first steps this weekend if I can someone to strike for me. I made myself a set of "cliff notes" from the various threads to refer to in the shop. I glean a good bit from reading but I really have to go bang on something before it gels for me.

I really appreciate the time and effort you put in.

Ben

Today I had another attempt at tongs and these turned out usable. (Sorry, I won't be spamming this topic any more than this)

Both these sets of tongs look great. Don't worry about the ones with thin jaws. I have a pair just like it . I only use them for leaf work. Your post really adds a lot to this thread. It is just testimony to a great teacher. It shows that Brian's method is sound, and it is possible to communicate it over the Internet through clear explanations and videos. At least I cannot blame the medium or the content if I find myself unable to follow along. In the same vein, we should contrast this result with the contemporaneous thread on hardy tools. Grant showed how to make a hardy tool by forging in 1/2 hour, and pkrankow followed along and displayed his results. Somehow, something did not get transferred as well as in your experience.

I had forgotten what a great thread this is. Brian, how about a bolt tongs demo?

I watched your clay forging video Brian, wonderful. I tried the clay forging, it is much quieter, and when it warms up it is quite useless as a teaching medium.
Well after I did the clay a dozen or so times..." I'm ready" well the junk yard steel was S7 or something so... many heats later.
The tong blank started to crack just after the boss transition to the handle. It was , is a great exercise. I am going to do the horse head in clay for awhile.
I have lots of round clay stock in the fridge, now I need to get a play-doe factory extruder.

I'm really proud of those clay tong blanks

Kenny O, You might want to start with mild steel first, instead of S7. This tong style only requires mild steel as long as you forge a strong stucture.

I had forgotten what a great thread this is. Brian, how about a bolt tongs demo?

I guess I missed this one Matt. If you come and take the pictures, I'll do a bolt tong demo.

I guess I missed this one Matt. If you come and take the pictures, I'll do a bolt tong demo.

If you make it back to the East Coast, I'm there!