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fixing broken Tom Tongs?


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Hey folks-

I did a search for this and couldn't find what I was looking for, so I apologize if this has been covered already.

I have a pair of bolt style Tom Tongs that broke just behind the jaws (I believe this is technically the "shank").

TIG welding them up was going to be my next move, but I'm not sure what kind of filler rod to use. The steel is 8650 I think.

Any help would be appreciated, thanks! :)

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I tried to talk to several people about this after the tongs broke (ranging from the fella selling them at the hammer-in I got them at, to the Ozark school) and no one was willing to help. They've been sitting, broken, in my shop for a couple years now, so I decided to try and fix the problem myself.

ArtWerkz, thanks for the recommendations, the instructor at the school recommended the D2 as well. Thanks :)

As an FYI, the tongs were simply being used to hold a punch while marking a piece of steel. They were not being abused.

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Regardless of what you weld them with get them really hot before welding (nearly red even). Then AFTER they cool to room temperature, heat them again to draw any hardness. Too high an alloy for a tool that might get quenched in service IMHO.

OBTW: Off Center tongs are warranted against ANYTHING! Burn 'em up in the fire, smash them in a power hammer, drive over them with a Mac truck, we replace them. And "Made in USA".

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Thanks guys-


Just for the record (cuz I know feelings can become heated on forums at times) I am NOT in any way trying to bash on anybody in the Tom Tong camp with this thread... I really just want to try and fix them if I can. I'm finishing up a welding degree (worker retraining) and have been messing with TIG a lot the last couple quarters of school and figured I could use these tongs as more practice. :)

Grant, most all of my tongs are from you and I'm extremely happy with them. I hadn't known of the issues surrounding this whole business until reading your posts about it over on Don Fogg's forum.

Phil, that is something I considered, but the tongs have ball ends and I didn't really want to mess with the ends of the reins if I could avoid it.

Thanks everyone :)

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It sounds like the tongs were quenched in water while they were hot. Those are tool steel tongs, and they won't take that. I know Tom Tongs, and they can be used to pry with. They are pretty stout. A little too stout in my opinion, but if I want to pry something, Tom tongs or Billy tongs would be my choice. I do prefer OCF tongs though for their livelyness and selection and they are made in America and they are warrented and I like Grant's slogan, "We've upped our quality, now up yours."

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Brian- I am new to getting around the blacksmithing circles but heat-treating is something I've been around for over 15 years and quenching those tongs in water (or anything for that matter) is NOT something I would even think of doing. And no prying either, simply holding a punch to mark a hot billet for cutting and they snapped. It was only a 2.5# hammer... it wasn't under the power hammer or anything like that.

Personally I think I got a pair that had too much stresses induced during manufacture and/or no proper stress relief afterward. They snapped clean across the apex of the shank and the grain is somewhat coarse.

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Nick, chill. We know you said YOU DIDN'T quench. NO ONE has said you quenched.

Your statements reinforce that the tongs were likely quenched at _SOME POINT_ in their life, possibly during manufacture, or at any any time prior to you taking possession of them.

Cycling a few times after repair to normalize them is a good idea.

Phil

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Brian, and Phil, I didn't mean to come off like that, that's for sure. I often use caps rather than italicizing and I forget that's not really the same. I've seen Brian's work (such as his crazy amazing one heat tong blank video) and I definitely didn't mean to come as snippy towards him.

I am posting too much today, but it's a combination of too much coffee, and knowing that without the little nuances of real life conversation, it's easy to come off in a bad light on a forum.

Thanks guys! :)

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I have guite a few of the Tom tongs and some of Grant's and love them both. Wouldn't trade either of them. I would think the ones that broke on you had a manufacture problem OR the were quenched by a previous owner. IIRC, Tom only had one other person saling his tongs outside of the School....
If you can get it "Alloy 500" stick rod would be better the the afore mentioned TIG rods. We use this rod to weld B-7 stud bolts to bearing races with no problems. (bolts welded to bearing races to quickly remove the bearing when all other 'easier' methods have failed.)

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Taken with liberties from "All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten" by Robert Fulghum

Share everything.
Play fair.
Don't hit people.
Put things back where you found them.
Clean up your own mess.
Always say please and thank you.
Don't take things that aren't yours.
Say you're sorry when you hurt someone.
Wash your hands before you eat.
Flush.
Take a nap every afternoon.
When you go out into the world, watch out for traffic, hold hands and stick together.

Yeah, that works for me, Grant

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IME people get their own back up and there`s nothing any of the rest of us can do to stop that.
Fortunately once it is up we can always take a little time and discuss things while keeping perspective.That goes a long way toward smoothing things out again. :)

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Another nice thing about Grant's tongs is they stand up with a repair just using 7018. The only reason I broke them was I cut the bits down so they were half the length and used the shortened bits for a production job on round bar, overheated them quite a few times and probably cooled them when they were a little too hot. The v bit split at the bottom of the v. I don't believe I would have broken them if I had not cut them down. I welded them inside and outside the v while they were still hot, let them cool, ground the bead inside the v and have used them for the last couple of years. Modifying and breaking the tongs was just a cost of doing the job. I was going to buy a new pair but they are standing up well enough that I didn't bother.

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