April 6, 201115 yr Author Mister Brian bring a dozen pairs to "ARTMANIA" you should sell out fast. I doubt that many blacksmiths would want to pay what I have to charge for them. They take me at least 3 hours to make, so I charge $150. I don't manufacture anything for sell on the open market. I'll sell anything I've made or will make anything if someone asks, but I'm doing all this with a hand hammer and could never compete with the big boys. Grant already has what it takes to make them close enough. He just has to put a small V-bit with a large V- bit. I've said it before and I'll say it again: Grant has the best tongs on the market today at the best price and the most varieties. I'd rather buy a pair from Grant than have to make another pair. I've made 3 pairs now and that's 2 too many. Ric Furrer, If you can make them, I'd love to help you sell them. I wish I could carry Grant's tongs, too, on the road and in my shop. They practically sell themselves!
April 6, 201115 yr Thanks Brian- I did put the groove and cross checking on the jaw, from what I saw in you pictures, I just did not get a good shot of it (Need to take a photography lesson from Lyle) oh and get a better camera
April 6, 201115 yr I Ric Furrer, If you can make them, I'd love to help you sell them. I wish I could carry Grant's tongs, too, on the road and in my shop. They practically sell themselves! I do have a rather large supply or 6/4 titanium sitting on the side of the shop....and have been asked to host a tool making weekend for tongs and hammers........hummmm..titanium hammers.... I'll tool up in a few months to run some of your tongs Brian. Got too much on my plate at the moment....including the plate...but some tongs to grab larger stock (30" reigns) would be a good thing to have as well as a smaller version for normal work. I have heard the term "cat's paw" tong..anyone know what that looks like? Apparently used in hand re-rolling mills. Ric edit...OOOO just thought of this... "ulTI-Tong" the TI being for titanium... I know..not a big deal, but it makes me laugh....I'm simple that way.
April 8, 201115 yr Ric, Let us know when you start making some of Brians style of tongs. Since I only forge blades, maybe with a little offset. Hopefull the bank account will stand it,if so I would love to have a pair. Jerry Fisher
May 13, 201115 yr make sure you put the little "stop" on the inside of the jaws like Brian does...keeps tapers from "squirting" out at ya and upsetting easier on the gripping hand
December 1, 201312 yr Here is a picture of my attempt to make a pair of Ultimate Tongs. My version should probably be called Amateur Ultimate Tongs. Brian said that it takes him 3 hours to make these while I spent three afternoons over the long Thanksgiving weekend working on them and finished this evening. The comparison gives me some idea of how far I have to go. On two of the days I had to stop when my arm got too tired to go on. I am also trying to not over do it since I gave my self a case of tennis elbow a couple years ago and spent a year recovering. It appears that they will work. I've went around and tried them on several bar sizes and it seems that they will be a good addition to my growing collection of tongs. I intentionally didn't draw down the reins as much since I over did it on a pair that I made a couple years ago and I occasionally have to bend them back. Also it is a lot of work to draw them down starting from a 3/4" round bar. I found a couple 24" long bars at my local scrap yard this past Friday morning that I used to make the tongs. As you all know, with scrap yard steel you don't really know what it is. I was trying to pick up mild steel but I ended up with something having a higher carbon content. I squashed the ends on a center punch and cold cut while working on the tongs. So I went ahead and punched the pivot pin hole hole hot because it appeared that drilling it might not work well.
December 22, 201312 yr Are you applying Habermann bends to these tongs? And if so how much stronger or supportive are Habermann bends?
December 22, 201312 yr Author Forborg, the tongs that I made back in 2010 did not have Habermann bends. They were bent while they were round then forged oval. The last few I've made have the Habermann bends. Both ways are more than strong enough. I don't have any ways of measuring or calibrating the difference in the strength, but the Habermann bend is stronger. ALSO, the Habermann bend allows you to set the inside and outside angles and lines so that they are easier to make and line up. Karen, my wife, is posting some pictures of the last ones I made with the Habermann bends.
December 22, 201312 yr Thank you to you an your wife for the step by step pics. Those are my favourite sort of tutorial......easy to scetch or print, and all visual!
December 22, 201312 yr Author Your welcome. I don't know why most of my older posts don't show the pictures, but they are still out there somewhere if you google me.
May 11, 201610 yr Brian's pictures https://plus.google.com/photos/117030057799529631445/albums/5451920122058541745
June 26, 201610 yr Charles I just wanted to let you know that you saved the day by bringing these pictures back!! Brent
February 6, 20179 yr I found the pictures missing from this thread. WIP for Brian Brazeal's ultimate tongs.
February 6, 20179 yr It's not mine. It's Brian's photos and work. IIRC in the first page of this thread you can find Brian's comment about these tongs, I just re-loaded the missing pictures because I found them on my PC. Bests: Gergely
February 6, 20179 yr 16 minutes ago, Gergely said: It's not mine. It's Brian's photos and work. IIRC in the first page of this thread you can find Brian's comment about these tongs, I just re-loaded the missing pictures because I found them on my PC. Bests: Gergely Oh, I see. I thought these were your own photos of a pair that you'd made yourself. Gotcha, and thanks for reposting these.
February 6, 20179 yr Well I found them because I try to make a pair like that. If I will succeed making it I'll post my picts. But it will be different even though I try to follow this guide. My skills are nowhere near Brian's and my tong stock is 1"x3/8" (25x10mm) steel. Bests: Gergely
February 6, 20179 yr 3 hours ago, Gergely said: IIRC in the first page of this thread you can find Brian's comment about these tongs Brian's comments on the material, compiled: On 3/23/2010 at 1:22 PM, brianbrazealblacksmith said: They were made from 3/4" hex tool steel. On 3/28/2010 at 9:08 PM, brianbrazealblacksmith said: I started with about 8 1/2" of 3/4" hex, and the small hex jaw is a little bit longer than 3/4". The V jaw is almost 1 1/2" long. On 3/29/2010 at 8:08 AM, brianbrazealblacksmith said: Yes, a crowbar would work, but you can also use coil spring or jackhammer bits. I wanted at least 3/4" for the V-jaw, so I used the hex I had. The 3 point contact is what makes the tongs work with such a wide range of stock, so I wouldn't change that. Also, I forgot to mention that the V- jaw is less than 90 degrees. I never make V-jaws with a 90 degree angle.
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