Tong experiment, results

[Iron Clad]

Okay, here is the skinny.

When sized for the intended stock they hold very well, tight. I changed the design a little from the picture I saw on another web site by adding a curve in the handles just down from the rivet where the transition is. (See picture in the original post). This in effect added more of a pivot point increasing clamp pressure. I like the way they hold larger stock on the diamond, better than any of the other tongs I have.

On the down side.....Due to the design, only straight stock may be held effectively. They are a little cumbersome to me when grabbing stock from the forge. If you drop the stock on the floor, forget it! Grab another pair of tongs to pick it up. From using the tongs for awhile it became apparent that the weak point is going to be the rivets. Opening and closing the tongs and during the clamping process seems to work the rivets hard. The rivets loosened up a bit causing the tong handles to move vertically away from alignment. I was wondering about this when forging the tongs in the beginning. I would recommend hammering one of the rivets well and tight and allowing the other rivet to have a little movement. Well, it's a theory anyway. I have yet to try it so I'm not sure if this will work or not.

One thing I didn't like is during stock release back into the forge. With standard tongs, just open the handle and the stock falls away. With these tongs, when the handles are opened the stock is still encumbered by the ring. It will take a little getting used to putting the stock into the forge and carefully pulling back with the tongs.

I'm thinking about grinding off the rivet holding the ring and replacing it with a small bolt, this way I may interchange rings for different size stock.

In conclusion, I believe they are not very versatile and more specialized. I will keep them for use hammering stock on the diamond for the most part, they really hold well in this application, locking the piece hard and not allowing for movement within the tong. Otherwise, I will stick with the standard style tongs.

Tong picture.
http://ironclad.shutterfly.com/40

[jeremy k]

Iron Clad - Nice job on the tongs - Did you see my pictures of the ones I made some years ago? : http://www.farwestforge.com/Forum/bsgview.php?photo=1252&cat=&by=Jeremy K


These are just a set of tongs I made from a line drawing sketch that was in the BABA Magazine. - They are not a fix all type of tongs but a different way of making a set. I have used mine alot and they work very well for what I have used them for. - JK
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[ironstein]

Those are cool. I had an epiphany when i first looked at them. I have been making damscus lately (alot of work for me!) I weld a rebar handle on my billet and go to town. I am constantly cooling the handle. I have tried making the handle longer, but it makes it cumbersome. These tongs would be perfect for holding a short, hot handle which is welded to the billet. That way you can have a way to manipulate the billet and not damage it, and not have to deal with a hot, or cumbersome handle. I'm sure someone has already thought of this. I think i will make me a pair! Those look snazzy.

[Iron Clad]

Thanks, ironstein. Sizing the ring to hold the desired stock is most important. Just remember that the ring has to go over the bottom part of the jaw AND be sized for the stock as well. My one marble was rattling a little trying to figure out the ring size to hold 5/8" stock. A little adjustment was needed as well after the fact.