October 18, 201015 yr Ok, hi all I am a beginner bladesmith and for holding my steel I have using needle nose vice grips which wear out quickly. So I have been planning on getting a pair of tongs. Most of time I keep the bar stock long so that I can hold it and have better control over the steel. But when it comes to the point where I have to cut the steel, I am having a hard time hold the piece that I cut with the vice grips. It either moves while I am hammering it or I have it so tight that I have hard time breaking it loose. And then when it is super tight I break it loose and it goes flying(very dangerous). I mostly work with 1 x 1/4 bar stock, but I was wondering if there is a good pair of tongs out there that universal and work well. When I say work well, I mean that while hammering the steel doesnt slide or move, also I would like the tongs to have a nice firm grip on the steel. Now I know it would be good experience to make them myself, but I will be honest, I dont think they would work well if I made them, just because of my level. I am still learning, I almost have my hammer control down. But if anyone could help steer me in the direction to purchase some tongs that fit my description that would be great. Or if someone makes these tongs please let me know and maybe we can do business. Thanks for your time everyone. Ryan H.
October 18, 201015 yr Go to blacksmith depot. They carry ocp tongs. Theses are a great tong. Grant who posts on here regularly makes them. Good price great product can't go wrong.
October 18, 201015 yr Author OCP tongs, ok I will look into it and yoiu said Grant makes them? What would you guys do? Have them made by Grant or buy them from the blacksmith depot?
October 18, 201015 yr Author Hey I did a search for members named Grant and it is kinda hard trying to figure out who is the right Grant. Could you help me find him. Or if you know him or have spoken to him before could you tell about my interest. Thanks
October 18, 201015 yr Grant (nakedanvil) doesn't sell retail, so Blacksmith depot. I bought a pair and love them. It is inspirational to use a good tool. I need to buy a few more pairs because the tongs I have made look...well...you know. The tongs I have made work well though, even though they are are heavy and ugly. If you want to make tongs there are a number of methods that are reasonable, and good tongs don't need to be pretty. Simply recommending everybody make their own tongs is misguided, but the information is here if you want to go that route. Phil (Grant does make some stuff for direct sale like touchmarks or hand stamps)
October 18, 201015 yr And unless you are always going to be holding the same end with the same shape you may need more than one pair of tongs! As the piece changes shape so do the tongs. For starting with flat stock a good pair of tongs that have a flat U on the bottom jaw that just fits the flat stock with the top jaw that fits down between the U will make a pair that controls stock well. For me I like a small pair of snub nosed horseshoer's tongs, (not the round ones), as they are light and short and I want to work up close to my blades! I have it sized for 1/4" thick stock and generally that's OK for 80% of the work I do. Working with scrap the first task is to forge a section to fit those tongs and then take it from there!
October 18, 201015 yr Now I know it would be good experience to make them myself, but I will be honest, I dont think they would work well if I made them, just because of my level.Ryan H. Making a pair of tongs is a canonical exercise in smithing. I love making tongs! It uses all the basic operations of blacksmithing (if you weld the reins) and requires them to be applied skillfuly. Some say that if you can make a decent pair of tongs you can make anything else. But developing the skill is a serious investment in time and effort. The first several pairs you make will probably not be much use and it will be a while before you can reliably make a decent pair of tongs for the job on hand. If what you want to do right now is to get on with forging blades, then it makes sense to buy a few pair. Perhaps later, you will want to develop your general smithing skills and put some time into learning to make tongs. I would ask the knifemakers what kinds of tongs they find most useful.
October 18, 201015 yr For breaking into smithing it's hard to beat making your own tongs. You'll learn a bunch of things like Isolating material, hammer control in close, long tapers, punching, riveting, sequensing the steps, etc. Best of all you'll never want for that special pair of tongs more than about 45 mins or an hour. Like Bob Ross said, "Once you learn to paint the toughest decision you have is what to paint" Substitute blacksmithing for painting and you have it. Frosty the Lucky.
October 19, 201015 yr Author That is really good advice and I really like the quote. I really dont want to make them until I feel I can though. I know you are probably going to say you wont know until you try. But I dont know I will make some eventually, for now I am going to purchase some though for the blades that I am making now. For breaking into smithing it's hard to beat making your own tongs. You'll learn a bunch of things like Isolating material, hammer control in close, long tapers, punching, riveting, sequensing the steps, etc. Best of all you'll never want for that special pair of tongs more than about 45 mins or an hour. Like Bob Ross said, "Once you learn to paint the toughest decision you have is what to paint" Substitute blacksmithing for painting and you have it. Frosty the Lucky.
October 19, 201015 yr I agree making tongs is an excellent exercise. The skills are substantial, but so is making a blade. Ugly tongs function fine, ugly blades, well, if the function is to sell them...http://www.iforgeiro...eat-tong-blank/http://www.anvilfire...s/top_index.htmhttp://www.iforgeiro...9-making-tongs/ I am failing on finding POZ tong directions. Phil BTW, don't fire weld the reins on, draw them out, unless you are already good at welding.
October 19, 201015 yr Author Hey Sam didnt GS go out of business or hes taking a break or something like that. Gs tongs sold a pair of flat bar tongs, really good for bladesmithing.
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