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I Forge Iron

My first pair of tongs


Tubbe

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Hi,

Forged my first small pair of tongs today, from 16mm (5/8") round stock. They ended up pretty nice I think, for being my first pair.

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The jaws are flat at this moment, but I probably add a groove later on...


Great first pair! They are alot better than my first pair, and many pairs after that. It was a long time until I understood the structure of a tong.
You forged the structure of a tong, not just what people percieve to be the shape of a tong.
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Thanks all! Beginners luck... :)

I'll keep them as they are. For the next pair I'll have to look for some heavier stock I think. Something around 20mm or slightly larger. What is your basic tong stock? Will be a tough thing to draw out though...

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Thanks all! Beginners luck... :)

I'll keep them as they are. For the next pair I'll have to look for some heavier stock I think. Something around 20mm or slightly larger. What is your basic tong stock? Will be a tough thing to draw out though...


How big of material are you wanting to work with? If you isolate more material for the jaw before forming the hinge (pivot) you can have more options on what to do, such as goose neck or bolt tongs, using the same 5/8 material.

Now looking into using a medium carbon steel such as 1045 (or coil spring) can allow you to make a light tong that is able to handle much larger items, but you then cannot quench the tongs, and need to be careful about cooling too.

Phil
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  • 1 month later...

Second pair of tongs done!

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I wanted to make a pair of more versatile tongs to hold stock around 1/2"... so I aimed for a bolt head design with v-shaped jaws, and this is what I came up with using the same 5/8" material. I actually necked down the hinge area the same way as with my first pair but realized that's not quite necessary for this design. It even made my reins a bit too thin near the hinge, so I'll see how long they will hold up.

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That is NOT beginner's luck! That's nice forging.

Standard stock for tongs is 3/4" round or square. Square for large tongs since it had more material. It is some work to draw the reins out of 3/4" so the reins are often smaller stock forge/arc/gas welded onto the jaws.

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  • 3 months later...

Well, sorry for reviving this old tread... but I just completed my fourth pair of tongs.

For some time now, I have realized the need for a proper scroll/bending tong. This is what I came up with yesterday. I'm not quite sure about the actual design of the jaws, but time will tell. :)
Forged from 5/8" square stock.

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