joesph Posted April 8, 2011 Posted April 8, 2011 Hi guys, I'm kinda new here. What kind of material do you guys use for tong rivets? The tongs I have made in the past have 16 penny nails upset on each end. Thanks for all the info, this is a great sight. Quote
K. Bryan Morgan Posted April 8, 2011 Posted April 8, 2011 I use mild steel. Nothing special. I have read in one of my blacksmithing books that the author uses small coil spring steel. The kind you get from a garage spring it looked like to me in the pictures. The class I took last year we were taught to use mild. So, there is a wide variety of opinions on this subject. Quote
ThomasPowers Posted April 8, 2011 Posted April 8, 2011 However most of the rivets on my tongs are a whole lot larger than a 16 penny nail! If you do force over area calculations you can see that if you use *small* rivets you may want to use stronger steels! Many of my tongs have 3/8 to 1/2" dia rivets which seem to have lasted some for over 100 years. Quote
joesph Posted April 8, 2011 Author Posted April 8, 2011 Thanks guys, good advice. I do have some garage springs that i will try, and I like the idea of larger rivets. Quote
silkhopesmith Posted April 8, 2011 Posted April 8, 2011 I have used mild steel for many years without any problems. sometimes after 15 or 20 years they loosen a little, but easy to tighten them again. I like being able to make my own with soft material and simple tooling. You can make a mild steel header and just drill a hole for the size rivet you're making. I usually make 5/16 or 3/8 dia. Quote
Marksnagel Posted April 8, 2011 Posted April 8, 2011 Hey Joseph, Good question. I use mild steel. When I first started making tongs I used whatever I could find. I found that old bolts worked for me because one end was already upset so to speak. As I progressed I began making mine out of mild steel 3/8ths round stock. Practice, practice, practice. Good luck and have fun. Mark<>< Quote
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