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I Forge Iron

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Posted

This method is as old as the hills I was introduced to it by Peter Ross, Jay Close and Jymm Hoffman. It has several advantages over hand held tools and handled tools. The tongs are forged to hold 1/2" square on the diamond rigidly. I also have a pair of tongs to hold 5/8" square. This allows easy indexing of the tool It is very easy to change tools and lock in with a small tong clip. They are also light and easy to handle for quick work with hot steel. I made my punches from 5160 (pandrol clips) steel and use as forged. For production work I move up to S7 or H13 and heat treat. I lube my punches and slitters with a paste of graphite and grease and a pinch of coal dust here and there. I use flat faced punches for the most part. In addition to round, square, and slot punches I also have made slitting chisels, butchers, side chisels small fullers and stamps. It is a very flexible system it keeps your hand safe and away from the work.

Shorter tools are easier to drive because they have less mass.
Shorter tools are more rigid and less prone to flexing.
Shorter tools require less steel therefor easier, quicker, cheaper to make.

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Posted

That makes so much sense, thanks Tim. I have never liked the idea of a round shanked punch held in tongs because it is tough to twist the punch to loosen it. I am going to make a pair or two of those tongs for some square shanked punches and chisels.

Posted

Every now and again I set the hossfeld up and bend a bunch of handles for top tools so that I have one ready if I need to make a new top tool, but this is better for lots of tools and it will save me digging out the welding helmet and starting up the welder.

Posted

Sucker rod ends and SR itself is what I use allot for these, mostly for PH work. The ones where I left the shank square are older......The later ones I forged the sq to round or octagon which makes em easier to index.

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Posted

I use mine mostly for hand work. I also have tongs for round punches but I find that I like rigidity of the square shank. If I was punching under the hammer more I would try your set up it looks better for power hammer work.

Posted

A word of warning if using tongs holding tools on your own, always use a clip to hold the grip if on a production run otherwise your wrist will suffer !!

Posted
Nice, that table looks interesting too, when we going to get a shop tour?


Yeah really, my mind actually rolled right into that stake plate imbedded right into what looks like a beautiful thick metal table. Nice punches too !!
Posted

It's a good method; I started doing this about 20 years ago after seeing a Robb Gunter demo. It's much easier to make this type of design without having to drift holes and make handles as needed for traditional set tools. I only have 4 set tools with wooden handles but probably 100 tools made for tong use. I also have 15-20 tong clips hanging on a nail for ready clamping - instant vise grips. You can make a dozen or so tongs like this and have all the chisels/punches set up for a particular job at your fingertips, then swap out for a different requirement in a few seconds.

It's also a good way to use HC rail spikes as they are already a good size and square in section; they aren't the best material for hot work but much better than mild steel. A bucket of spikes and a few tongs will keep a smith in top tools for a long time.

Posted

Good point about using the clip. I tend to use a section of pipe flattened to slip over the tongs as my tool holding ones like to be quite close so a chunk of 3/4" black pipe does a fine job and is less likely to get knocked or bounced off than a C clip.

Posted

I/ve said it before, and you'll probably hear it again - "this place is like drinking from a fountain of knowlege"
thanks for the great Idea. I have been out to Peter Ross's place a couple of times and never really paid enough attention to his top-tool tongs

Posted

I've found that on longer tongs if you bend the ends outward, you can then cross them and they will lock on themselves. No clips or pipe to loose!

Posted

One of the advantages of using tong held tooling is that you can make the tools out of high alloy steels at a reasonable price---a couple of inches of S7 can often be sourced as a drop compared to a 6-12" piece for a full sized punch or slitter.

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