This is a video of making a pair of tongs.

great vid thanks

I can never get tired of watching your videos...Its like candy. Thanks for posting.

You're very welcome. I did the video in response to 99pppo's post on how to forge farriers tongs.

Awesome work. You make it look so easy!

I really need to get one of those hammers.....

As always great work and lessons thanks

I thank you Brian, I have forged many pairs of tongs over the years and I learned a couple of new things watching your video. I like the way you forge down the reins and the octagon sides. I will be adding that to my repertoire. I also like the way you squared the boss area I have been working too hard on that and your method is easier.

Any beginning smiths who are watching this video should pay close attention to his use of the edges of the anvil to both draw and block out material. Brings to my mind that very basic but sound advice - take a proper heat, isolate, forge and finish.

This is like being back in high school and going to your favorite class with your favorite teacher. Thanks Brian

Thanks everyone. This is one of the best forging exercises that can help you understand the proper dies to choose when forging with a hand hammer and why to keep turning your metal so that it does not bare down on your anvil and wick the heat away. I encourage everyone to try this out until you can do it. This will reveal to you the how's and why's of forging.

I just wish I had a faster internet connection.

Brian, you answered one of my biggest questions about your technique - how do you keep the metal so hot so long. I do not always work with bigger metal ( I have a large-ish stock of 3/8 round) bu even with a warm anvil, my metal cools down faster. thanks again

We really need a video archive on IFI. This is great stuff. Some where a person can go to reference material like this. I learn so much more watching a video than looking at pictures. Thank you Brian.

And notice how the anvil never moves. That's a key component, folks.

This may be a stupid question but I'm a newbie to blacksmithing and I'm still learning things. How did you silence your anvil? My anvil rings a lot when I work with 1018, I have a Short Sugar 70lb anvil and bolted it to a large 100+ lb stump to help absorb some of the vibrations.

Wow, I love my powerhammer LOL

lonselat did u get that anvil off atlanta craigslist?

lonselat did u get that anvil off atlanta craigslist?

I bought it from the N.C. tool company a year or so ago. http://www.shop.ncto...?productId=1171

This may be a stupid question but I'm a newbie to blacksmithing and I'm still learning things. How did you silence your anvil? My anvil rings a lot when I work with 1018, I have a Short Sugar 70lb anvil and bolted it to a large 100+ lb stump to help absorb some of the vibrations.

That is not a stupid question. There are a lot of different ways to quiet an anvil. I have found that steel on steel is the simplest. Secure your anvil to the stand then secure it all to the earth as best you can. I use anchors on my concrete slab, but you can see by the camera bouncing that the whole slab moves. It would be better to pour a better foundation for your anvil just like is recommended for power hammers.

Thank you for the wonderful video, Brian. I also appreciated Technicus Joe's and 99's. All the important details were very clear. Drawing out 3/4 stock is pretty intimidating for me, though. Never seem to be able to do it in one session.

Ionselat, you can minimize the ring of an anvil considerably by placing a magnet under the heel, and another one on the horn. These gather scale to some degree, but they also absorb the vibrations passing through the thin parts of the anvil (which is causing the ring).

You can also bed the anvil in a bit of silicone caulk. I did this to my Wilkinson 120lb anvil and it went from a church-bell ring to something more akin to banking on an oak plank. No magnets needed. The difference was literally night and day!

Here's a vid I shot to demonstrate how the magnets work.

http://s70.photobucket.com/albums/i115/VaughnT/?action=view&current=MVI_0344.mp4

Great video Brian, thank you for posting.

I'm a rank newbie, and your videos are hugely helpful to me.

That type of a hammer is that, that you use? I guess it has two different faces, one more for fullering and one more flat?

Edit: Never mind, Brian no need to explain again. I just found your video "Why Use a Rounding Hammer" on youtube.

Brian, I meant to thank you for the video about the tongs and, thank both Brian and VaughnT for the information about taking the ring out of the anvil!

Great video. Thanks for posting. Would high carbon steel be good for tongs?

Mild steel is fine for standard tongs (such as the ones in the video) however some types of tongs, like Brian's hammer tongs require spring steel.
The reason is because they are built to be lightweight and thin but structurally strong, when you are holding a hammer with tongs you dont want any unnecessary weight added to the load. Spring steel does a much better job at resisting bending and thus you can afford to make a lighter, springier pair of tongs with it but for "regular" tongs mild steel is likely preferable.

Also you dont want to cool spring steel tongs in water as you can crack them.