Jump to content
I Forge Iron

40mm (1 1/2") Tongs and bottom block


Daniel Lea (AKA 99pppo)

Recommended Posts

Hello. And a merry christmas from Germany!

 

Yesterday I was in my forge again :)  - finally after two weeks of no forging :( - and completed my pair of tongs and a bottom swage with help of the new tongs. The tongs are based on Toby Hickman´s way of making them, that was adopted by TechnicusJoe for hand hammering and welding on the rains in this video of him. The jaws, the arch and the boss are forged out of 20x10mm (0,8"x0,4") flat bar mild steel and the rains are forgewelded on 10mm (0,4") round mild steel. The bottom swage is forged out of 40mm (1 1/2") cold rolled 1045 tool steel quare stock.

 

8302352800_6ca0a053f6_b.jpg

 

8301298751_282ef8f9b0_b.jpg

 

You all have a good day!

 

 

Yours

- Daniel

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Another excellent video Daniel. Those tongs certainly seem to do the trick.

I absolutely love your shop. I'm very jealous. I wish I had access to something like that.

May I make a comment about your sledge hammer work? You may find you have better results if you let the hand closest to the head fall to your other hand while you swing. That should give you a bit more leverage than you seem to be getting now.

I look forward to you next video
All the best.
Andy

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Another excellent video Daniel. Those tongs certainly seem to do the trick.

I absolutely love your shop. I'm very jealous. I wish I had access to something like that.

May I make a comment about your sledge hammer work? You may find you have better results if you let the hand closest to the head fall to your other hand while you swing. That should give you a bit more leverage than you seem to be getting now.

I look forward to you next video
All the best.
Andy

 

You mean it will be like when a ballerina makes a pirouette and then pulls her arm closer to the body to gain speed? Good idea, thank you!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Effectively yes.

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=cBTKcSPKnaw

The gentleman on the left is doing what I mean. As he lifts the hammer he slides his hand up to near the head to make it easier to lift. But as he strikes his hand slides down to meet his other hand.


You can see it here also.
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=8d5w7zxJJWs
All the best

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

 

Here is a video in which I am using the tongs to forge the bottom anvil tool also to be seen on the picture: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gkTCQmjz4qQ

 

Daniel,

I'm a bit late to the parade, there's been a good deal of deserved encouragement and positive feedback given by others, but I'd like to offer some unsolicited recommendations. Now please don't take any of this negatively. You're young and show tremendous talent (you tongs are well made), so this is all the more reason that it would be a crime if you were to leave the craft prematurely due to frustration, fatigue, or injury (I mention that only because you seem really tense in the film - relax your shoulders and breath naturally).

Now for the benefit of others, digital cameras are notorious for showing hot metal as being hotter than it really is, so my first suggestion is to let that beefy chunk of metal soak up some more heat and reheat it long before it gets to cherry red (that's likely what it was when the video showed orange). You'll find the metal moves easier and you don't have to work as hard (more on that shortly). A good example of what I'm talking about is at 3:26 into the clip - you'll notice the outer surface of the metal is moving lengthwise but the center is not keeping up (that's one of the reasons for the spikes at the end of your stem).

I realize that tapered stems are all the craze, and I'm not going to comment on their time or place, but what you desperately need is a set of butchers, a set tool, and someone competent to strike for you when you are trying to move stock that size. Making bottom tools out of 1-1/2" stock on a 100kg anvil with a 1.5kg hammer without someone striking is boarder-line madness. The persistence that you show is commendable, but we should be working smarter not harder - the craft is more enjoyable if you're not beating yourself up at the anvil. Besides, you've got to make that arm, and all its joints, last a long time yet. (I won't belabor this point any further - I've taken off my medical hat.)

Otherwise, real nice work. Be the future of the craft.
-Charlie
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...