So I tried makin bolt head tongs and got a new respect for the guys that can them pretty.I will have to make some more pairs so I can make them look nice

here they ARE

I had to try them out so I made a punch real quick

 

so what do yall think?

good start. keep it up each one wil get better, but I see nothing wrong with those :)

I don't see anything wrong with those a little tweaking wouldn't fix. Tweaking tongs for specific jobs is the norm unless, like Metalmangler you have a couple walls full of tongs. Seriously he must have a couple hundred pairs he's made as he needed, over the years and I don't think I've seen a pair of his I'd call "pretty."

 

I'm a form follows function guy and if it looks like it works well it's pretty enough for me.

 

Frosty The Lucky.

I'll need a closer look at them.  Please ship them to my house and I'll evaluate their performance.  If they really are as ugly as you say I'll send them back, though I'm guessing I'd be very pleased with how they turned out and you won't see them again!  While you're at it please send the punch as well, I have the ugliest homemade forge built out of scrap you've ever seen and he's quite lonely.. 

thanks frosty and steve ,frosty this set works fine but lacme fine details like......good looks lol

dcraven ill have to train them before I send them to you and that takes awhile...lol;as to your forge,i just built a new forge for under 150$its in the forges section.The punch probably took me less then 15 min total so im sure you can make one easily.

Rhett if you and Royce come over again maybe we will have a tongs forging day! I am happy to see your forge put to work.

I definitely need to have a tool day then if you not giving out freebies.  I tried...

 

Just checked it out, that's a good looking forge you built.  Though mine may be the only forge that has pink Barbie roller skate wheels on one side and RR spike feet on the other.  Mine cost maybe $30 total (most of that was the refractory cement).  What are you using for a blower?

as long as it heats steel well thats all that matters.

I have a champion hand crank blower that I use since I don't have electricity at my forge

 

Mackenzie I will talk to my folks and Royce and see if we can work something out :)

Tell you what Rhett, the day you find a piece of steel that cares how the tongs look I'll let you dump all those UGLY tongs on me, no charge.

 

Frosty The Lucky.

Good work.  Keep it up.

its a deal frosty

thanks backwoods blacksmith

I've been pounding steel by hand for a bit over 20 years now and I still find making decent tongs rather tedious. Working with material heavy enough for decent tongs is simply a pain without a power hammer.   I recently found a compromise that works for me and perhaps it might be helpful to you as well.  I purchased some sets of tong blanks from this web site:

 

http://kensiron.com/quick_tongs.html

 

I found I needed some box jaw type tongs to better hold some 1/8" x 1" stock I was using to make fern fronds.  I stumbled across the above web site and decided to try out his blanks.  Shipping was more cost effective for multiple sets of blanks so I purchased 2 sets of standard tong blanks and two of bolt tong blanks.  I think I paid about $65.00 for the entire order including shipping.  

 

I  quickly made up a very usable pair of box jaw tongs as well as a pair of bolt tongs, and I am very satisfied with the amount of time and hassle saved, the usefulness of the finished product as well as the cost of the blanks themselves.  The blanks are either water jet or laser cut and make the process of forging out  tongs really painless.  There is  plenty of material in the jaw of the blank to make a very wide range of jaw types and sizes.  I for one will likely never make another pair from scratch again.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

those are nice lookin tongs.The reason I want to make nice tongs is that I will need the skills i learn from that while doing other smithing

those are nice lookin tongs.The reason I want to make nice tongs is that I will need the skills i learn from that while doing other smithing

It still requires skill to turn these blanks into something usable.  The main advantage of these blanks is that you get plenty of material at the pivot point and the jaw, but you don't have to kill yourself drawing large stock down to the dimension you need for the reins.  

The only down side I have found from profiling/cutting tongs out of plate are that they lack the springyness that you get in the reins of fully forged tongs, they will develop something like it after a bit of use and heating and cooling and resetting etc.  They are OK for using on the anvil, but be careful using them under a powerhammer especially if you use a "link" on the reins as the reins and jaw tend to bend easier than forged ones.

The only down side I have found from profiling/cutting tongs out of plate are that they lack the springyness that you get in the reins of fully forged tongs, they will develop something like it after a bit of use and heating and cooling and resetting etc.  They are OK for using on the anvil, but be careful using them under a powerhammer especially if you use a "link" on the reins as the reins and jaw tend to bend easier than forged ones.

i'll second that one phil, i was going to say something along those lines, but less succinct....