February 5, 201412 yr Good morning! Last night i got some nearly free scrap and made some tongs... almost. when i tried to punch and drift the hole for the rivet, i got some VERY unpleasant ringing of the bar i was holding between my legs. how do you punch holes in hot material while you are alone?
February 5, 201412 yr Hold down, angle the anvil so the bar can be held in the post vise and resting on the anvil, Usually I use the "ringing" as an indicator that the workpiece is not hot enough anymore.
February 5, 201412 yr Look up hold downs for the anvil. There are many on the site. Choose the one you like and use it. Most are simple to make
February 5, 201412 yr An Anvil helper is very handy to me for punching tongs, The helper is a bar that fits into the pritchel and bends around back to the anvil, providing support to rest longer items on. http://www.iforgeiron.com/page/index.html/_/blueprints/original-series/bp0092-anvil-helper-r320
February 27, 201412 yr an anvils helper of any sort and a weight and hook to hold the hot iron in place. between the legs is an all purpose helper. its always there and rarely in the way. :)
February 27, 201412 yr I do all of my punching and cutting with the bar between my legs, I just make sure that the bar is properly hot before I do anything ;) When you first get the metal between your legs, hit it smartly with the hammer so that the end you are working n bends and rests on the anvil surface. That way you can work on anvils that are too tall or too low as well as making sure the metal is hot enough to work on
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