What type of tong is this?

[dosullivan]

Hi Guys, does anyone know the name and function of this type of blacksmith tong? When i first saw one, i thought it had a piece broken off one of the jaws, but there is obviously a reason for having this design. There are three such tongs in the attached picture, two on the far right, and one in the centre. Any help would be appreciated, Cheers.
 

[781]

Would like pic of side view but could be early pipe wrench.

[ThomasPowers]

Wrench

[swedefiddle]

For carrying or handling small rail

[Stash]

Pipe wrench, not too adjustable, either.

 

Steve

[seldom (dick renker)]

spanner wrenches

[Frank Turley]

Often called "pipe tongs" in the old catalogs. Some were adjustable with a movable jaw that could be set with a thumb screw.

[Alan Evans]

A photograph showing the size and the side view would be helpful, as would the context.

 

If they were in a wheel wright's or mill wright's shop I would have thought like swedefiddle said, that they were for handling long lengths of rail or an iron tyre…things you grab from on top and then can walk beside carrying them horizontally.

 

If they were in a shop where pipe or tube was worked or round bar was manipulated and the profile of the long jaw was appropriate maybe a pipe wrench as others have said.

 

Alan

[Everything Mac]

I've seen them used to start penny scrolls...

[ThomasPowers]

Long lengths of rail had tongs with sizable reins that come up and then bend out at 90 deg so you can have several people lifting on them on both sides---I've owned a set, (also used to have a hand forged brick carrier---which I used a lot over the years...)

[Alan Evans]

Long lengths of rail had tongs with sizable reins that come up and then bend out at 90 deg so you can have several people lifting on them on both sides---I've owned a set, (also used to have a hand forged brick carrier---which I used a lot over the years...)

Ah yes I know the ones you mean, the weight of the rail tightens the grip. Whenever I think of them I am reminded of that wonderful last panoramic scene of the rail track being laid from "Once upon a time in the West". One of my favourite westerns.

I was thinking more of the context of a forge or workshop though, as the other tongs on the OP photo looked that way oriented. We quite often carry the heavier bars from the furnace to the hammer with one on the cold end and the other walking beside the hot end carrying it either with a hook or tongs held horizontally.

Frank''s comment about the adjustable jaw prompted me to dig out some of the relevant old round bar and pipe grabbing devices I have on the dusty rusty shelves....a screw adjustable jaw is bottom left. The chain wrench top left I use to spin off the diamond core drills from the expanding collet system on the drill rig. The tongs on the right were made to hold dumpy punches under the power hammer. The curly reined tongs were to control the rotation of a bit of flat under the power hammer. The workpiece had a crank in it overhanging the bottom pallet and it was a pig to hold upright.



Alan

[ThomasPowers]

I also have a standard pipe wrench in my kit as it's quite useful for lining up the bottom seam on rasptle snakes and faster than using extreme care in keep the seam straight as you go along.

I also have a old chain pipe wrench with an odd serrated "head" that I use to take the valves out of welding tanks---my big postvise will hold the valve but it takes a lot of torque to turn the body of the tank.