Welded reins on tongs

[Crazy Ivan]

I know there is a lot of banter over welded reins vs drawing them out. That aside, I'm curious for those of you who weld on your reins, what type of weld do you prefer? Faggot weld, stepped and scarfed, arc weld etc. As I typically work alone I have started doing a birds mouth weld because I find them easier to do alone as opposed to drop tong welds of any sort (especially in my gas forge vs. coal). Typically I will forge the bit and leave enough material behind the boss to split down the middle, scarf, and upset and tapper the reins to fit the birds mouth. Then jam the assembly together and stick it in the forge and weld (similar to how a HC bit is welded into an axe head). I find this to be an easier weld and it is also likely a bit stronger since there is 2 sides of the bit closed over the reins when I weld making de-lamination under stress a lot less likely to occur. So how do you prefer to weld your reins, why, and does it cater to working alone or not so much?

[petere76]

Ivan,

Make a bunch of matched heads that you think you might need, maybe leave so extra beef in the working ares so you can adjust to the demand. Keep them on standby and weld on reigns when you need them. You can electric weld the connection and forge it out so it looks right. The strength is the same. I have a coffee can full of ready made heads.

Peter

[Francis Trez Cole]

Tongs and Reins are a personal thing. It was said to me years ago look at what the professional tong makers (off center, dirt cheap) are doing and emulate them. I have welded on reins with the drop tong method I like to use mild steel for the body of the tongs and (4140) medium carbon steel for the reins. I teach classes so I make many Bodies of tongs and weld on the reins like Bill Epps recommended tack weld the rein on to the body with a electric welder and then forge weld them on. When I travel I make tong blanks Like Jim Poor dose take 9"of 3/4" 1045 parent stock draw out the reins out under the power hammer leaving 4" untouched. That way if I need a set of tongs on the fly all I have to do is forge out the body of the tongs.

[KYBOY]

I always used the step and scarf method but Ive also tacked them with a welder and then forge welded like Bill Epp's did..

[Joel OF]

For the sake of practicing my scarf forge welds I do mine that way. One thing that I think is kinda critical is that I don't forge weld the reins on in the vertical plane the reins are being stressed, I make the scarf weld at 90 degrees to the direction of stress in the horizontal plane. Because of the slightly rectangular shape of reins the scarves have more surface area if they're done in the horizontal plane rather than vertical plane.

I used to make the scarf weld in the vertical plane and think nothing of it but one day in a hurry I needed to close up the jaws of some tongs (bought at a boot fair) so I opened up the reins and stuck a bit of wood inbetween them then gave the jaws a couple hits. Nothing happened to the jaws because the scarf toes had started to lift/peel/fail because the piece of wood was almost exactly where the weld was & the weld had been made in a vertical plane.

[Joel OF]

Reading that back I might have described my "planes" back to front. Maybe describing them as side to side VS top and bottom may have made more sense.

[Alan Evans]

Try describing them as parallel or at right angles to the axis of the hinge pin. 

Mine have always been at right angles to the pin axis so any tension is trying to spin the faces of the weld scarf rather than opening the feathered ends of the scarf.  Which I think is what you mean.

Alan

[Joel OF]

Try describing them as parallel or at right angles to the axis of the hinge pin. 

Mine have always been at right angles to the pin axis so any tension is trying to spin the faces of the weld scarf rather than opening the feathered ends of the scarf.  Which I think is what you mean.

Alan

Got it in one.