Tongs and a hammer

[Sam Salvati]

Here is some tongs i made up(and incidentally make for sale also:D). One set of duck bills for holding flat bar(for knife and swordsmiths), one set for holding 1 1/2 inch round, and the last long rein set for holding anywhere from 7/8" on up to 1 1/4", but they will hold 3/4" and 1 1/2" OK. Also a japanese style cutler's hammer, forged from 1 1/2 inch round 1045, forgive for the temporary handle hehe. Comments and critique welcome, critique MOST welcome on the hammer though it is not HT'd yet or properly dressed(;)no jokes needed on that one fellas). Pictures tommorrow also of the Hammer's brother:).

[Sam Salvati]

One more shot.

[hammerkid]

they look great

[HWooldridge]

Your work looks great - I especially like the hammer.

I'll give you some generic tips on the tongs...I have found that some taper in the reins, largest at the hinges and tapering evenly back to the tips, seems to work best on holding power. Reins that are more or less the same in width have a tendency to bend under heavy work. That is not always apparent when hand hammering but you'll see it pretty quickly if trying to hold something for the power hammer because you really have to clamp down hard to hold the forging. In addition, I'm sure the tips of the reins are comfortable to hold by hand but it would be tough to slip a ring over them to act as a "vise grip".

These comments are not criticisms. The tools are well made and it's obvious you take pride in your work.

[Sam Salvati]

Thanks Chris and HW! Thanks for the tips HW! I find when only using 1/2 inch mild steel, i find that if i leave the round section at the start of the reins near the rivet, then come back a little and taper the handle off of that they are VERY hard to bend even with a death grip. I also adjust the reins so that with a very tight hold just before they would bend, the tong reins are touching each other, so there is almost no chance of bending. The flats of the tong handles are no less than 1/4 inch until the very last inch. I usually ask the customer if they use tong rings or not in the case of these three neither I nor the customers use them, so i just forge the ends flat. If they do want tong rings then i forge a small rolled scroll on the end for the rings to lock against. I will have to make up a few sets with rings:).

[evfreek]

Hi AM. I do not like to use tongs with straight untapered handles. Too much work on my "off" hand. But, at the historical farm smithy, some thief made off with all the good (tapered handle) tongs. Just the hard to use tongs with stiff handles remained. So, when I go there to volunteer, I bring a couple of tong rings in my pocket . I make my students taper their tong reins, even if I have to do the striking for them!

[Mende]

I was always curious. . how does working with a Japanese hammer differ from working with a normal one? ..Is it easier/harder to aim? Does it have more/less bounce? Is it easier to control? Do you have trouble getting it to stay perpendicular to the anvil? ( just any differences will do. .I'm just curious )

[HWooldridge]

Here's a pic to illustrate the point:

The top pair I made many years ago. The reins were forge welded and are 3/8 round. They will hold some things but do not bite very hard. I still have them on the rack but they don't get much use.

The bottom pair is more recent. These are made from a single piece of 1/4"x1" stock. Each end is laid out on opposite sides and the reins cut apart with a chisel. This gives you a natural taper. This pair is easy to lock with a ring and holds anything from 5/8 to 7/8 and the work does not slip.

[Sam Salvati]

THANK YOU for the visual HW, i see what you mean now. I make mine to semi imitate the Tom Tongs design, i have only ever bought one pair of tongs and that was a set of those. I love them and how they feel so i make mine like them.


Blacksmithing Tools from the Ozark School Of Blacksmithing


Crappy pictures but you can get a glance, they come down then flatten out, then end with the ball(I don't do the ball).

[mcraigl]

Hi Sam, I like the style of the jaw end on the tongs for holding round stock. Looks nice. I always strive for a more substantial boss that you're showing there. A narrow boss like that seems to make the rivet wear and loosen sooner. Also, similar to the way HW's reins taper from thick to thin from the side, because that is the direction of the majority of loading, a wider boss will take a much higher loading without bending. I think the reason the Tom Tongs get away with it is they are using 8650 rather than mild. anyway, my .02$. Know nothing of the japanese hammer, so you're on your own there bud. Tongs look pretty serviceable to me.
ML

[ThomasPowers]

So how does your Japenese Cutler's hammer differ from the ones used in Sheffield England or the sawmakers hammer used all over europe and the US?

I have always found it funny that the one sided design was quite common in the west; but ignored until it's suddenly a "japanese hammer".

[Sam Salvati]

HAHAH Sorry Thomas, if i call it a sawmaker's hammer no one understands:D. What else could i call them other than a sawmaker's hammer or cutler's hammer?

[ThomasPowers]

Well you could call it a cutler's hammer instead of a japanese cutler's hammer; IIRC in Sheffield they were called a "cutler's steady hammer".

just being nitpicking---blame it on the sore shoulder. If you can charge an extra US$10 for it by using the term "japanese" then go ahead!

[Sam Salvati]

:D a cutler's steady hammer it is then. Get well soon , hopefully it is nothing serious! I would not use no hype word to get an extra $10, i would feel shameful, i only called it a japanese cutler's hammer cause i made it for a japanese style swordsmith, so i figured that was more practical than a sawmaker's hammer, as he doesn't make saws .

[ThomasPowers]

Had a large bone spur removed from the left shoulder the day before Thanksgiving. Now I'm in the "nagging pain while regaining use" stage. makes me testy---well more than usual...Plan to try it out at the forge *gently* this weekend.

All in all a great job as the rotator cuff was in grand condition---recovering from messing with that takes a *lot* longer!