Here is a pair of tongs made to hold a folded eye axe I am working on. They are not the common style of axe tongs or hoop tongs I have ever seen. Thought they were neat and they work exceptionally well. They clear the eye area and hold just past it. I just set the 1st weld on an axe with them and there is zero movement in the piece during forging and they stay out of the way so I am happy. Even tested them by holding the axe to the floor at a 45* angle and stomping on it to see how they held. The axe did not budge even with a 2 finger grip on the tongs. I'm happy with them, they work great and even look pretty cool. 

Nice tongs Pete. I know you don't skimp on strength of the grip on em. 

What kind of axe are you making?

It's a folded eye axe with a 144 layer 15n20 and 1084 bit forge welded in. I haven't decided on the exact style yet. I'm playing this one by ear/inspiration. It's not an order so I just do a little bit on it here and there when I am at the "hurry up and wait" stages of a more pressing project.