February 10, 200818 yr I picked these up at an auction some time ago and cannot figure out what they are called/used for. Any suggestions?
February 10, 200818 yr They look to be a pair of universal tongs for holding flat, square and tapered square from the angle you've shown.
February 10, 200818 yr Author Ive just thought that the extra joint on the jaws opposite a sharp tooth was for something special...they dont seem to hold any stock I have very firmly at all mostly due to the tooth on top. Heres a better picture
February 10, 200818 yr they are sure weird looking,itll be interesting to find out what they were used for.my guess was similar to easilyconfuseds.but it doesnt seem right from what you said.hmm....
February 10, 200818 yr These may be some type of adjustable spanner for wagon wheel nuts or heavy equipment with the pivot jaw acting as a ratchet and may fit into a hole in the nut. There is also a similar tool for attaching fellows to a wooden wagon spoke. not an answer just a guess.
February 10, 200818 yr Got any pics with the jaws closed?? Have you tried them on lighter gauge material, like maybe 1/16 sheet or thinner? Those do have a beautiful pivot joint on them though, I always liked the pass-through type joint. -Aaron @ the SCF
February 10, 200818 yr Ive just thought that the extra joint on the jaws opposite a sharp tooth was for something special...they dont seem to hold any stock I have very firmly at all mostly due to the tooth on top. Heres a better picture tried picking up something like a chain? that joint wouldnt seem to hold anything if it was flipped out, but if it had a loop of metal in it was flipped back and the tooth holding the joint in place....
February 10, 200818 yr Author I don't have any big chain, it might hold it well, it won't clamp onto anything very small. Your chain idea got me thinking that it might hold a horseshoe pretty tight if the shoe was deeper than the tooth and the tooth would keep it from slipping out. I'll have to get ahold of a horseshoe and give it a try. :cool: Heres a pic of it holding some sheet metal I had lying about, it actually holds it fairly tight though It doesn't feel "right".
February 10, 200818 yr the other thing I noted was the impacts near the front of the tooth, misses by the hammer? for something small being worked close to the tong, which is what led me to think of a chain loop. Course they might also be forging imperfections not impacts :p
February 10, 200818 yr Author Yeah czar the tooth is a bit mangled, they were nearly rusted shut when I got them, I bead blasted them yesterday and thats when I noted their odd design. The damage may just be from rusting away, at least partly. I bought these in a 5 gallon bucket of tongs at an auction put them in the corner and just got to cleaning them up and going through them. I have another pair of tongs from the same bucket that I am pretty sure is wrought iron that I was going to post pics of for confirmation but hadn't got around to it.
February 10, 200818 yr seems to me the wear pattern on the bottom of the top jaw would matchup with the top of the jointed element if it was holding round stock, either looped as photochopped or just straight stock held at a right angle
February 10, 200818 yr Author The tongs jointed element wont open up far enough to get anything greater than a no. 2 pencil in it as you show Czar. Here is a little animated gif I made showing the relationship between the "tooth" and the jointed element.
February 10, 200818 yr From that animantion I'd say that it's meant as a self-compensating jaw for gripping varying size stock between the 2 faces. The 'teeth' on either side of the swinging plate being there simply to keep the plate in line. Just a guess of course. It's certainly an interesting tool whatever it is.
February 10, 200818 yr maby the are for somthing difrent maby the hook could be used to remove somthing like a horse shoe
February 10, 200818 yr I would guess these tongs were made to hold a specific part and nothing else is going to fit. I have no idea what that part might be, however.
February 10, 200818 yr I uploaded a couple of pictures in the gallery of a pair of simular tongs that I have. They are in the Lazyassforge gallery. I also copied an ad for them out of an old catalogue. I think the tongs pictured probably were modified like Quenchcrack suggested Bill D.
February 11, 200818 yr Author ool! Those are very similar, I almost guarantee they are from the same manufacturer. Mine are unique to those also in the fact that the swivel jaw arm of the tong passes through the toothed arm, it also has an arc and valley to the toothed portion that yours lack. I am intrigued.... Have you found a use for yours?
February 11, 200818 yr hah, I know what Stearn's tongs are for I think, and it might explain yours sstreckfuss I have a set of parallel pliers, used in sheetmetal working ,the jaws are hinged to always remain parallel, but its accomplished differently from the jointed element if that is the case then the hook nose has been altered or designed to go into a hole
February 11, 200818 yr SStreckfuss, These tongs belonged to my grandpa. He died in the 1940's. I think they are for different thickness flats and rounds but they don't work very well. They seem to put the most force in one place and let the material pivot side to side. I also have another pair which have the box joint and reins like these but they have a set of "ears" welded on in place of the swivel to stablize the material. Bill D.
February 11, 200818 yr If not for the tooth on the top of yours, i'd say those were taper tongs. Taper tongs are tongs that are meant to hold onto the end of a tapered bar, such that they're wider at the front than the back, and auto adjust to the taper angle as they're shut to grip tightly. The tongs look just like taper tongs, and i would almost guarantee lazyassforge's are definitely taper tongs. Yours are probably just modified ones for some particular project.
February 11, 200818 yr I have seen similar tongs in my younger years when attending meetings in surrounding area old smith shops. Hint - there are 3 to 4 holes near the top edge of a plow shear and the end one is closer to the edge and when drawing the shear the end tong has a tendency to slip off the end from the vibration.
February 11, 200818 yr I would say IRNSRGN is on to something there, I have worked plow shears and they can be tricky to hold in a power hammer, when that one tong slips off and your brains not quick to tell your foot to get off the peddle, you will do a dance. I think they maybe good for Cultivator shuvels to. Jeff
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