Frank Turley Posted January 25, 2017 Share Posted January 25, 2017 The tongs came up on another thread recently, so I went to the shop and got them out. (seldom) Dick Renker is visiting the forge right now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Latticino Posted January 25, 2017 Share Posted January 25, 2017 Very cool. Please say hi to Dick for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted January 25, 2017 Share Posted January 25, 2017 I think I've seen others for that exact task in "Practical Blacksmithing", Richardson. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave51B Posted January 26, 2017 Share Posted January 26, 2017 Thanks Frank, I have made a set of double bit tongs for shares. But the reigns are parallel and both bits hold the back of the share. They are heavy and hard to hang onto while working. I should make another pair like these and see if I can hang on better. I saw a set about like yours at a tractor show years ago. (Tipton In. I think) Like a fool I took no pictures and could not redesign them in my head. Life is Good Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted January 26, 2017 Share Posted January 26, 2017 Well, that'll beef up your wrists right quick. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave51B Posted January 27, 2017 Share Posted January 27, 2017 This is what I'm working with. Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tommytaptap Posted January 27, 2017 Share Posted January 27, 2017 Beautifully thought out examples of the right way to do it. I think both of those with some only slight mods to jaw angles/style would transfer nicely to longer stock in some circumstances perhaps. Or is there an even better way? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rockstar.esq Posted January 27, 2017 Share Posted January 27, 2017 I'm curious about the intended use for those Frank. I see how they grab a complete plowshare which leads me to think they're for servicing an existing plowshare as opposed to holding the two steel elements for welding a new one. I have an old blacksmithing book that covers "re-steeling" things like plowshares and axes. The general idea was to weld some additional steel onto the cutting end of a worn out tool. Actually making a plowshare, especially if made from welded sections looks like a two-person job to me. Now that I think about it, is sure seems like plows could get pretty large. I wonder if they ever used overhead chains to take the weight of the parts while getting the work between the forge and the anvil. Either way, those tongs are something special. I'd love to get a feel for how they grab. It reminds me of an MC Escher drawing! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted January 27, 2017 Share Posted January 27, 2017 I remember reading a suggestion to rivet the replacement piece on to hold it in place for forge welding; but I believe that it dated to when having a properly staffed smithy was becoming rarer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank Turley Posted January 27, 2017 Author Share Posted January 27, 2017 Rockstar, You can get a good look at share sharpening on youtube, "Sharpening plowshares with Dick Carlson". He is using either a single flat jawed tong or two of them. He's working by himself but with trip hammer to draw out the cutting edge. When forge welding, it is the point only that gets the weld. I have also talked a little about this subject, if you go to the top of ifi and "Search" plowshare sharpening, you might find it. You are looking at the share only. The moldboard is the large curved piece that gets attached to it and turns the earth over. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave51B Posted January 28, 2017 Share Posted January 28, 2017 If you look at the pic I posted above, The small piece at the bottom is a replacement point. After you trim the existing worn point off. This replacement is forge welded on the share to form a new point. Thanks for Dicks proper name Frank. I mistakenly called him "Ben" Carlson in the other thread...He was a wealth of knowledge and very accommodating to my questions... Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave51B Posted June 25, 2017 Share Posted June 25, 2017 Well I finally found a "roundtuit"....and got these fabbed up. I am kinda stoked and think they will work pretty good. What got me back on it was, a gentleman that ask if anyone could sharpen a plow share at a demo meeting we RSMA members were doing, at the Johnson Co. In. tractor show. He was referred to me for some reason......I told him I had worked on a few and was still learning. But I would be at the Rushville, In. show in August working some with the Ideal Plow Sharpener in the shop there. He told me he would be at that show and look me up...So the pressure is back on.... I just want to say thanks again to Frank Turley for posting those pics........ Life is Good Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted June 25, 2017 Share Posted June 25, 2017 For variations on that there: "Practical Blacksmithing", Richardson, has several varieties of plowshare tongs shown in it as I recall. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave51B Posted June 25, 2017 Share Posted June 25, 2017 4 hours ago, ThomasPowers said: For variations on that there: "Practical Blacksmithing", Richardson, has several varieties of plowshare tongs shown in it as I recall. Thanks Thomas....good to see you are back. I may have to ILL that book. Life is Good Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irondragon Forge ClayWorks Posted June 25, 2017 Share Posted June 25, 2017 Volume 1,3 & 4 are available for free download here. https://archive.org/details/practicalblacksm01richuoft Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted June 25, 2017 Share Posted June 25, 2017 I've got it in hardbound and since all 4 volumes are bound sequentially I have all 4 indexes marked with a slip of paper. It's a great reference for the late 19th century blacksmithing; you just have to search through 4 indexes to find stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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