Caleb Hale Posted March 16, 2017 Share Posted March 16, 2017 Preface: Sorry to those who object to the idea of tongs being someone's first project. I didn't start reading here until I had already planned and started this adventure So I've been at this whole blacksmithing thing for about 3 weeks now, I'm definitely hooked. I just had to steal the propane tank from my barbecue pit to finish heating the pin for these tongs, so yeah. I started off pretty slow because well, my arm was just a limp noodle after a few hits...I'm much better now. This is actually my second attempt at tongs, the first ones I abandoned very early on, after my first day of forging, when I realized I didn't have enough metal in the boss. These are made out of whatever the low grade steel bars are they sell at the big name hardware stores - 1" x 1/4" x 3' flat bar (I read that it's A36 steel from an unofficial source). The pivot pin is the same steel - 1/4" round bar. I used 2 whole cans of propane while forging them / learning to forge...that was a bit of a shocker how fast it goes, but I know I'm wasting quite a bit right now. All good. Anyway I'm pretty proud of how they turned out, and they seem like they will do the job intended. The real test will be when I actually hammer on hot metal while gripping it with them I suppose. They've got good motion to them and are comfortable when I'm gripping the intended steel. Most importantly it was a completely awesome experience and I can't wait to make more stuff. Picture time... Everything is pretty much in-line and on-center. Overall 25" length. I rounded the handles as much as I could by hand. Front profile view...sorry so dark. LED lighting for my workspace is on the to-do list. Rear profile This is the first side of the pin I hammered on. It started to fall off to one side as I was hammering...I recovered a little bit. The pivot hole is actually centered in the boss. I punched as big a hole as I could in a piece of 3/16" flat bar and set it under the boss with the pin in it for my first few strikes (not sure what the technical name for something like that is, swage block?). It kinda worked, not as well as planned (needed to double the thickness of my swage block or whatever it's called) but I do have 1-2mm of pretty thick overlap all around the pivot hole on the other side. Notice the hole actually is centered from this side... This is the knife stock they will be holding for me. They have a nice, firm grip on the material. They feel springy in my hand when I grip tight. Banged it around on the anvil a few times...didn't budge. All comments and criticism welcome! And thanks for reading this far! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bearded Guy Posted March 16, 2017 Share Posted March 16, 2017 Alot better than my first 3 attempts at making tongs. I have abandoned all but 1 pair still in the works. As long as they work for ya is what matters. Did you punch/drift the hole or drill it out? Either way, good job on a functioning tool. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caleb Hale Posted March 16, 2017 Author Share Posted March 16, 2017 Thank you sir! I punched and drifted the holes. Ruined my punch by not quenching it often enough and dulled the point severely. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daswulf Posted March 16, 2017 Share Posted March 16, 2017 The term you are searching for I believe is "Bolster plate". Nice work on your first completed tongs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted March 16, 2017 Share Posted March 16, 2017 Pretty nice pair of tongs, well done. Got in one Das. A "Bolster plate" has hole that allows the punch to pass while the plate supports the work to prevent it distorting. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ausfire Posted March 16, 2017 Share Posted March 16, 2017 Nice job. Folks say tongs are easy to make but they're not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted March 16, 2017 Share Posted March 16, 2017 Pretty good first try. Pay attention to the interior corners next to the bosses: it looks like you've got some cold shuts and cracking starting there. Make sure that there's a bit of a radius on the edge of the anvil where you do the set-downs. I strongly recommend that you go back and round out the reins more; the sharp corners are going to be hard to grab and will tire your hands very quickly. Keep up the good work! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caleb Hale Posted March 16, 2017 Author Share Posted March 16, 2017 10 hours ago, Daswulf said: The term you are searching for I believe is "Bolster plate". Nice work on your first completed tongs. Bolster plate, thanks! I need to make some modifications to my bolster plate for the next time I pin some tongs. 3 hours ago, ausfire said: Nice job. Folks say tongs are easy to make but they're not. Agreed! It would have been a lot easier if I didn't have to make a matching pair. 2 hours ago, JHCC said: Pretty good first try. Pay attention to the interior corners next to the bosses: it looks like you've got some cold shuts and cracking starting there. Make sure that there's a bit of a radius on the edge of the anvil where you do the set-downs. I strongly recommend that you go back and round out the reins more; the sharp corners are going to be hard to grab and will tire your hands very quickly. Keep up the good work! I struggled with making any radius at all because my anvil is new. Should I think about dressing the edges myself or just let it wear down on it's own? I wanted to round the entire reins but I was worried about drawing the material out too thin, so I just did the handles. Thanks for the kind words everyone! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted March 16, 2017 Share Posted March 16, 2017 5 minutes ago, Caleb Hale said: I struggled with making any radius at all because my anvil is new. Should I think about dressing the edges myself or just let it wear down on it's own? Pictures, please. Hard to answer without seeing what you're actually dealing with. 5 minutes ago, Caleb Hale said: I wanted to round the entire reins but I was worried about drawing the material out too thin, so I just did the handles. If you're hammering your stock on the edge of the anvil and hammering half-on/half-off, the force of the hammer blow will indeed penetrate farther into the stock and draw it out more. However, if you hold the stock flat on the anvil and hammer on the corners of the square, you can round off the edges without substantially reducing the thickness. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caleb Hale Posted March 16, 2017 Author Share Posted March 16, 2017 3 minutes ago, JHCC said: Pictures, please. Hard to answer without seeing what you're actually dealing with. Can't take any new ones right now, but in the last photo you can see the edge of my anvil pretty well. It's got a pretty sharp right angle to it all the way around like that. I've seen some posts about "dressing" an anvil, but grinding down the edge to a radius makes me nervous. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted March 16, 2017 Share Posted March 16, 2017 Okay, generally speaking, sharp edges on an anvil are a Very Bad Thing, largely because of how they can cause cold shuts and stress risers. However, they can be useful when notching steel to mark it. At the same time, some different radii can be helpful for creating quarter-round set-downs or for heavy drawing out. There was a very good thread about this on IFI a few years back; see HERE. Also, take a look at Mark Aspery's "Old School project #3 - The Miner's Candlestick" video, to see a variably radiused edge in use. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daswulf Posted March 16, 2017 Share Posted March 16, 2017 just to say, were it my anvil I would radius the edges a bit in certain spots. It's a bit scary to do to a new anvil but just don't go extreme. I would say to research it a bit before doing anything. It's easy to take material off but not so easy to put it back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caleb Hale Posted March 16, 2017 Author Share Posted March 16, 2017 Thanks JHCC that's some good info on dressing the edges. I think I'll go the route of hand filing a radius as the need arises, like what Daswulf suggested. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Ling Posted March 17, 2017 Share Posted March 17, 2017 That's a really good first pair of tongs. Just do that and make them overall beefier. The reins are a good size. Keep at it! if you are ever neer me, feel free to shoot me a message and drop by! Or if you just are wondering about where to find stuff, don't hesitate asking, I'll try and help out as much as I can. Littleblacksmith Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caleb Hale Posted March 17, 2017 Author Share Posted March 17, 2017 2 minutes ago, littleblacksmith said: That's a really good first pair of tongs. Just do that and make them overall beefier. The reins are a good size. Keep at it! if you are ever neer me, feel free to shoot me a message and drop by! Or if you just are wondering about where to find stuff, don't hesitate asking, I'll try and help out as much as I can. Littleblacksmith Awesome thanks for the offer! I was actually out near Bryan a couple of weeks ago at a demo at Steephollow Forgeworks where I picked up my forge and anvil. It's only about an hour drive for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Ling Posted March 17, 2017 Share Posted March 17, 2017 12 hours ago, Caleb Hale said: Awesome thanks for the offer! I was actually out near Bryan a couple of weeks ago at a demo at Steephollow Forgeworks where I picked up my forge and anvil. It's only about an hour drive for me. I was there too! were you there Friday? also, did you get the chance to meet a fellow by the name of Matt Marti? he makes some beautiful hammers, and also did a demonstration. Did you get your anvil and forge from the front where there was Tons of tools, or in the back? I had to keep myself from buying everything do to the high prices..... Steep hollow is only like 30 minutes from my house. Littleblacksmith Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caleb Hale Posted March 17, 2017 Author Share Posted March 17, 2017 1 hour ago, littleblacksmith said: I was there too! were you there Friday? also, did you get the chance to meet a fellow by the name of Matt Marti? he makes some beautiful hammers, and also did a demonstration. Did you get your anvil and forge from the front where there was Tons of tools, or in the back? I had to keep myself from buying everything do to the high prices..... Steep hollow is only like 30 minutes from my house. Littleblacksmith I came out Saturday afternoon. The only person I met was a guy named James who owns Texas Farrier Supply out of Fort Worth...he was setup right in the front where most of the anvils were. It was just pure luck that when I bought my anvil/forge online he emailed me back that he would be at that show and if I wanted to meet and pick it up in person to not have to worry about shipping costs. I did see some really nice hammers there. I actually went with the intention of buying one, but my jaw dropped a bit when I saw the prices. Then James recommended I start out with a cheap hammer anyway to see how heavy I like it before I spent a lot of money...that was probably good advice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted March 17, 2017 Share Posted March 17, 2017 1 minute ago, Caleb Hale said: I did see some really nice hammers there. I actually went with the intention of buying one, but my jaw dropped a bit when I saw the prices. Then James recommended I start out with a cheap hammer anyway to see how heavy I like it before I spent a lot of money...that was probably good advice. The hammer I use the most is one I paid $5 for at a flea market. The one I use the second most was in the garage of the house we bought seven years ago, so it was free. Of course, you could say that I paid six figures for it, but it came with a free house and garage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted March 17, 2017 Share Posted March 17, 2017 I had a $50000 rivet forge like that! I have paid US$35 for a hammer once---a lynch collection sledge that was the same style as my favorite lynch collection light hammers... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
metalmangeler Posted March 18, 2017 Share Posted March 18, 2017 You can take a block of steel and radius the edges and then weld on a stem. It does not nee dto be on the bottom just so you can stablize it in your hardy hole. This will give you some rounded edges, and you can make a variety to see what works best for you with out worrying about the new anvil. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Halphwit Posted March 23, 2017 Share Posted March 23, 2017 Awesome tongs dude! Way better than my first set. 2 bottles of prop though, ouch! Just curious, how fast do you burn through a tank? I can usually get about 7hrs out of one but I only have a single burner. I'm so frickin jealous of y'all. I was looking forward to going to that dang demo for a month until my boss told me a had to work. Maybe next year Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ForgeNub Posted March 24, 2017 Share Posted March 24, 2017 Great tongs man. I've tried and failed like 4-5 times so far, bought 1 pair of Wolf's Jaw tongs and they've been great, I plan on attempting some more tongs here in the near future, hell I'll be happy if they looks or operate anything remotely close to how yours look. Major Kudos for the first pair....Job Well Done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caleb Hale Posted March 26, 2017 Author Share Posted March 26, 2017 Awesome tongs dude! Way better than my first set. 2 bottles of prop though, ouch! Just curious, how fast do you burn through a tank? I can usually get about 7hrs out of one but I only have a single burner. I'm so frickin jealous of y'all. I was looking forward to going to that dang demo for a month until my boss told me a had to work. Maybe next year Thanks man! Yeah I think I was scared to hit it real hard the first few times...wasn't moving much metal. That first tong took like 4 hours or so, second one probably only about 2 hours. I'd say a tank last me 5-6 hours using a dual burner setup. Great tongs man. I've tried and failed like 4-5 times so far, bought 1 pair of Wolf's Jaw tongs and they've been great, I plan on attempting some more tongs here in the near future, hell I'll be happy if they looks or operate anything remotely close to how yours look. Major Kudos for the first pair....Job Well Done. Thank a lot man I appreciate it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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