How am I doing on these tongs

[JustNick]

Hello I am new to forging and I am going to be starting out making all my tools I need. So the question is this is my first set of tongs a I am working on and they are power hammer pick up tongs or Boca tongs as Brent Bailey calls them on his website. Please let me know if I am doing good or not so good and any input you might have.

 

  Thanks Nick

[JustNick]

Really No advice ? Wow either people don't care or I am a master on my first set of tongs I ever tried

[Latticino]

Hard to comment when they are not finished.  Looks like you are on the road to success, but a lot will depend on how accurately you can replicate the two sides for jaw shape, punch and drift the holes, and draw down your reins.  The angle and thickness of the boss on one side of the tongs does not appear to match the other (unless it is a progress shot of the same side) and the angle of the boss in the second to last shot does not line up with the jaws and is too thin, which will be a problem.

The jaws on the first tong side pictured are almost definitely too thin (and the other ones are probably too thin as well), but that all depends on whether you used high carbon or mild steel and how well you do with the final shaping.

I'm not sure why you are choosing to forge power hammer pickup tongs as your first try.  They are hardly the easiest style of tong to forge, and if you are just starting you most likely don't have a power hammer.

Nice anvil and rounding hammer though.

 

Good lord, I just saw some of the rest of your shop in another of your posts.  You have a decent size power hammer, excellent swage block and stand, large metal lathe and heat treating oven, at least, all in a space that looks to be a minimum of 10 times the size of my forging area (where is that I'm extremely jealous emoji at?...).

If I had the cash to support that type of shop I'd not be bothering with asking for advice from a bunch of random guys on the internet.  I'd be paying for private lessons from the top smiths in the business.

[jlpservicesinc]

Hi Welcome, Lots of people here come on in the mornings or after work..  

You asked so here it is.. Lots of cold shuts..  Any cracking at any of the sections to bosses are going to fail.. Radius your anvil corners better or use the radius you have to your advantage..  Personally I like a shorter/rounder boss section for the pivot but if you punch it small and work up or use a slot punch you could get it to have more mass/material in the area.. 
 

as with any forging there needs to be a radius in any corner so you don't propagate stress cracks, or cold shears.. 

 

Overall not bad.. A few more pairs and you should be good to go.. 

[Matthew D]

So far so good for your first pair. Looking forward to pics of the finished product.  

Feedback.  Be careful about getting the boss so thin.  It is easier to thin things out, not so easy to make them fatter.  

[Al Stephens]

Always remember that the insides of your boss's, need to be flat and smooth. The two need to fit together and work smoothly following riveting. This is true for any style or size of tong. Al

[ThomasPowers]

Hot rasping followed by cold filing can help a lot unundulating it if your forging tends to leave surfaces a bit undulating.

[JHCC]

3 minutes ago, ThomasPowers said:

unundulating

Or just dulating.

[ThomasPowers]

that's just crazy talk!

[Frosty]

MODulate guys!

Nick: There isn't a whole lot to say that hasn't been covered in detail. Radius an edge on your anvil to set shoulders and off set things like the boss. Sharp inside corners are stress risers and WILL initiate failures. Do the steps on each side of your tongs at the same time, it's easier to make them the same. Remember BOTH sides of your tongs need to be the same. 

Frosty The Lucky.

[ThomasPowers]

Never thought of Frosty as being a Mod, where is his Nehru jacket and Vespa?

[JHCC]

4 minutes ago, ThomasPowers said:

Never thought of Frosty as being a Mod

Always struck me as a Rocker.

[ThomasPowers]

I had thought he was a head banger....At least he isn't a Beatnik! 

[JHCC]

I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by blacksmithing,
     sweating hysterical filthy,
dragging themselves to the charcoal forge at dawn
     looking for a welding heat,
birch-headed hipsters burning for the ancient workmanly
     connection to the starry dynamo in the machinery of iron,...

[ThomasPowers]

Perhaps the Electric Anvil Acid Test with Barbie and Ken and the merry forgers...

ῥοδόπηχυς, rhodópēkhys due to the dragon's breath most likely!

[Daninghram]

 

 Neal Cassidy flips his hammer.

[metalmangeler]

no one has mentioned it is nice and stronger to have your jaw thicker at the boss tapering as you go, rather than the other way.

[Francis Trez Cole]

ok So you want advice. In Photo #2 the boss has many strike marks on it. That face of the Boss should be smooth from being on face of the anvil hitting on the back side of the boss will save you a lot of time on cleanup. Did you ever finish the tongs? I would like to see how you used the long Jaws.  To long and thin will fail under pressure.  and Last you need to draw out the reins. In the machinist hand book (older ones) there is a chart that gives guidelines on the dimensions  Hope this helps it is on my shop wall

Dimensions for Standard Tongs

Capacity In.

A

B

C

D

E

F

G

H

I

K

L

Rivet

0 - 1/8

5/8

3/8

1/4

5/8

1/16

2-1/8

1/2

5/16

5/16

1/4

14

1/4

3/16 - 5/16

3/4

7/16

5/16

5/8

1/16

2-1/4

9/16

5/16

5/16

1/4

15

1/4

3/8 - 7/16

7/8

1/2

5/16

3/4

1/16

2-1/2

5/8

3/8

3/8

5/16

16

5/16

1/2 - 5/8

1

9/16

3/8

7/8

3/32

2-3/4

11/16

7/16

3/8

5/16

18

3/8

3/4 - 7/8

1-1/8

5/8

3/8

1

5/32

3

3/4

1/2

7/16

3/8

20

7/16

1 - 1-1/8

1-1/4

11/16

7/16

1-1/8

3/16

3-1/4

13/16

9/16

1/2

7/16

22

1/2

1-1/4 - 1-3/8

1-3/8

3/4

1/2

1-1/8

1/4

3-1/2

7/8

9/16

1/2

7/16

24

9/16

1-1/2 - 1-5/8

1-1/2

3/4

1/2

1-1/4

3/8

3-3/4

1

5/8

5/8

1/2

26

5/8

1-3/4 - 1-7/8

1-5/8

13/16

9/16

1-3/8

7/16

4

1-1/16

11/16

5/8

1/2

28

5/8

2

1-3/4

7/8

5/8

1-1/2

7/16

4-1/4

1-1/8

3/4

11/16

1/2

30

11/16

Machinery's Handbook 1st - 23rd edition and 27th Edition CD used with permission.

 

Capacity In.	A	B	C	D	E	F	G	H	I	L	Rivet
1/4 - 5/16	5/8	1/2	7/16	5/16	1/8	1	1/2	5/16	1/4	14	1/4
3/8 - 7/16	3/4	9/16	1/2	5/16	3/16	1-1/8	9/16	5/16	1/4	16	5/16
1/2 - 5/8	7/8	5/8	9/16	3/8	1/4	1-1/4	5/8	3/8	5/16	18	3/8
3/4 - 7/8	1	3/4	5/8	7/16	3/8	1-1/2	3/4	3/8	5/16	20	7/16
1 - 1-1/8	1-1/8	7/8	11/16	1/2	1/2	1-3/4	7/8	3/8	5/16	20	1/2
1-1/4 - 1-3/8	1-1/4	1	3/4	9/16	5/8	2	1	7/16	3/8	22	1/2
1-1/2 - 1-3/4	1-3/8	1-1/8	7/8	5/8	3/4	2-1/8	1-1/8	1/2	3/8	24	9/16
1-7/8 - 2-1/8	1-3/8	1-3/16	15/16	11/16	1	2-1/4	1-1/4	1/2	3/8	26	5/8
2-1/4 - 2-1/2	1-1/2	1-1/4	1	3/4	1-1/8	2-1/2	1-1/2	9/16	7/16	28	5/8
2-5/8 - 2-7/8	1-1/2	1-5/16	1-1/16	3/4	1-1/4	2-3/4	1-3/4	9/16	7/16	30	3/4
3 - 3-1/4	1-5/8	1-3/8	1-1/8	3/4	1-1/2	3	2	5/8	1/2	32	3/4
3-1/2 - 3-3/4	1-3/4	1-1/2	1-1/4	3/4	1-3/4	3-1/4	2-1/4	5/8	1/2	34	3/4
4 - 4-1/4	2	1-5/8	1-5/16	13/16	2	3-1/4	2-1/2	11/16	9/16	36	3/4
4-1/2 - 4-3/4	2-1/8	1-5/8	1-5/16	13/16	2-1/8	3-1/4	2-3/4	11/16	9/16	38	3/4
5	2-1/4	1-3/4	1-3/8	7/8	2-1/4	3-1/2	3-1/4	3/4	5/8	40	7/8
Machinery's Handbook 1st - 23rd edition and 27th Edition CD used with permission.

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