Novalogic Posted October 17, 2017 Share Posted October 17, 2017 Ive been interested in smithing for a couple years now. I did lots of video research and reading. Felt like hey! I can do this! Lol. So I built a cheap forge. Family found me an anvil a little while longer and picked up some coal. turned out to be a lot harder than I thought. I was interested in people making things from rail road spikes. There is an over abundance of them just up the road from where i live so I grabbed a bunch. Tried to pound them out into some flat bit tongs. Lots of fails. Melted jaws, cracked boss, Mis shapes.... anyway. It's very hard but that where I started. This is the result. Havnt pinned them together yet because I'm not happy with the riens. But will they be okay? They fit okay. But need some tweaks. Hopefully I don't break or melt them. Any tips or suggestions on what I can do to achieve a better structure? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ranchmanben Posted October 17, 2017 Share Posted October 17, 2017 You’ve got a coal forge that’ll ruin you steel if you’re not paying attention, an anvil and you don’t quit after a one failed attempt! Sounds like you’re off to a pretty good start. Tongs are pretty tricky project for a beginner but you’ve gotten this far so you might as well join the two pieces and have a useful tool. To be perfectly honest, those aren’t too bad. It looks like you’ve got the basic concepts down, now you just need to refine and practice what you’re doing. The first thing that jumps out at me is the thickness of the jaws, they need to be thicker. I like mine to be in the neighborhood of 3/8”. Next is the boss, and take this with a grain of salt because yours will function well, it needs to be a little more defined on both sides. This is somewhat to give it a more finished look but also allows you to grip your material closer to the pivot which will give you more gripping power with less fatigue to your hand. I also like my boss to be 3/8” thick as well. Your reins just look like they need to be straightened and rounded off so the don’t tear your hands up while in use As I said before, tongs are not an easy project and getting as far as you have without quitting is an accomplishment. You’re off to a pretty good start, keep it up and show us what happens. You’ll hear this elsewhere on the forum, put your location where people can see it. There are smiths all over the place and some might be close to you. If they are, they’re probably willing to link up with you and help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted October 17, 2017 Share Posted October 17, 2017 You need to practice your drawing and fine smooth hammering. I suggest you make a bunch of S hooks and when they come out "smooth and purty" try hammering out reins again. (You can probably use that set of tongs to make s hooks---you may want to file those reins a bit to make them smoother and less wearing on the hands) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Novalogic Posted October 17, 2017 Author Share Posted October 17, 2017 Thanks. Thats exactly what I figured.. too thin. I think it only really happened because I tried too hard to tweak and keep them the same thickness. I found trouble forming the boss every time. On my last run I think I found something that will work, but I'll have to try it next time... and as for my "coal forge" lol it's a back yard job! I used an 8" water main plug that had a 2" threaded hole in the center! Ha . It's rough and small, waste a lot of fuel. But it works for the most part. Can't wait to get a better one. Thanks a lot. Thomas Powers yes I agree that they aren't smooth at all... I was just beginning to attempt to draw them out and ran out of daylight. I'm not finished with them yet. But when I am. I'm probably just gonna practice more on technique and skill before trying these again. As long as they hold up. 9 side fails. Probably should have practiced fist but I was excited to try! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted October 17, 2017 Share Posted October 17, 2017 Put a sheet metal fence along the inside of that forge sort of a C shape leaving a gap to put metal in---and cut a mousehole in the sheetmetal opposite so you can put a long bar through and heat the middle of it. Then clay the inside a bit so you can pile the coal up over the edge of the WMP and work you pieces horizontally in the hot zone. (How I did one similar) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ranchmanben Posted October 17, 2017 Share Posted October 17, 2017 Definitely finish that set even if you’ve got to bolt them together. You’ll be able to size them for thinner stock, 3/16”-1/4” range. The more sets you finish, or not, the more you learn and gain hammer control. As Thomas said, s hooks are a good project to work on for practicing drawing out and rounding material. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted October 17, 2017 Share Posted October 17, 2017 Cause you can sell them and pay for more steel and fuel! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ranchmanben Posted October 17, 2017 Share Posted October 17, 2017 Bingo! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.