Scotty30815 Posted November 12, 2018 Share Posted November 12, 2018 Well working on my first set on tongs. What style donno just yet. But here is the first half of them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted November 12, 2018 Share Posted November 12, 2018 Hmm...might I suggest steel-toed flip-flops? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dale Russell Posted November 12, 2018 Share Posted November 12, 2018 JHCC , do you mean a pair of these ? ..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted November 12, 2018 Share Posted November 12, 2018 Those are the ones! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marc1 Posted November 12, 2018 Share Posted November 12, 2018 Guaranteed to prevent scale to get between your toes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scotty30815 Posted November 13, 2018 Author Share Posted November 13, 2018 Your right ill go barefoot like i normally do. If i wanted to be safe i would stay inside and play video games or look up retarded memes like posted. But no everything about blacksmithing is inherently dangerous. Hmmm maybe ya aught to wear respirators to keep the carbon monoxide from causing cancer or wear plated gloves so you can never smack fingers or forget it will always have SOMEONE naysaying something... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irondragon Forge ClayWorks Posted November 13, 2018 Share Posted November 13, 2018 CO does not cause cancer, in concentration it causes death. Just because something is inherently dangerous is no reason to tempt fate and not wear proper protection or at the very least use some common sense. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scotty30815 Posted November 13, 2018 Author Share Posted November 13, 2018 Hmm common sense then...bare skin gets burned...sneakers gets skin melted ultimately burning the skin worse...those are my 2 options at the moment...when your wife is incapable of working do to health issues and your working 60 hour+ weeks for a pitence of a salary (under $20k/year) and saddled with over 30k doctor fees then come talk to me about proper shoes. Im pretty sure me not wearing proper shoes hurts noone except myself. But xxxx someone try to do something for their self. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted November 13, 2018 Share Posted November 13, 2018 In our 34 year marriage my wife has seldom worked and when she did it was usually minimum wage type things. I am diabetic so I know something about health bills. (4 trips to the ER in a year, Surgery, in patient epilepsy testing for 4 days...) I am blessed with a good job; I do have to cross the border into Mexico for it, but, hey it is only in the top 20 most dangerous cities in the world based on Murder rate---Detroit is 42. I got 4 pair of brand new German combat boots at the fleamarket for $3 a piece. Our church will give people a pair of boots out of our "sale barn" out back; (or clothes, furnishings, housewares, etc.) Please explore other methods to keep you from an expensive ER visits or losing your job due to not being able to use your foot---I've seen very neat spats made from discarded cowboy boots that fit over sneakers for instance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scotty30815 Posted November 13, 2018 Author Share Posted November 13, 2018 Now Im suddenly remembering why I dont go to forums...not 1 thing said about the actual post...xxxx if we are going to criticize EVERYTHING lets criticize the 9 acres of tree line less than 25ft from a 3000 degree forge...lets criticize a live electrical cord so close to white hot metal being hot cut...lets criticize the lack of a chimney on the forge...lets criticize there being a forge 10ft from a 30 year old trailer...lets criticize a live electrical cord outside in the rain without a gcfi or gfci (whatever it is) breaker..lets criticize the anvil not being properly attached to a secure mount...lets criticize that galvanized being anywhere near a forge...seriously the only thing positive in this whole xxxx post was what i originally posted about ACCOMPLISHING something. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MotoMike Posted November 13, 2018 Share Posted November 13, 2018 Scotty your OP did not ask for advice ore invite comment on your work. As has been pointed out to me in the past, with so many viewers, we can't count on them all being as smart as you. the old timers feel obligated to point out things that are dangerous, if not for your benefit, for others. I like to show respect to the craft by doing it as safely as I can. Do you seek critique of your work? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted November 13, 2018 Share Posted November 13, 2018 OK; What's the date on your william foster? Mine is 1828 but yours is excessively good condition compared to mind---give you a hint---I paid US$15 for it...90% of the face is gone as is the heel. I got it in case I can ever talk a crew into trying oldschool anvil repair on it. Postman advised me that WF used pretty coarse WI in their anvils and suggested I weld the face to a WI slab and then do a WI to WI weld. 25 minutes and I'm off work! (work started at 8 am... Boss asked me to cover second shift after I was already in country. The joys of being on salary...) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glenn Posted November 13, 2018 Share Posted November 13, 2018 You listed several dangers that should be addressed and changed. Each one could cause you problems, which could lead to injuries, loss of production, or down time. Many blacksmiths work with situations that they feel comfortable with as they are familiar with the situation, know the dangers, and are careful to work with, and around them. Those situations would certainly be changed if others were involved or visited their shop. The first of any project is a learning experience. Make it as best you can then make the second one a little better, and the next better still. If the tongs work, then you did good. If not make changes so they do work. As you make several sets, the results will improve with practice. Go slow and work each section one at a time until you get what you want. You can work only the hinge section on several pieces of metal with no intention of making the entire tong. Draw out several sections of reins until you get what you want, with no intention of making or attaching them to tongs. Make several sets of jaws until you get what you want. Now combine the sections one at a time for a complete set of tongs. The sections do not have to be all on one piece of metal but two or more pieces of metal can be welded together. We wish you the best, and if you need a different way to make tongs, just ask. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scotty30815 Posted November 13, 2018 Author Share Posted November 13, 2018 I only posted those potential safety hazards to make a point. Flip flops only affect me. Some of the others can affect others. And anyone that judges my shoe choice needs to go check their fire extinguishers before checking mine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Latticino Posted November 13, 2018 Share Posted November 13, 2018 If you are soliciting constructive criticism on your tongs here goes (but please don't have too thin a skin and understand that I am trying to help): The boss should be the strongest part of your tongs. Currently it appears that it is the thinnest and weakest. Hopefully this will improve as you work further. Your bit and reins don't appear to have the offsets needed for either flat jaw or bolt tongs (some of the most common types). You might get away with finishing these as scroll or pickup tongs, but it is hard to tell from your current status. Tongs are not an easy beginner project, so I applaud you for attempting them. It is probably worth doing some further research on how others have successfully made tongs in the past and following their steps. There are good guides on line and jlpservices (a forum member) has a good video of making split rein tongs. Making simple twist tongs would likely be worth considering as well. As for any forging it is helpful to have a plan in place before you start heating the metal. Selecting which general type of tong you are planning on making is a start (so you forge the stock with the volume in the right place). One of the tough things about tongs is that you need to make two identical forgings to get them to line up and function correctly. I usually recommend working both sides alternately through the various steps rather than finishing one and trying to match it (i.e. forge the bits on both pieces, then forge the bosses on each, then the reins on both...) If you are planning on punching the boss for the rivet hole (the strongest alternative) I suggest that you practice on some scrap stock before you go to try on a set of tongs that you have just spent hours forging. You need some practice on your long tapers. It appears you started with some pretty beefy stock (3/4" perhaps?). It is a ton of work forging that out to a reasonable diameter for tong reins. You may wish to consider alternatives. I'm staying out of the safety discussion other than to note that the suggestions given aren't just for you, but for other readers of the forum. I can say that given the choice between sneakers and sandals I would chose sneakers (but that is just from pulling glass and metal shards out of my feet from working in sandals when I was younger... yes and I touched the black hot steel when I first started forging too). I think the folks here are just trying to keep others from making mistakes they have made. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TwistedCustoms Posted November 13, 2018 Share Posted November 13, 2018 A lot of comments that get posted on open forums are not intended to pick apart the OP, but rather to inform everyone else in the world who may read it at some point. The safety issues that you yourself pointed out, while obvious to you and me, may actually help to inform someone who doesn't know better. These guys aren't making assumptions about what you know about safety, but rather trying to educate anyone reading this who has no experience of these safety issues. I thought the mention of the flip flops was good natured ribbing and the photo of the steel toe thongs was hilarious Since your original post didn't ask a specific question I took it as "here is what I did, so what do you think?" In order to steer the post back towards smithing I'll throw one tip out that helped me early on. I notice your anvil is sitting out in direct light. This can make it very hard to determine the heat of your work by color because direct sunlight washes out the color. When I set up my first forge I didn't have a covered area to work and judging the heat of the steel was impossible. Someone on IFI told me to look for an old 55 gallon drum or a steel bucket of some kind to lay on it's side and use as a shadow box. I ended up making a sheet metal box held together by rivets. Placing the work in the shadow box instantly showed me if it was at forging temp or needed to go back into the fire. You may already know about this trick, maybe even already use it, but everyone who reads this post wont know about it and hopefully someone will find it helpful! Welcome to the madhouse.....keep on forging! -M- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted November 13, 2018 Share Posted November 13, 2018 Standing so your shadow's across the anvil face can help too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irondragon Forge ClayWorks Posted November 13, 2018 Share Posted November 13, 2018 28 minutes ago, Scotty30815 said: Flip flops only affect me. Not so, there are new folks who come to the forum with no experience or anyone to guide them. They see something and think that's the way to do it (forge in flip flops). Yes you forging in flip flops only affects you unless you lead someone else down a dangerous path. As you might have figured out we stress safety. If I see something anyone is doing that is unsafe, I will point it out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted November 13, 2018 Share Posted November 13, 2018 A clear example of this is how many people we have posting here that saw something on youtube and think that it must be the right way to do things. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scotty30815 Posted November 13, 2018 Author Share Posted November 13, 2018 Neat idea about the shadow box...whats not in the picture is the house about 10 ft away..plenty of shade from the house and the oak tree. That and it wont stop raining here in Ga so its been overcast everyday i get to forge and most of my forging is after dark...but definitely will remember that as a use for my charcoal retort (burning plain wood suits me better dont see the point in charcoal...) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scotty30815 Posted November 13, 2018 Author Share Posted November 13, 2018 As far as the stock...the part that grips the metal...the opposite end of reins thats the original size of the stock...so yeah definately WAY thicker than what I would have liked...but it was free metal...the fuel is free(gotta go cut those 9 acres down lol). Definately getting LOTS of drawing out experience safer than trying to cut it out with an angle grinder...so lots of work..ill look into building a power hammer one day but lots of projects before then...like clear the jungle from the shed...build a chimney for the shed and getting my forge built indoors lol. The video ive been using And ive got a random piece of plate that is too small to be of use...i plan on turning it into swiss cheese before punching the tongs...gotta stop raining so I can finish the punch... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted November 13, 2018 Share Posted November 13, 2018 The part of the tongs used to grip the metal workpiece is often called the "bits" or the "jaws". I make my charcoal separately as I prefer the lack of smoke and the flame of burning wood when I am forging. YMMD. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Latticino Posted November 13, 2018 Share Posted November 13, 2018 The video you have linked shows a smith making a "double ended" tong preform from rectangular crossection bar stock, to be used in making standard flat bar twist tongs. To be honest I don't see any real correlation between the work you did and the video. Are you certain you linked the right video? BTW, the video does show a very good method for making a useful set of tongs (though perhaps not the strongest type), particularly if you don't already have tongs to work with. I used a similar method for my first tongs and have taught others to do the same. As a general note, if you are planning on following a certain forging method, it helps to use the same type of stock, at least until you gain enough experience to improvise effectively. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scotty30815 Posted November 13, 2018 Author Share Posted November 13, 2018 Maybe? Im at work so didnt rewatch it...yeah the mystery metal that im using was free...and the fuel to thin it is free so i used what I have...no excuses approach...then again im not exactly watching videos during forging so i may have just messed up...either could be plausible....finally getting my hammer control somewhat under control...even if the tongs dont work... 36 minutes ago, Latticino said: To be honest I don't see any real correlation between the work you did and the video Okay gotta thin the reins ALOT more...and I already cut the halves...clear distinction between rein boss and jaws...1) still gotta do the twist ooo the blacksmith twist 2)gotta thin the riens probably half what they are and 2nd part he rounded the boss...once i finish those 2 parts its gonna be pretty close to what he had in the video though Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Latticino Posted November 13, 2018 Share Posted November 13, 2018 Understand, I'm also at work and had to review the video very quickly. The key issue is that if you are making tongs from round stock that is at least 1/2" to 3/4" in diameter, there are more efficient ways to forge tongs from that stock that don't require the twisting and make a stronger, "better" tong (though arguably more difficult to forge). I recommend you look at tong forging videos from Brian Brazeal (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CH980wjMyaM) and Mark Aspery (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jp6lQ8fkrUU, just draw out the reins instead of welding them) for details. Just don't be disheartened by how quickly these guys can forge tongs, they are extremely proficient smiths. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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