Got these today from the local flea market took guy. Was looking for advice in changes I could/ should make to the bits to make them better able to hold stock. Mostly flat bar for now but also some round or square at times.

Cup tongs are a farrier's friend as they hold moderately sized flat bar on the flat well in any orientation. They're okay on flat stock if you fit them to the correct thickness. Smaller sq. and rnd. stock can be hot fitted in the tongs. Heat the tongs to forging temp, hold the stock you desire to fit and forge the tongs onto it. 

I think it's best to use them for what they're designed for. Watching a couple horse shoeing videos will give you a handle on their proper use.

Nice tongs, handy though I rarely use mine. 

Frosty The Lucky.

Ok. I will definatly watch some videos on them. If they will hold flat bar they will help me make a better pair of tongs than my first attempt. Was difficult using pliers as tongs on that first try to be sure. 

Oh wow. They were only $10. They were next to a bunch of cattle and pig snout grabbers. I wasn't even sure they were for forge work, just thought "hey, I can reforge the bit." Lucky day.

I have 3 or 4 pair for different thickness stock and use them all the time. I'd say you did OK.

$10 is a good score especially in their condition. 

Forge tongs from stock long enough you don't need tongs. Remember to forge the thick sections first as the thinner it gets the faster it'll heat up so there's a much better chance they'll burn or melt kerPLOP! AND you lose steel to scale every time you go to the fore and it's not that hard to make thin work disappear in a pile of scale. Hmmmmm?

Frosty The Lucky.

Yep. Lesson learned there with that first attempt. With those first tongs I made I was using the rest of the bar as a handle since I didn't have tongs. 

Found a makers mark on them. A GE inside a diamond. They are from GE ferriers supply.