Juicemiser Posted April 25, 2021 Share Posted April 25, 2021 My first set of tongs. Scratch that, this is the first thing I’ve ever made with a hammer, anvil(made it out of railroad track)and heat(newly built ammo can forge as some have seen in the refractories section). I practised by knocking down a 1/4” rivet out of the 1/2” bar that was used to make these. 1/2” round was all that I had so they do feel like they got a bit slim right behind the boss. They’ll be used to make a punch and chisel from this piece of axle shaft and then it’s off to find more stock to smash! J Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pnut Posted April 26, 2021 Share Posted April 26, 2021 You're off to the races now. Good job on the tongs. You'll find yourself making lots of them in the coming months and years. I cheated and bought some tong blanks from Ken's when I was starting out. Tongs usually don't turn out that well as a first project. Pnut Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted April 26, 2021 Share Posted April 26, 2021 With the small boss you may wat to trim the handles down and adjust the bits for smaller stock one you get larger ones made. I tend to use my 14" rein tongs a lot more than my 2' long rein tongs! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Davor Posted April 26, 2021 Share Posted April 26, 2021 What? First thing you made is a pair of tongs and they look that good? I’ll see myself out. I don’t know what you do for a living but it better be blacksmithing in the future. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Juicemiser Posted April 26, 2021 Author Share Posted April 26, 2021 pnut, Thomas, Davor Wow, thank you! I’ll likely get a set or two of tong blanks at some point just to try ‘em out. Like you said I’ll be making lots of them They definitely feel long for the size and the bits will definitely get adjusted; I don’t see them holding up like this for long. Just a first try and a stop gap till I make bigger ones! Don’t feel bad, I’ve got a knack for spending too much time trying to perfect things These took me a conservative five hours from start to finish! I do stuff with computers and radios and let’s just say I have access to many many empty ammo cans at work. I DID do some light machine shop work as a kid and I’ve also always been a hobbyist in some capacity(sculpting/painting miniatures for example)so those types of things help I suppose... J Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Juicemiser Posted June 24, 2021 Author Share Posted June 24, 2021 Update. Gents I have to say that this repository and finding local smiths in my area has been extremely helpful in the first few steps of this journey! I’ve been able to find bits of time here and there to fire up a project. Here are a few: Second project; new tongs. A bookmark, my first blade, a tong rack and some other stuff! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted June 24, 2021 Share Posted June 24, 2021 Definitely moving in the right direction. Keep up the good work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Juicemiser Posted June 24, 2021 Author Share Posted June 24, 2021 (edited) Thanks !!! I finished out my very first blade last night. A little early birthday gift for the lady I’m over the moon on how it turned out! The blade began as a 3”x2”x1/8” rectangle of O1. Rough shaped on my worksharp. Quenched in canola, tempered at 400f for an hour in the kitchen. Hammered a brass bolster out of a tool tag from a ship. Had sanded to 600, etched in ferric and wet sanded with 3000. Brass pin through a hidden tang in a superglued and buffed block of hard Brazilian Mahogany heartwood. Thanks for following along!!! J Edited June 24, 2021 by Mod30 Remove @name tag, resize large photos Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trevor84 Posted June 26, 2021 Share Posted June 26, 2021 Hey J, 165 deg steak on those tongs they were my first projects as well, you can't do nothin if you can't hold that hot metal. 5hrs is just fine! When I forge tongs they are usually from 3/4 to get the meat in the boss buuuuut I haven't got to welding reins so I spend the most time drawing and symetrisizing the reins. Having the reins flex different than one another tends to torque out the nibs/jaws and you fight to keep things inline especially if you get them a bit warm. The knife speaks to me, at first glance it seems odd to have the tang come that far out but on second glance it is quite elegant and I bet that would fit nice when you choke up on it for slicing and dicing (in the kitchen) Maybe it's an Asian pattern..... I like it no matter what Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trevor84 Posted June 26, 2021 Share Posted June 26, 2021 Not saying you need it but here's a blow by blow I put together last year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Juicemiser Posted June 27, 2021 Author Share Posted June 27, 2021 On 6/26/2021 at 10:36 AM, Trevor84 said: 165 deg steak on those tongs they were my first projects as well Hey Trevor, My next sets of tongs will be attempts at those bolt jaw/v-bit tongs, a stout pair of wolf-jaws and also a pair of scrolling tongs. Your step by step will definitely help get me through the v-bits so thank you for sharing! I was shooting for a Japanese “Petty” style paring knife when I started so I’m stoked that that’s the impression you got, thank you!!! Cheers! J Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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