Jump to content
I Forge Iron

Another first tong but also first forging


7hatguy

Recommended Posts

Here they are. Made from 3/4” square stock. These along with the few attempts before this are the first things Ive ever forged. There are alot of issues with them and I am not happy with them but I am happy that I completed them and have some sort of a functional tool. They need to be adjusted and fine tuned, this picture was taken right after i got done with the rivet. I also made the rivet myself too. 
 

I will make another set. I certainly learned alot.  
 

the other picture are my other attempts. 

5C06B380-63B9-4562-8A1C-7B326B5EC90B.jpeg

6441F833-260A-4740-843D-4C07544B7577.jpeg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Nice job for a first set.  You appear to have avoided some of the standard first tong mistakes with the bolster being too thin or having a stress riser at the joints between the bolster and bit or reins.  One suggestion:  you seem to have made lefty tongs (hammer in left hand and tongs in right).  Unless this was intentional you need to rotate the stock between each set down in the opposite direction.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Much better first pair than my first half dozen, I tended to forge them into long thin noodle tongs trying to get them "perfect" rather than good enough. 

Not surprising you didn't know about right vs. left handed tongs, It's usually only  mentioned casually in good, tong how to videos and not at all or completely misunderstood explanations in your typical Youtube vids. 

You want your tongs to open automatically when you open your hand. The side shown in your pic needs to be against your palm the other in your fingers. That way when you open your fingers the rein will open the bits to the degree you wish. Held in the other hand the half against your palm needs to go down to open the bits so you have to change grip and maybe fumble them. Also when you squeeze the reins it puts spreading pressure against the rivet wearing it out more quickly.

Try your tongs in both hands and compare. 

Make sense?

Frosty The Lucky.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Makes complete sense. Ive been trying to copy Brian B’s video on tong making. I obviously got that part wrong…lol

 

the funny thing is one of my “attempts” are made the other way. I scrapped it cause i thought it was wrong. Now i know. Thanks for the explanation!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Brian's videos are as good as it gets but he sometimes forgets to explain some things. If you ever get the chance attend a demo in person though I don't think he's teaching much in America anymore. 

Glad the explanation clarified things for you, sometimes they muddy things up. 

One last tip, do NOT scrap "failed" attempts, keep them if for no other reason than to compare where you started with where you're progressed. Another reason is just because it isn't a good Sleenerator it may be the perfect preform for  double jointed widget whacker. 

Virtually all large elaborate projects are made up from many basic components. I usually start folks with leaf finial coat hooks, they combine a number of basic processes and the un good ones are easily repurposed.

You're going to be giving lessons in no time, you have a natural knack for the craft.

Frosty The Lucky.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Frosty thanks for the support man. Ive really grown attached to this craft. Ive always been big with using my hands. This stuff is right up my ally. 
 

i need to find things to make soon that will help me practice the basic techniques and such. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

There's something that sings to the soul about a craft that requires you to play with HOT fire and hit things with hammers. We're proud to enhance your addiction experience. ;)

A36 or mild is fine. 1018 is a special order most places anymore. <sigh> A 36 and mild are different. A 36 is made to a minimum performance specification where Mild steel like 1018 has an analysis specification. 

There is a whole subsection about bottle openers on Iforge including some how tos.

A while back someone on the forum came up with candy cane Christmas ornaments that looked nice. 

Frosty The Lucky.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Nice set of first tongs. I am left handed, so I picked up on that right away. 

Tong design: the top rein(bottom jaw) should be closest to your hand(thumb and palm) for best control. Then your fingers, which are outboard from your palm, have better control of the bottom rein(top jaw). Just repeating what Frosty said.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 4 months later...

Well i don't want to open new thread but here are some sort  of mine tongs.


Don't know if i started it good.
Maybe  dimensions are small, but this is far i got wih piece  its squere stock 1/2 inch around 14 mm in diameer..

 

0-02-05-234e02c7ce8ab12ce231d7262f496fab1f41a7a3e42ebbb9ceb71b96cbf75545_8e0c05765a431e0b.jpg

0-02-05-b5dc880f3920237c92ddec7002fad2ba786a0afa54c5c70fd1e550ffbe81f99b_7373af7834818ba3.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...