A couple of years bac I bought about a half dozen hoof nippers to make tongs out of them. I paid about $5 apiece for them. I guess the ones that are for sale now must be made of gold! I guess I'll have to learn how to make them out of rebar.

I usually get them at junk shops and yard sales for a couple of dollars.

US$1 is my buy point for nippers.   Good "hand outs" for beginner bladesmiths....

Bud, the way I have modified nippers is to remove the rivet and then flatten and forge out the jaws into whatever shape I want given the limitations of the amount of metal in the jaws.  IMO, $5 each is a decent price.  You are buying them for the pivot area and reins.  They are seldom large enough to make anything that will handle more that 1/2" or so stock.  I don't think that unless they were unusually large nipper you could make them into tongs to handle RR spikes.

"By hammer and hand all arts do stand."

I have one old handmade set that is perfect for hot firebricks once I forged the bows out.

Right now I am just learning, so I just flatten rebar. I watched a you tube video on how to flatten them out with a round depression both ways. when I get some experience I will check into Ken's custom Iron.

Bud, be aware that rebar, while cheap and often easily available, is often not the best steel for blacksmithing.  This is for 2 main reasons: 1) It is hard to eliminate the pattern which grips the concrete. and 2) the quality of the steel can vary along the length of a piece of rebar quite quickly.  They are designed to reinforce concrete and nothing more or less.  They are manufactured by a continous casting process which can vary on the scrap being fed ito the beginning of the process, high carbon, low carbon, weird alloys, it's all good but when you are forging it you may find very different metal just a few inches apart.

Yes, if you are just banging on it for practice it is OK but you'll want better stock pretty quickly.  Find a local scrap yard from which you can buy and better metal will be under your hammer soon.  The smaller scrap yards are probably more likely to allow browsing and individual purchases.  Larger one often have single buyers by contract and for that and liability concerns will keep individuals like me and thee out of their yards.

Also, I agree with John that is easier and cheaper just to buy an inexpensive 2# hammer at HF or someplace rather than trying to lighten a 3#+ hammer down to 2#.  That is not to mention the time and effort that would involve.  Time is the one thing in this life of which we have a finite amount.  Don't waste it on unnecessary tasks.  Sometimes we are forced into cheap money, expensive time situations but this does not seem to be one of them.

"By hammer and hand all arts do stand."

 

OTOH having a *seriously* dressed hammer can be a good thing starting out!    I have found so many hammer heads at the scrapyard and fleamarkets, (including in Europe!) that the idea of buying one "new" to modify makes me shiver...

 Actually there are 3 pictures for each of these racks and then the "non-ferrous"  rack on the wall of my shop as well.  Extreme weather is a good time to dress hammers; but generally not the time to reset handles and soak them in BLO.  (After 15 years it's about time for me to reset and BLO; getting ready for the estate sale---gotta hide "frenchy"; my most coveted hammer by my friends, forge buddies and minions!)

Go to the oil producing part of the state and get sucker rod (3 different diameters around here) they are something like 6040. Better than big box store rebar. Coil and leaf spring work to (do not quench if you over heat them) 

 

I have started collecting coil springs and truck leaf springs and torsion bars.

Merry Almost,

Don't let the pile get so large, they won't spring into action!!

Neil

And those types of things generally are easy to source on as needed basis.  My Mechanic has offered me *tons*  on a just show up basis.