I'm completely new to blacksmithing (and this forum) and have a few questions...

[Ri-Guy]

So I just recently bought a Mr. Volcano Hero single burner forge, and I'm still not sure what I'm doing, so I have a list of a few questions I have: 

• I don't have access to tongs yet, so what can I use instead? 
• Is rebar good for anything? I seem to see a lot of mixed opinions on it, and I have a lot of it just laying around.
• How do I tell the carbon content in steel?
• Is high grade stainless steel workable? I have a whole bunch of flatbar, ranging from 1/16" to 1/4" thickness. 
• Does it matter what hammers I use? 
• I recently found a hammer head at my mentor's shop and he let me keep it, I'm just not sure what it is (or if I could use it for blacksmithing) I drew a CS of the head and attached the file, so hopefully it'll work.

Thank you for taking your time to read and help me, I'm very excited to start my journey in the world of smithing.

[Ri-Guy]

Note: The mystery hammer somewhat resembles a Boilermaker's hammer

[Irondragon Forge ClayWorks]

Welcome from the Ozark mountains.

It will be easier to Id the hammer head with a picture or two. You will find we love pictures, just resize them so the forum will upload them. Just about any hammer will do, I started out using a ball peen and my grandfathers cross peen. After 30+ years and a collection of about 50 different hammers I still use those 2 the most.

I have made a lot of stuff from rebar but unless it's real old rebar the consistency of the steel in any given rod can vary quite a bit. So most of the items are made into s hooks, bottle openers, tent stakes, etc. Also it's useful to weld on to other stock as a handle in lieu of using a pair of tongs. To tell the carbon content of steel, a spark test will get close, there are posts about that.

[George N. M.]

Welcome aboard from 7500' in SE Wyoming.  Glad to have you.

I used vise grips for years before tongs and still use them for certain applications.  Channel lock pliers can be used too.  Most regualr pliers are too short and put your hand too close to the heat of the metal or the forge.  A glove on your left hand can mitigate radiant heat but make sure that you have one that can flip off easily if it gets too hot or catches fire.  No tight. knit cuffs.  Welding gloves/gauntlets are usually too thick and you loose too much dexterity.

Rebar is not optimum for 2 main reasons:  1) it is impossible to forge the surface smooth but if you don't care if the pattern remains that is not a problem.  2) modern rebar is manufactured by a continous casting method and it's carbon content can vary along the length of the bar depending on the characteristics of what was being fed into the machine at the time.  Forging and hardening charcteristics can change greatly over just a few inches.  So, older, more consistent rebar offers fewer problems.  I have seen the same issue in new, dimensional, e.g. 1/4" x 1/2" bar,  mild steel.

The easiest way to determine the carbon content in an unknown steel is a spark test.  You put the unknown metal against a grinding wheel and examine the sparks.  The more secondary bursts/foreworks the higher the carbon content.  There is plenty on the internet with more detail.

Stainless is forgable but in my experience it is harder to forge.  That is, it deforms less with the same blow and temperature than mild or carbon steel.

You can use any hammer you happen to have and that you can control.  It may be heresy to some but you can forge with a carpenter's claw hammer.  One of the commonest hammer shapes for blacksmiths is a cross pien/engineer's hammer with a round face on one end of the head and a rounded wedge shape on the other.  A "pounder" can be anything, even a hand held rock.  I find the hammer I use most often has a 2 pound head.

So, your described hammer should work fine.

"By hammer and hand all arts do stand."

[Irondragon Forge ClayWorks]

I'm thinking the hammer head may be a flatter or set hammer.

[Ri-Guy]

I think do recall my mentor saying that it was for popping rivets/bolts off of metal, one person hitting the larger, broader side with a sledgehammer and the narrow side removes the rivet. 

[dickb]

Here's a couple of things you can do. 

Using square or round stock, forge a few four sided tapers. A taper is like a pyramid with four sides. Make them about an inch or two inches long. Tongs not needed . Rebar is okay for this.

Repeat the above to make some round tapers, like an ice cream cone.

This will give you a very basic feeling of how to forge iron.

Since tongs are so important, you can make some with little or no experience.

Check Youtube for "how to make tongs without tongs". Don't worry if the first pair is not great. The next pair you make will be much better.

[M3F]

Definitely need pics of the hammer head to identify it.

Rebar is great practice IMO. You could even make a set of tongs with it after you get better at forging. Vice grips will work but if your scrap steel is long enough, just forge one end and keep the stock long so you can hold onto it.  Then cut off what you did and keep going, keep the short ends for when you get a set of tongs. 

Stainless can be forged but it's harder to move like George pointed out. 

Finally I would highly suggest finding your nearest Abana affiliate and start going to their meetings.

[Irondragon Forge ClayWorks]

As far as making tongs, they don't get any easier than these with little forging involved. Scroll down to the bottom to see the article.

 

[Shainarue]

I 100% recommend the blueprint of Easy Tongs that IFCW shared above. Those were the first tongs I made and they really are that easy. I made mine for small stuff - 1/4" or smaller - and I still use them when working on that stuff. I never even dressed the ends of the handles. Every time I use them, I think - "Yikes, that's kinda sharp. I really need to dress the ends of these." and then finish my project and forget all about it, lol

[ThomasPowers]

Note that "high grade stainless steel" is pretty much a worthless description.  High grade for WHAT?  Can be unforgeable alloys to good for knifemaking to good for cookware.  I have a high grade vehicle; is it good for hauling gravel; or taking 10 people on a road trip and would one be good for the other/