Good tongs

Ok, so my first pair of tongs aren't good ... but they work. I made some "practice" tongs out of shackle rod. It seems that shackle rod is workable, and not pressed scrap metal like concrete re-inforcement bar (re-bar). I used an article from anvilfire.com called simply Tongs. The reins, hinge and jaws are all a bit rough, but I am pleased with them as a first effort. I took them to the September 2006 Saltfork Blacksmith meeting, and reworked the reins and jaws using a power hammer. After making these, I learned 2 lessons: start shaping a round or v bit early on, and don't be in too much of a hurry riveting them together. After they cool down, you will see square corners that need rounding, etc.

A quick note on this picture. I was wearing gloves because I was wire-brushing my tong to clean off scale. If I am forging, I use 1 glove on the tong hand at most.

A few months back, my dad gave me an old Sears 1/4 hp grinder with a wire brush. I bought a grinder stand at Harbor Freight. Over the labor day weekend, I drilled 4 mounting holes and mounted it up. After donning an apron, gloves and a full face shield, I wire brushed an old rusted hammer head that I found behind my parents' house. It looked so much better that I wire brushed my tongs too!

A blacksmith told me that shackle rod should probably not be hardened, as it gets quite brittle in a water quench. I know this is true for re-bar, but shackle rod does not feel as hard to me.

Below are some collected bits of wisdom:
From "Forge & Anvil": Good tongs have a solid hinge.
From "Practical Blacksmithing": Good jaws are set so they touch at the tip first, and grab completely as you squeeze.
From IForgeIron: A refinement to Riveting your tongs.

Uri Hofi punches and drifts his hinges. This probably allows for a wider range of motion, and a smoother joint.

Ideally, tongs should have an offset in the handle right by the joint that allows them to hang over a 3/8 or 1/2 in bar without the handles spread out. This makes for a neat and tidy shop, and saves space.