How to Forge and Make Homemade Tongs
Tongs are a necessary part of any blacksmith's tool kit. Coming in every shape and size, tongs are used to hold hot metal that is too short for the smith to hold in his hand. Heavy-duty tongs will grip heavier items, gooseneck tongs can grip longer pieces of metal and wolf's jaw tongs are excellent for general smithy work. While all of these may be made by the smith himself, and eventually should be, lightweight tongs are perfect starter projects for anyone who hasn't made tongs before.
Things You'll Need
- Flat bar, 2 1/4 inches by 3/4 inch by 20 inches
- Wooden ruler
- Chalk
- Vise-Grip
- Metal drill
- Round metal rode, 1/4 inch by 6 inches
- Forge
- Post vise
- Crescent wrench
- Rivet, 1/4-by-7/8-inch
- Ball-peen hammer
Instructions
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1
Using the ruler and chalk, mark a line 3 inches from the end of your flat bar. This is the tong end of the flat bar.
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2
Stack the pieces of flat bar on top of each other, and drill a 1/4-inch hole through both bars at the 3-inch mark. Use the Vise-Grip to ensure that the bars don't slip.
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3
Keeping the Vise-Grip on the handle end of the flat bars, insert the round rod through the drilled holes at the tong end.
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4
Heat the tong end of your flat bars in the forge to a solid orange glow.
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5
Place the tong end of your flat bars into the post vise, leaving about 1 1/2 inches between the round rod and the top of the vise.
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6
Placing the crescent wrench directly beneath the round rod (there should be about an inch between the crescent wrench and the top of the post vise), twist the bars 90 degrees. You are twisting both bars at the same time.
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7
Removing the round rod, you can now separate the two pieces of flat bar in order to shape the tong end to your desire. Check your progress regularly by reinserting the round rod through both holes and ensuring that your face work lines up.
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8
Insert the rivet through the 1/4-inch hole of both flat bars together and use the ball-peen to flatten the rivet. Do not rivet the bars together tightly; allow for freedom of movement.
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References
Resources
- Photo Credit Photos.com/Photos.com/Getty Images
