Introduction

For 3DSP we were told to look into an aspect or process of forging that intrests us, straight away i thought about tongs. Tongs are an essential of blacksmithing, right up there with the forge, anvil and hammer. I really wanted to look into the different types of tongs, making them, looking into the history of tongs and why they are like they are. 

I am really looking forward to looking at the differances between making and the over all finished product, i know here in Hereford alone there is many different ways of making tongs and alot of different looking tongs. 

The first little project i will be doing is tommorow at the forge i will be going up and taking a picture of everyones most used tongs, just to get a little big of comparing going on. I think this will be quite a good start point because we are all different up there and there is a massive range of different smiths from large scale to the small scale.

My own faveriote set would be the tusk tongs, abit of a weird set but they are so useful that i dont go a day without using them.

This is a picture from the website, mine are like this just alot more used. I am hoping to get on to the guy that made them about why he doesnt really put in a hinge plate in and the rivet is so huge.

Alot of work to do with research and making a few pairs, really exicted with this one BIG SMILEY