Tong Rein Ideas

I have been drawing up some designs for my tong reins, i thought i would put up a few pictures of what i have been trying out.

There are pretty rough drawing, i am fire welding and shaping today so i will see which ones i take forward with the project. 

One thing from the drawings i worked out is i am not going to make all three pairs with a bend i want to try out some different kinds of shapes. Maybe one pair that is really out there.

Spring Steel Tongs

Spring steel is another type of materail for making tongs. A bit of a rare materail for making tongs, the steel is incredibly light weight and strong, it weighs much less than any other kind of steel.

Spring steel is great for a pair of anvil tongs, as far as fire tongs go they arent a good choice as heat is the biggest enemy for spring steel. If the tongs become hot and then are quenched they will harden quickly, if this is repeated there is an ever increased chance of the tongs cracking and shattering.

 An example of a set of spring steel tongs

Notice in the picture above the small section going into the reins and nibs, i would love to get hold of some nice spring steel to see about making a pair myself. From what i have been told the reason spring steel isnt more widely used in tongs other than its weakness to heat is the cost and time it takes to shape the tongs. 

Tongs Mild Steel

This is the first of four posts im hoping to put up today and tommorow on materails for tongs and ultimatly there reins.

The first materail i want to talk about is obviously mild steel, its the most populor materail for making tongs out of, it is cheap and very easy to move. Mild steel is reasonable strong, but mild steel tongs heat up quick so they need constant quenching so that it doesnt get hot and mishape the tongs quickly. 

 An example of Mild steel tongs

The main thing that these mild steel tongs have for them is this abiltiy to be reshaped so that they can be set easily to hold different sections of bar that they werent made for.

I have made many sets of mild steel tongs and i enjoying making them and using, i have limited exerpeince with making tongs from other materails. 

Busy day in the Forge

Well yesteday i went to the forge with the intention of forging up all pieces needed for the tongs so monday i could spend it fire welding and shaping the various different tongs.

As you can see in three short hoursi got all the pieces made up and ready to go.

I have to go to work now but when i get back ive got a post coming about different materails for making tongs that ive speaking about with people.

Glen Stollmeyer

Glen Stollmeyer is an American tool maker currently based out of thailand. He makes and sells a wide variety of high quality tongs of which i own a few pairs including the mighty tusk tongs which are by far my faveriote and best pair.

 

I recently sent him a few emails about his unique tongs and why he makes them the way he does. Here are his respones.

Question: Why do you make your tongs in such a unique style and shape? The lack of a hinge plate and such a large rivet is something i hadnt seen till i bought some of your tongs.

Answer:  Since you mention unique, I guess you mean the tusk pair? For the hinge area (where the tong is riveted), I form that by hot punching a hole. This upsets that area a bit forming what you call the small hinge plate. With me, there may be no rhyme or reason - just habit. However, I have changed the way I make tongs many times - what stock I use, how I form different areas and other steps - sometimes to improve the design, sometimes to just try another way.

Question: What kind of ways would you say you have improved your tongs? and what kind of stock do you use?

Answer:I either use 12mm stock or 1/2 inch (12.7mm) depending on the tong/size. I have been making my tongs a little thicker in a couple of crucial areas (where the jaws beings and behind the hinge area - places where the tong is most likely to deform under too much stress). 

Also, I now hammer semi-circle depressions into the handle ends - mainly for a better feel in the hand (I rest one finger in the depression) but also for those who might use keepers / rings to hold stock though I usually don't recommend this.

 

I am still in conversation with Glen so expect some more answers soon, if nothing what talking to Glen has shown me more than anything is that these subtle change in tongs is more to do with habit than a specfic purpose. I am currently speaking to American Smith Brian Brazeal who is of the same mind, tongs differ from how we are taught to how we feel comfortable to make.

 

I am finding more and more than our tongs are a very personally thing to every blacksmith, something we are proud of almost like the work we make with the tongs themselves.

 

Tong Reins

This is a sort of coming soon then talking about things i made today, i am going to put alot more work into this blog to make it top dollar. I have an interview with Richard Lewis, renowned british tool maker to write up and get on here, aswell as several american smiths i am talking to. Just need to write it down and get it up here, aswell as that i am going to hit the liabary aswell as my own books for anything on tongs.

I am back with a vengance for this project.

Now onto what i did today.

Over the hoildays i had that moment when i knew what i wanted to make and look into within the field of tongs, i was working on some large dog bars straighting them out under the power hammer and i needed to hold onto a section that was getting too hot for gloves, so i went through the racks finding tong after tong that does the job slightly but nothing that really did it so i went into the bin got an old pair i had made years ago and shaped them just to the bar. I wasnt fussed with setting them right so i just hit the reins over as you can see in the picture above. They worked an real dream, these useless ugly tongs were my faveriote pair for the entire job and have a spot in my tool box for life but it was while discussing these with Andrew in the pub later he turned to me and said and i quote 'You this pissed about your doing at school looking at tongs why not look at reins, find out why we have em straight instead of bent, makes more sense to have a bend to put more pressure on with less strength.

So it talked it over with a few different smiths thinking about this different reins and i got some really good ideas so today i went into the forge and made up a few of what Richard would call blanks, basically a rein with a lump of metal on the end ready to be made into whatever he needs on the job.

This is the first blank i made up, ignore the terrible fire weld. The idea behind it is on a large tong like for istance a 30mm hollow bits to apply the pressure a small bend along the bar would allow you to put most distance in the points applying more force for more leverage.

 

The second tong is the same idea, a bend to further the distance so you can apply more leverage for more pressure.

I am planning on forging up a full set of large hollow bits in the style to really give them a test, i am thinking of making up 2 or 3 sets of unique tongs then seeing how a few different smiths get on with them. Maybe even give them to the big bad beast himself to play with.

 

I really enjoyed making these up, reminded of older days when i used to work for a living got to admit. 

Feedback from Ambrose

i looked threw your blog and it seems like a reasonable start but you need to go more in depth as to why these tongs are like this and why they have been built this way. Also it would be useful to look further (not just around holme lacy) into the evelution of these tools.
this is a making project so what are you going to produce as a result of your investagation?
you must go above and beyond what you are shown in your tech sessions and start to produce tools of your own design or as a result of your research.
also there is no evidence here of your tech journal, this is a crusial part for the sucsesful complition of this project.
in short a reasonable start but still a lot more work to be done

I agree with everything said here, there has been alot of pussy footing around holme lacy not taking the research and getting out there to all over.

As far as tech journal goes i havent done much actual making so didnt feel the need to put stuff in, i have done a few things recently i want to put up in the tech journal. Just a bit behind with the posts.