No blacksmith store is arrant without multiple sets of tongs to hold hot slice of metal . While you could sometimes find them for a reasonable price at auctions and antique stores , making your own tongs is a enceinte way to exercise all the techniques of blacksmithing :
Before we begin , envision an A on your anvil . These three lines are the three footstep in forging a set of tong minute to hold flat metallic element .
Materials You take :
Step 2 : form the Rivet BossRotate the retinal rod 90 stage away from your body to flatten the area that will become the boss , which will be punched and drifted for the rivet in a later stone’s throw . To do this , hold the alloy at an angle with the jaw over the far side of the incus , and hammer it to half the original thickness . It ’s important that you hold it at the 90 - arcdegree angle to permit the tongs open smoothly while preventing a gap of sparse alloy between the jaw and rivet boss . Most tongs will crack at this power point if equal metal is n’t present .
Many people do n’t realize that there are left- and correct - handed tongs . To make them well-situated , always rotate the metal aside from your organic structure , regardless of which handwriting you habituate . Because I ’m left - handed and hold my tongs in my ripe hand , I splay the metallic element clockwise . If you employ your odd hand to hold your pair of tongs , rotate the rod counter - clockwise . When the pair of tongs are finished , this commit the rein in the right orientation to keep them from rolling out of your hand .
To preclude conk out at the handle , the scarf should be along one side of the jaw , as show , not top to bottom , as this gives the most surface area for the weld to hold when the tongs are squeezed . If the scarf is made top to bottom , rather than along a side , the Reseda luteola can peel apart when the handles are squeezed .
If you do n’t have a welder or a second set of tongs to throw the finished jaw , do n’t trim it off of the parent material ; simply invent the handles out .
Step 4 : Punch and Drift the Rivet HoleMake the rivet hole in the centre of the boss by punching one side on the face of the anvil . Once you could see where the punch is on the paired side , point by a sinister coolheaded dress circle , flip the metal over and perforate out the plug of alloy . If you have an anvil with a pritchel kettle of fish , you could do it over this , or you could utilize a dissimilar piece of metal with a hole the sizing of your punch . vagabond the cakehole wider with your punch until it matches the diameter of your stud rod without any wobble .
To make your jaws as symmetrical as possible , make the 2d jaw while your mensuration are fresh in your head . utilise your first jaw as a template and secure they freely open and close on the rod you ’re using for the rivet before riveting .
dance step 5 : weld the ReinOnce you have both jaw forge and symmetric , you’re able to weld on the rein . disordered and scarf the ½-inch rod for your reins to fix it for welding . The simplest method is to deflect more or less 3/8 in of the end 90 degree and forge it back into itself ( Fig . 6 ) , and then make a tenuous edge on the far edge of the anvil ( Fig . 7 ) . Figure 8 shows the rein quick for welding . The thin border of the scarf joint is very important to achieve a clean , well - blended weld with no seeable seams .
For your first readiness of pair of tongs , if you have n’t practiced forge welding and you have a different welder , tack the rein to the jaw bit but do n’t fully weld them together . This will allow you to use welding without the strain of bear to line up slice . If you do n’t have a welder , have a helper keep one piece for you .
Once you have assembled the pair of tongs , it helps direct your tong rack if you make a quad between the reins by closing them with a rod the sizing of your tong rack behind the Bos . Now you could adjust the stud tightness so that they open and close well but do n’t tilt .
