Anthony Reid

Thanks for sharing this here Alan here is a picture of the finished tongs I made (also posted in my original thread so if double posting the pic is a no no feel free to remove this one) Mine dont look as good as the ones in the video but for my second try ever at bolt tongs I'll take it.

Finished up the tongs this evening overall I very happy with how they came out but of course the next pair will be better

I have been working in getting a forging shop set up after a 3 year hiatus forced on me by life and one of the things I've been thinking about a lot is tong making as I've never quite mastered it. I can make a set of tongs but I'm never completely happy with them so I decided this time around I would focus on tongs to kill two birds with one stone, namely brush up on my forging skills and tool up with the various tongs I will need in the shop. The first set of tongs I wanted to make is a pair of bolt jaw tongs to hold the stock I intend to use for other tongs and small hardy tools (my 100lb anvil has a hardy hole that is about 11/16") My first attempt was made from 2 9in pieces of 3/8×1 1/4 mild steel but I made the jaw section behind the v bit too thin and ended up cutting off the v bits to make a set of pickup/hammer tongs. All the work drawing out reins from flat bar was a pain so I decided to try something different the next go round. My second attempt is still a work in progress but seems to be going much easier. I went with a style inspired by the WCB blacksmithing competition tongs. I made a few changes to the style to match my tooling and work situation (no top fullers and no striker) I used opposing set downs and the horn of my anvil for the big fuller and a 1/2in bottom fuller and my cross peen for the smaller one. Starting material was 18in of 3/8×1 1/4 mild with jaws forged on opposite ends of the bar ( make sure they are on opposite sides of the bar as the reins will be hot cut down the middle of the bar) 3/8×1 would have been just fine but I had the 1 1/4 stock on hand the pictures should give an idea of my work flow on these. They still need tweaking and offsetting, as well as the pivot hole and rivet and general cleanup work but the general idea is clear at this point. For those who are interested here is the video that inspired these tongs I took a look through the tong method thread and didnt see cut rein tongs mentioned unless I just missed it so I thought I would share this in case it helps someone else as it is much quicker than drawing out reins and easier than a drop tong weld for reins and can easily be adapted to almost any jaw type.

Yeah I wasn't really aiming at you Alan just thinking out loud I'll have to take a peek at the other forum you mentioned

I know most guys here are making fixed blades but I see no reason why I cant forge pocket knife blades ... after all thats how it was done in sheffield for a very long time. I am sure it has been posted here before but there is a very cool youtube video of a Sheffield blade forger taking about forging a ridiculous number of pocket knife blades per day for something like 70 years of his career. I have a small piece of pattern weld material that was the first piece I ever made and I would love to use it in a pocket knife at some point. its about 3 inches by 1 1/4 and about 3/16ths thick I think it could be reforged to make a couple pocket knife blades from if I was careful. The last friction folder I made was a forged blade as well made from W1 drill rod forged and filed to precise thickness so its conceivable that very precise blades can be made with a combination of forging and filing to precision fits.

I read through the thread above but I am still wondering a few things: I have seen a few references saying that the spring should be relieved at the end where it meets the tang to allow lint to collect without affecting the action is that necessary in general and how would it look? (having a hard time picturing it) also how would one determine the spring pre tension or is it a lot of try it and see? I have seen people just offset the base of the spring away from the pivot to create spring tension but that makes for a bigger gap when the blade is closed and means that you have to re grind the spring to match the liners after setting the spring. Could one just bend the spring to set the tension prior to heat treat? Another thing I have noticed is that most of the springs do not seem to be tapered and some are actually thinest in the middle of the working part which I would think would lead to broken springs in either case if the tension were stiff enough (It has been drilled into me that all flat springs must be tapered to prevent breakage. maybe pocket knives are different?)

Thanks Alan, that helps a lot ... I think ill try a single blade to start even though the stockman pattern is one of my favorites

Well its been a long time since I've been back here, but after moving back to the city, time and work space are pretty scarce but I am getting an itch to make some knives. Lately I have been an a traditional slip joint kick and would like to try to make one myself. I understand the basic mechanics of how they work and have drawn a few on paper and have made a couple friction folders in the past but my one attempt at a slip joint was a bit of a failure ( I tried to make a mountain man style with the wide flat spring pinned onto the back) have any of you fine makers made any traditional slip joints? any hints tips or suggestions? I will be attempting this mostly with hand tools as I sold off my big tools prior to the move. any and all thoughts and help appreciated

I can relate with the struggles of being self taught I took a black smithing course early on and had a neighbor who was a blacksmith who showed me a couple things but was too old to work much when I met him. My father taught me stock removal knife making but other than that it's been trial and error and the Internet/books for the past 12 years

I don't claim to understand the nuance but based on what I read from Brian Brazeal that his punches actually punch out a slug unlike a slitter and that it is then followed with an actual dift his argument against chisels seems to be that they only cut well when the work in supported under the cutting edge and when coming in from the back the metal stretches and "pops" leaving a ragged edge at the center of the hole leading to a cold shut when the drift goes through ... Does that sound right to you guys?

I use a round ended chisel and just vary the length of the slit to suit the finished hole size say the difference between a hammer eye and an axe eye I just cut a slit the same length as half the circumference of the hole I need less a bit for drifting. I did read a bit from Brian brazeal on another forum talking up the advantages of punching vs slitting so I think I will have to do some more experimenting with punches . I started out with a chisel and always thought a punch might be harder to drive through thick stock but enough people do it that it can't be that hard. I tend to like methods that allow me to use one tool for more than one process but I think I need to get over it and just make more tools. I use punches on thinner stock but haven't tried to punch anything as thick as a hammer yet

I will have to forge some eye punches and give it a try ... I like sliting chisels thus far because withing reason I can make any size eye with one chisel rather than making a punch for each one off project

I am wondering what practical differences there are between slitting with a narrow chisel or hot cut and punching a hole to be drifted for say a belt axe? I have always used a hot chisel but looking around online it seems more people use a punch just wondering pros and cons of the two ways of making a hole? It seems like a punch leaves a hole that requires less drifting but might be harder to drive through a thicker piece than a chisel also punching removes a bit of material whereas slitting does not?

I am far from an expert but it looks like a cast iron ASO to me

I thought of bending the head instead of angling the eye but seeing as I was drilling anyway it was easier to angle the pilot holes... The next one I will likely punch I just didn't want to take the time to make and heat treat an eye punch the day I made this but in hindsight it would have been worth it. If anyone has a good tutorial on making an eye punch or even good pictures of the one they use I would appreciate seeing them. The only stock I have for such things right now is heavy duty leaf spring by I think that should be fine for a hot punch. I have enough stock to make 2 more hammers so its just a matter of time