A museum in St. Louis had a display of old tongs that made me rethink my setup

I was at the Missouri History Museum last weekend and they had a case with about twenty different pairs of blacksmith tongs from the 1800s. Each one was made for a very specific job, like holding a wagon wheel rim or a tiny hinge. It hit me that I basically use three general pairs for everything in my shop. Seeing that old, focused tooling made me wonder if I'm making things harder on myself by not having the right hold for the job. Has anyone built a set of special tongs for a repeat project and found it was worth the time?

3 comments

3 Comments

pat_schmidt7124d ago

That museum display is a perfect example of something I see all the time. We get used to the basic tools we have and forget how much a custom one can speed things up. What's the one job in your shop that always feels like a fight with the tongs?

kim_west24d agoTop Commenter

Saw a video last week where a guy was making decorative scrolls for a gate. He was using standard flat jaw tongs and wrestling with every twist. The metal kept slipping and he had to reheat it like three times per piece. A simple pair of scrolling tongs with that curved jaw would have cut his work in half. It's crazy how we'll waste hours instead of taking thirty minutes to make the right tool.

sarah53118d ago

Used to believe any tongs would do for drawing out long tapers. Wrestled with square stock slipping out constantly, ruining the symmetry. Finally made a pair of V-bit wolf jaw tongs and it was a total game changer. The metal just stays put now, saves so much time and frustration.