[TheForge] what steel for tongs?

[Dave Brown]

At 21:25 03/24/02 -0800, you wrote:
>I thought I'd improve my tong-making skills.  What
>type of steel do you use?
>thanks,
>Mike

Plain old everyday mild steel works just fine for most tongs that you'll 
make.  Most old tongs that you'll find are mild steel, or if real old 
probably wrought iron.

However, if you want to make really light weight tongs then you'll want to 
jump the carbon up a little to at least 1040 or even 1060 medium steel 
levels.  Coil springs (some are 5160) can make good light tongs.  Using 
spring steel or medium carbon steels allows you to draw the reins out to a 
pretty small size.  After hardening and tempering they will take a lot of 
abuse and still retain their shape much better than mild steel will.  The 
big benefit of the light tongs is that it takes a lot of the weight load 
off your hand/wrist/forearm so you can save your energy for 'smithing not 
holding.

My favorite tongs are the light weight Off Center Forge tongs that Bob 
Bergman sells.  They are great, not cheap, but still great tongs.  I have 7 
of these (for different size square/round and flat stock) and can't say 
enough about them.  I also have some old tongs that I think are wrought 
iron that get infrequent use ... they are very heavy compared to the OCF 
tongs..  My specialty tongs (e.g. pickup tongs, bent jaw tongs, chain 
making tongs) I made myself.  The ones made from mild steel work just fine 
but tend to be a little heavier in order that the handles/reins don't bend, 
especially near the rivet where they take the most pressure.  The few that 
I've made from spring stock hold up much better and the shape of the jaws 
and the reins is much more forgiving on those days or time when I'm trying 
to hold something too tight or just gripping the reins too tight and just 
wearing myself out.

But, all this said, you'll find that mild steel is just fine for most every 
type of tong that you'll make.

Dave Brown