[Norton AntiSpam] Re: [TheForge] How tongs came to be (Talmud)

[Andy Gladish]

As an explanation of how tongs came to be, this isn't so satisfying to me.
But as a "parable" if you will, of how the very thing you need is often
given to you from an unexpected source, it rings true- especially in the
case of knowledge.
How many times has someone at a class showed you the very thing you need to
get to the next level in your craft, or solved a long-standing problem with
a simple insight?
How many times has a conversation with a stranger illuminated an issue that
you didn't understand was holding you back?

I can just imagine a very frustrated blacksmith saying, "How am I to do
this?" just as a stranger or the town drunk wanders by and says, "Just leave
the bar long and cut it off after the tong is formed!"

My time in this trade has been full of little stories like this.

Andy G.

Bruce wrote:
I know YOU meant no ill by your posting, but (as many
on this list have probably noticed already) I am not
one to let untruths stand.  And saying you need tongs
to make tongs is an obvious untruth.