[TheForge] Log tongs?

[Jerry Frost]

Good idea Bruce. A bipod leg could fold and be a lot more stable. Another 
thought would be to use a fireplace crane if you have one, all it'd take is 
a hook the right shape to support the tongs.

Jer
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Bruce Freeman" <freemab222 at gmail.com>
To: "Blacksmithing List Sponsored by ABANA" <theforge at mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Wednesday, October 20, 2010 3:56 PM
Subject: Re: [TheForge] Log tongs?


> My 2 cents:
>
> I've seldom used a fireplace log tongs because or the terrible
> mechanical disadvantage.  Here you are, holding a hot, heavy log from
> at least 2' away -- what can you do with that unless you're muscle
> man?
>
> It seems to me that at or near the hinge point, there should be a
> protrusion - a foot - that one can rest on the hearth.  Grab the log
> with the tongs, lower the foot to the hearth, now you have a fulcrum
> (foot to hearth) that enables you to use the long reins as a lever to
> easily lift the log in the short jaws.
>
> The leg should be roughly as long as the grate is high above the
> hearth, maybe a little longer.  Too short and it's useless.  It might
> be possible to make this leg fold-able against the jaws for storage,
> but there should be no risk of it collapsing while a log is being
> moved.
>
> In addition, the jaws should be 3-fingered so as to really hold the
> log and not let it pivot in the jaws.  Needless to say, the tips of
> the jaws should be curved 90* and pointed, for gripping power.
>
> On Wed, Oct 20, 2010 at 8:57 AM, CGRAF <adveniam at att.net> wrote:
>> The old coal furnaces used to use an apparatus to remove large clinkers
>> overall it was about 5 feet long.
>> A 3/8 or half inch pipe with a rod down the middle.
>> On one end of the pipe there was a fixed "thumb" That end of the rod had
>> two or three tines splayed out to act as "fingers" The other end of the
>> rod had a loop for pushing and pulling the rod. The rod was about eight
>> inches longer than the pipe when finished.
>>
>> Such a thing worked real well for logs up to 5-6 inches if they are
>> short enough.
>>
>> Just a thought.
>>
>> Mike Graf
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>
>
>
> -- 
> Bruce
> NJ
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