[TheForge] Heads-up: Universal (?) "Tongs"

[Bruce .]

​Peter,

​
You've NEVER fit tongs to your work?  Did I read that right?

I don't do it often, but one (late) member used to do it all the time.  If
you start with a tongs that's approximately right, you can end up with a
perfect fit in minutes.  If the tongs is wrong, but otherwise useless to
you, you can rework it into a useful pair in a fairly short time. The main
reason I have a stash of "useless" tongs is that I reserve them for
reworking.

The main points of adjustment are the gap between jaws, and the alignment
of the reins, but jaw shapes can be altered w/in reason too.  A
standard-jaw tongs can be turned into a box-jaw by (arc) welding on a piece
of steel for the box.  (A purist would forge-weld it on, but that requires
disassembling the tongs first, unless you're really good!)

Bruce
NJ

On Sun, Nov 30, 2014 at 12:40 AM, Peter Fels & Phoebe Palmer <
artgawk at thegrid.net> wrote:
>
> Yeah, i was thinking, band saw , a short length of pipe and flat bar, zap.
> But…that was the why of my original qualification.
> Tong fit demo dilemma…
> Would it be educational to heat up the tong jaws and fit them to the need
right on the spot?
> I’ve seen a lot of demos and given some, but never saw anyone do it.
>
>