Hi all,

I have been on here for gosh it might be 8 years or so and read every post in that time. I don't normally have much to say because I know that someone on here usually will answer any question that I might but more elequently so I usually just sit back. Anyway my big interest is in forgeing and I just love seeing hand made shoe of any kind and discussing the building of such. also I build a lot of my own tools, pritchels, stamps, tongs, hammers, forges etc. I can't say they are better than bought but I can say they are pretty darn good and tht I made e'm.

I'm, kind of partial to the blacksmithing side of things too. I haven't made any hammers but my favorite tongs is a pair I made.

I'm in the process of building a coal forge in the shop but hit a dead end yesterday trying to find some 12 inch pipe for the super-sucker side draft hood I built.

I'd probably make more money if their weren't so many other things that I enjoy making more than shoes but who knows maybe I'll find a market. I'm going to start keeping a small stock of hand made items in the truck to show off while I'm out working and maybe put a little catalog together if I ever get any of the pictures to come out good enough.

Hey Cowboy, if you post some pictures I would be interested. I like handmade tools. My nailing hammer is handmade and I like it a lot purchased a set of handmade blacksmithing tounqes from Canada man there great. They are made to handle all the stock and posistions that I will ever need. I would rather help the little guy, I am a little guy and need all the help I can get.

Good show, man! All of my blacksmithing tools (other than hammers) are hand-made by myself, and I find them far superior to any store-bought stock-reduction items, it's a real advantage just being able to select the type and grade of steel. I must admit though, I have never attempted to make a hammer. Phil, were those tongs made by Bruce Hague? He makes exceptional hand-crafted tools.

No, there made by a fella name Frichette. There not fancy, but there a good length and there very functional. I bought them, so I can start playing in the forge and start to make my own things.

I've made all my punches, prichel, and fullers because I was broke at the time, as opposed to now, when I'm cheap. They work like a charm.
Chang, what type steel do you use for fullers? What do you think of Flatland Forge tools?
Bill
Is Chang your real name?

There are two neat books I just started to read that my boyfriend just got for me, (talk about romantic, "here hun I got you books about forging" and I was excited about it too. ) They are old books that were reprinted, one is Forging by John Jernberg which was 1st published in 1918 and the second is Farm Blacksmithing by J.W. Drew and that was 1st published in 1901 and they are from Algrove Publishing. I haven't gotten a chance to really read them but they are intresting so far.

There are several good books but a real good one for the basics is "Plain and Ornamental Forging" by Ernst Schwarzkopf.

I thought I'd bring this thread back to life to talk about tongs. I should be out in the shop working saddlehorse blanks but I'm procrastinating. I like tongs because the do a lot to save your fingers when working hot steel. I like to make them even though it probably makes sense to buy them if you have a full book of horses which I don't this time of year. Being able to make them comes in especially handy when you're working odd shaped stuff and commercial tongs that fit your needs aren't available. Often, the same basic fabrication techniques can be used regardless of what custom dodads you add to the jaws. Tongs seem to be hard for a lot of people to forge, including me, but it getting easier and I've stumbled onto a few things that can really make it fast and easy when you need a set quick.

Sorry about the picture quality but my camera just doesn't do closeups. Anyway, these are some of the tongs that I use for working shoe stock. From left to right...

The first pair are Diamonds that I baught when I first started shoeing. I have since resized them for very thin stock and I use them for forging blades. I included them just for comparison.

The second pair is the first pair of tongs I made. They really looked a lot better before I had resized them about 47 times (both hot and cold) and beat them up a bit. They are "the Dempsey Twist" and a tutorial on how to make them is in the iforge section on anvilfire.com. They're really easy to make but they're a bit light (unless you make them from hardenable steel) and drawing out the reins is a lot of work. If you've never made tongs, though, I think this is a good design to start with.

The next pair is interesting even if they're a bit ugly. I was in the middle of a project and broke another pair that I had made and wanted a replacement in a hurry. After thinking about it over a beer I went back to the shop and made them. It's essentially that same Dempsey twist only after fullering and twisting to define the jaws I just move back an inch or so and cut it off the bar. Then I took a length of 3/8 round (you could use any size you want) and arc welded to the top and outside of the jaws. Rivet the two together, size and you're done. If you want to make them a little prettier just throw them in them in the fire, flux and blend in the arc weld. I was welding up a hatchet when I made these so I put really long reins on them so I could back off from that big chunk of steel that was at welding heat. The cool thing about this design is that I can make a pair in just a few minutes...for sure under a half hour on my worst day.

The last pair is a more typical design that's described in many texts including "Horseshoeing 2". I made them from 1/2 inch square stock because I had some but you can save some forging by using the same basic technique using flat bar. I drew the reins out but you can save some pounding by welding them on and as you can see I got tired of working on them before I applied the nice finish that I had originally intented. I sized them for 3/8 stock and fullered the jaws so they also do a nice job with 1/2 round stock. I left enough meat in and around the boss that they do a good job of tossing around a pair 16 inch AB saddlebred blanks (actually measure 18 inches turned) and yet aren't too heavy.

I have these sized for 1/4, 5/16 and 3/8. I have another factory made set that some one gave me years ago sized for 1/2 that aren't in the picture. Anyway it's something to toss out and talk over for those who might find the subject useful.