Every bladesmith/blacksmith needs tongs to work.  When I started forging, I bought them from suppliers, antique shops, auctions, wherever I could find them.  They worked, but they were not always what I wanted or needed.

So, like most smiths, I started making my own.  I quickly discovered that it wasn't that much fun for me.  I started to look for another way to make tongs quickly.  My frst couple sets of blanks were cut out on a bandsaw until I had a pattern I liked.  

I regularly cut 3/8" steel at work and started working my pattern into the sheets.  These tong blanks are the end result.


The top style is the standard tong blank.  Many styles can be made from this blank.  I have left more material on the end so that there is enough to accomadate many different styles.

The bottom style is a bolt tong blank.  The end can be split before forging with a hacksaw or band saw or it can be split on a hot cut.  Both ways work well.  

These are a random sampling of different styles that I have made using these blanks.