A lesson learned at the anvil

[longbowman]

So I have the forge, the anvil, the hammer, the tongs and the steel.  What I don't have is the experience.  I made my first forged knife a week ago.  I started small with a neck knife that turned out beautiful.  So I decided to make a matching hunter.  The forge work went great and I moved the steel just as I wanted "except" that as the blade came into form I noticed a "curve" happening on the back of the blade.  I had already shaped the handle and cut it off and had a thin basically completed blade and decided I would heat it one more time and pound out the curve.  Without thinking instead of laying it blade up I put the curved section of the blade down to strike it on the back.  I was holding the blade thickness wise with the tongs instead of over the top and bottom.  With my strike I didn't even have time to blink when the blade flipped straight up striking me point first in my right eye of my glasses so hard it drove the glasses against my eyeball hard enough to detach my retina.  God looks out for fools and kids and at 59 I guess I know what category I'm in.  There's a perfect "X" crack in the center of my right lens and I'm so thankful I was wearing glasses.  I'm also thankful I get to forge another day a lot wiser.

[Brock]

dang....glad you are reasonably okay.  be careful

[Lin Rhea]

I'm almost in shock FOR YOU about this. Having come very close myself, I realize the feeling of relief you might be feeling. I'm so glad that you will be able to recover.

I also understand the physics behind the accident from your description. I can also take a guess and say that you are probably using "duckbill" tongs. If this is so, you will probably want to get several sets of tongs that will allow you to grab the blade very securely throughout the various stages of blade's shape. I have found duckbill tongs prone to slip and will use them very rarely. Box jaw tongs are good and there is a lot of variations of those. Wolf Jaw tongs are nice too.

I'm so glad you're ok.

[akaboomer]

Wow! Sorry to hear of your injury.  I hope you heal speedily and completely.  

Im with Lin on the tongs. Get or make several types and sizes.

Chris

[longbowman]

Lin, you are 100% correct in the "duckbill" tongs, that's what I have!  I'll be looking for some new ones and make sure I'm always holding the piece in the "up & down" fashion and not side to side to help eliminate future oops.  By the way, the knife turned out great!  Thank you all for the attaboys!

[arrowlauncherdj]

Can you guys post pics of the different styles of tongs for us greenhorns?

dave

[kbaknife]

I'm at a loss of words to even say what my thoughts are on this.
I do know I'm rather lucky to have all my body parts still attached, even though I've come close to picking pieces up off the floor many times.
The blood I've spilled and stitches, etc., don't deserve to be mentioned.
May I politely ask what the remedy is for a detached retina?

[gudspelr]

I cringed as I read this post....REALLY glad you were wearing glasses.  Safety equipment does not equal "sissy"-just a guy that wants to keep his body parts where they belong.  And even when you're wearing the right stuff, bad things can still happen.  For retinal detachment, isn't it some kind of surgery for treatment, depending on the size of tear/detachment?  Hope all went well.

Arrowlauncher: As for different kinds of tongs, here's a site with several:  http://www.gstongs.com/.   Not advocating buying from him (though I know of several who have), just figured you can see some of the different styles (there are a LOT out there) and the applications for them.  I started out with a pair of channel lock pliers-there simply is no substitute for good tongs.  Bright orange steel, flying through the air in ninja star fashion, can easily lead to a brown-trowser-moment....at least it has for me    .  I have 2 pairs of box jaw tongs, for 2 different widths; good for holding bar stock as well as blades for working on the tang.  I also have a set of "tang" tongs (all were made at a friend's shop) for holding hidden tangs.  Bottom jaw is straight with the sides folded up like a box jaw, but much narrower for hidden tangs.  The upper jaw is in an arc (like a bolt tong jaw) with a flattened tip so it comes straight down on the bottom jaw.  Makes doing small refinements or corrections on the blade while holding the tang MUCH easier...

Longbowman, good luck to you and thanks for sharing your experience.  It's always good to be reminded of how careful we need to be.


Jeremy

[Lin Rhea]

Tongs are something that you will never get enough of. As projects come along, you will need tongs that are made specific for the work piece. Some will interchange of course.

I don't just forge the same blades all the time, so I have to have a variety of tongs. The problems start when we try to make do with a set that is not fitting good and we cant get a good grip on the hot steel.

Tongs can be made by the smith and I recommend doing that. It gives you the forging experience and ability to customize  while saving money and staying safe.

These are some I made that can be used for the hidden tang blades. I made the hammer head in the top picture.

 

This set is for chain links but work pretty good for general bladesmithing, but they just show you how you can fit them to what you want.  
 

[Doug Campbell]

  I remember a red hot piece of steel flying thru the air one day. Nearly took my left ear off and did singe some hair, scorch the collar and shoulder of my shirt. A very valuable lessen and thankfully much less damaging than yours. Best wishes on a speedy recovery!

Lin is right you can't have too many tongs. I love my box jaw and knife blade styles, some day I may get around to building some of my own...

[Bobby Urban]

WOW - I am always referred to as "safety man" with my eyes and ears plugged, etc..  I don't even pull the string on my chainsaw w/o all my PPE on.  Obviously it is better safe than sorry with the eye balls - burns heal and you will get plenty if you play with red steel but eyes are not so forgiving.  

Thanks for the update on why we need to play it safe and best to you for a speedy recovery.

[allen newberry]

That is some scary stuff!  Heal up quick!

Here are some tongs by Bob Patrick that I use for bladesmithing:

 

[Bladepeek]

I have not been doing any forging because of my cranky neighbor (the same one who called the police because I was shooting a bow and arrow in the city limits. We live on an acre on a lake on the outskirts of town, but it is zoned residential, he works nights and would have me shut down in a heartbeat.

I have done some forging at various blade smithing classes and do some very minor forging to get a bar to fit the basic shape of a blade without buying the next width up.

Seems like every time I've had a near-accident, I've been doing something as a shortcut, or skipping a step. Quite often a voice down inside says "Hey, dummy - that's not smart". I'm learning to listen, but it also seems like the ones that really get you are the ones you never see coming. You think you are doing everything right and "BAM" - right out of the blue.

Glad you at least partially dodged that bullet!

[longbowman]

Thanks to all who have shown concern.  My eye damage healed well except that I will have "floaters" forever according to the eye Dr.  I have purchased new tongs and I have learned that it's safer to work on the blade in the correct orientation and re-hammer the curve when your done.
     I consider myself blessed in the fact that I didn't get really hurt and I will be able to go on and learn from this as I make more blades.

[Lamey]

glad you had your glasses  on!!  ive taken slag in the eye, but nothing like you experienced!

here are my favorite tongs for "flat" bar.

 

[Steve Nuckels]

Frank, so glad to hear you have recoverde from that unfortunate experience!


Steve
--------
Potomac Forge
Member, W.F. Moran Jr. Foundation