Best tongs for knife forging

[tomsm44]

I may regret opening this can of worms, but here goes.  Before I try to forge any knives, I need something to hold it with.  I got some of the 4140 that I mentioned in another thread last week, and I am going to try to forge a set of tongs out of some 7/8" hex bar.  I'll forge at least one, maybe two sets for now, then add more in the future as needed.  My question is what would be the two most usefull types of tongs that I could build for forging knives?  Starting out, I will be forging most of my knives from .250"x1.25" bar stock, just to let you know what size of material I will be holding with them.  If anybody has any pictures or links to other sites that would help me, I would greatly appreciate it.

[Lin Rhea]

I like the wolf jaw and the box jaw in a variety of sizes. You'll find that no matter how many you have, it's not enough.

[tomsm44]

What would be a couple of good sizes to start with?  I'm mainly doing smaller knives now, maybe 1-1 1/2 inches wide.  What is a wolf jaw?  The box jaw sounds pretty self explanatory.

[Lin Rhea]

I like these. Again, you will need a variety of sizes, even in the same style.
 web page

[Lamey]

ditto...  wolfs jaw for general work.

[tomsm44]

Thanks guys.  That gives me a place to start.  I'm sure I'll figure out what works best for different applications as I go.

[beaver#1]

I love my "universal" wolf jaw tongs. If I had to I could do all my forging with it( to a certain level)

[tippit]

I use off center Blade Tongs for holding bar stock on edge & OC V-box Tongs for holding bar stock flat.  I tend to forge small pieces 4" & up rather than full bars and these keep the hot pieces very secure from flipping out. Don't you just hate dodging flying hot steel     Blacksmith Depot carries them...tippit

     

[Lamey]

also don't forget you can always weld a handle on your billet... works real good on bigger stuff.

[tippit]

Matt,
Just another step...plus good practice in hammer control with shot pieces of steel  

[Lamey]

yeah... but when your working big round bar,  welding a handle on is way more efficient, even considering the weld time.

Ever try to hold a 2" piece of roundbar with tongs....  Can be done, but tough!!

[tippit]

I guess it's just me as that's the way I forge.  I even cut the piece so I know what my final length will be.  Usually working 4" pieces. If  start with round stock, I'll flatten it first then cut off a piece.  Don't follow my example   :rolleyes:

[Doug Campbell]

I do sometimes weld handles on when I forge bigger stuff. On my 1 1/4 to 2" round, most starts 12" long, I usually forge one end to fit my lrg box jaws, makes that big stuff lots easier. Good tongs are a joy to use.

[Lamey]

I use tongs for smaller roundbar,  this is a piece of 1-1/4 x 5.  Anything over 1-1/2 gets a bit more tricky even with good tongs.

These tongs are worthless for anything not at least 1" thick.
 

[Doug Campbell]

I "customized" a set similar to those Matt, (welded 3/4" angle iron on em) to kinda wrap around the bigger stuff. Works pretty good up to the 2" stuff but your right not good for much under 1 1/4"ish.