I finally figured out why my tongs kept slipping after 4 years

Been forging for about 4 years now and always blamed cheap tongs for dropping stock. Last week I was at a hammer-in up in Portland and this old timer watches me work for a minute, then just says "you know those reins are supposed to sit past your knuckles, right?" I looked down and realized I was gripping them way too close to the pivot, so the jaws had almost no leverage. Felt like a total idiot because I'd been fighting hot steel bouncing off the anvil floor for years, burning up gloves and cursing my equipment. Switched my grip that afternoon and suddenly I could hold a 1 inch round bar without it twisting. Anyone else have a basic setup mistake that took them way too long to catch?

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kai_park14d ago

Wait, how long did it take you to notice that the jaws can't grip if your hands are basically choking the pivot? lol. I did the exact same thing for about three years with my own tongs, and I kept blaming the steel being too slick or the forge heat messing with my grip. Then one day I saw a video of some guy forging and he had his hands way out near the ends, and I felt like a complete moron. I actually grabbed my tongs right then and tried it on a cold piece of rebar, and it was like night and day. I think we all just assume the tool is bad when really we're the ones holding it wrong. At least you caught it before you went and bought a whole new set like I almost did.