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High-Performance Blades Sharing ideas for getting the most out of our steel.

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  #1  
Old 10-01-2006, 11:08 AM
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B.Finnigan B.Finnigan is offline
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Homemade crucible tongs (photo heavy post)

A set of crucible tongs is a must for casting but they are very expensive. I made a pair out of a few lengths of 3/4x1/16" mild steel. They were cold formed/hammered so there is no forge work to do. When I made them I did not have two three foot pieces of steel so I had to cold rivet some smaller lengths together. They don't have to be pretty, just work.

In the near future I can put together a mini tutorial on exactly how I made these. But I know most of you are probably quite capable of making them from just pictures. I used a vise, anvil, hammers and a pipe wrench for tools. The radius that cups the crucible was made on the anvil horn as well as the handle radius. If you stick with 1/16" thick steel then you can cold hammer all of it. If you go with 1/8" then you may have to fire up the forge or use a propane torch.

You want to get your crucible first so you know what diameter to make the cups. These fit a #3 crucible and can accomodate one size up or down.

The handles should be big enough to fit your gloved fingers/thumbs into.


The twists need to be a mirror image of each piece. Do you like my medieval steel joining technique? I have a welder but sometimes it's just faster to do it "old school".




When you drill the rivet hole drill one hole the exact size of the rivet you will be using and drill or file out the other slightly bigger. As you are peening the rivet keep checking the tension. Sometimes just one hammer blow will be too much and then you have to work it loose. Rivet or peen them slightly overtight and then add a drop of oil. Work them open and closed several times so you wear a micro groove in the free floating side. Down the road if they get sloppy a couple whacks with the hammer will tighten them up. You guys allready know this but I want to make sure all the bases are covered


Last edited by B.Finnigan; 10-02-2006 at 12:32 PM.
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Old 11-04-2006, 06:44 PM
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B.Finnigan B.Finnigan is offline
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Has anyone else made a pair yet? If you have show some pics! I like seeing all the variations that people come up with on home built tools.
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Old 11-04-2006, 07:26 PM
EdStreet EdStreet is offline
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not I. have had alot of other things on my plate currently but I was looking at tongs last week. seems there's 2 base styles, one to pour and one to just move. the pouring tons have 3 spines on them.

Ed


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Gold is for the mistress - silver for the maid
Copper for the craftsman cunning in his trade.
"Good!" said the Baron, sitting in his hall
But steel - cold steel is master of them all.
Rudyard Kipling (1865 - 1936)
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Old 11-05-2006, 10:03 AM
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B.Finnigan B.Finnigan is offline
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If the crucible is fairly small then this style will pour also. When the crucible gets up to the 15, 20 and higher then it's a two man crucible tong that is used.

I made these because I wanted to do the casting that day. It only took just over an hour and that was with alot of cold bending plus I did not have two 3' foot lengths handy.
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Old 11-05-2006, 02:02 PM
EdStreet EdStreet is offline
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I did find some tong designs and there's several that does the same thing but different techniques.


here we have a home made job that looks good, however.


I am not to keen on the idea of pouring liquid metal towards me.


this set looks like its quite weak and wont hold up that well.


this set seems to offer the most support and you pour sideways, not towards you.


2 man operation for those HUGE pots.

One of my clients is a foundry and they have several huge pots and I swear you can shove an SUV in there easily. They are on this rack/pinion type setup for pouring, there's a big wheel on the side that someone turns and the hole is fairly small in comparison to the pot.


__________________
Gold is for the mistress - silver for the maid
Copper for the craftsman cunning in his trade.
"Good!" said the Baron, sitting in his hall
But steel - cold steel is master of them all.
Rudyard Kipling (1865 - 1936)
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