Forged Rebar Tongs - Making It Yourself 

Renee Mills thanks means a lot.

@@danthemakerman No, thank you. I look forward in viewing more from you. 😀

But the beginner will have access to a rotary cutter, bench vise, and power drill? Maybe all they have is a small forge or hot fire, a hammer, and an "anvil" that's really just a piece of dense metal. Maybe they are poor, and they have access to very little besides scrap metal. If that is the case, this video would be less helpful than some other videos I've watched (such as this one: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-RtIQa00AFqI.html). I find these types of video to be a fair bit more beginner friendly, and I've watched a fair number of introductory videos that don't rely on any special equipment or setup at all. Sincerely, A Blacksmithing Beginner

Thank you so much for your comment. I would never call myself a black smith by any stretch of the imagination. I have zero experience forging. I made these tongs because I make marking knives using stock removal method and needed something to hold the knife blank while I heat treated it. I was using some long needle nose pliers, but they didn't have a strong grip. So, I decided to make a set of tongs with stuff I had lying around. I still use these tongs today they have served me well. They aren't the best by any means, but they get the job done. I am a big believer in the "just get it done" mentality. Even if you fail at the task you will probably learn something along the way so just give it a shot, is what I say. Thanks again.

Glad you found it helpful. I use these whenever I heat treat a blade. So far they still work well.

Thanks man, glad you liked it.

Thank you it means a lot when people take the time to leave a comment especially a nice one.

Haha! I get the allure of blacksmithing man it is really satisfying. Thanks Dustin.

Thanks Arthur you are too kind. I have to admit I'm just trying to copy @GiacoWhatever his videos are so awesome!

Thank you!

Glad you found it helpful and good luck with your channel!

Thanks man.

Thanks man!

Thanks I appreciate the compliment!

Thank you very much for the kind words. But I highly suggest watching plenty of other blacksmithing videos, I'm just experimenting and have zero knowledge on the correct way to do most things. Thank you for the sub.

Thanks man.

Thanks Paul.

Thanks brother!

Thanks!

Thanks!

Thanks man! I've made a couple of knives before, that's when I realized that I need some tongs.

Thanks!

Hahaha thanks man.

Thanks brother.

Thanks it does make me wish I had a bigger forge and an avil. LOL!

Great tip!

Thanks I'm not a blacksmith so these aren't perfect but I will say that they fit my need. I have used them every time I make a knife and there is a certain pleasure that is derived from using a tool you made.

Thanks Steve, also @Eloy_Escagedo asked me to ask you when you were going to join the facebook group?

Man I hate Facebook!! Can't we go back to MySpace??? 😁

LOL!! I didn't have Facebook, finally joined up a few weeks ago just to join the group. They are a good group of people some cool posts and behind the scenes info too. Also you get to check out people who aren't on youtube.

Glad you liked it!

Thanks bro!

Thanks man.

Thanks Ray!

Thanks brother.

Thank you!

Hahahaha!!! Thanks bro!

Thanks!

I highly suggest you check out actual blacksmiths on RU-vid, because I don't know what I am doing. Good luck!

Thanks Douglas!

Thanks man.

Thanks! I film with one light. Its a clamp light with a 5000k 60w CFL bulb, that I made a shroud for so that it focuses the light in one area. As long as the area in the foreground is lit by the light and the background is in the shadows it appears black on camera.

Thanks man. It probably took around 3-4 hours but a lot of that was wasted time, on sketching and revising and failing. Originally I was making something entirely different. This end up being my plan B. I worked 4 pcs. of rebar in to the basic shape before realizing I didn't like the direction I was headed. This could probably be knocked out in an hour or less if you have good game plan. I was kind of designing on the fly. Also could use a bigger forge to heat the metal more quickly.

Thanks Ryan, you wouldn't believe me if I told you that this started off as a vase.

Dan The Maker Man Wow. That's crazy. Now I want to see you make a vase.

I still want to but it will pretty much just be for the sake of making it. I don't even think it will be attractive so much as just something I want to try and make.

Dan The Maker Man Still want to see it. Sounds really cool.

Thanks man.

Thanks man me too they work well too I was using them today. So glad I made these.

Yup its Propane. I use the green Coleman camping propane tanks. I'm not sure how much I used but I am surprised how long the bottle has lasted.

You did that with less than one of those little green bottles? I need to clone that furnace!

LOL!! I actually forged four bars but only made one set of tongs. I have another pair of bars that are shaped I just need to decide what shape to make the grabbing part. I'm thinking about just flat mouthed pliers. I have a video on how I made the furnace in my catalog its pretty simple a no brainer for some one with your skill set. Or check out John Heisz he has one too.

Originally I was planning on making a vase.

Thanks man, you been working on anything lately?

Yes! I have a few videos coming up, the video footage has been accumulating and I am now overwhelmed. Haha, just finished my studies for the year so I will get back into it soon! Loving your content man, keep it up :)

Cool man I look forward to watching. And thanks for the compliment.

That would be awesome!

Dan The Maker Man ķ

You haven't offered any help dude. Telling me I don't know what I am doing is about as helpful as telling me my shirt is ugly. Let me ask you something, If a kid goes to bat for the first time and strikes out do you tell him. "You should quit baseball you don't know what you are doing." Explain how your comment is helpful, you don't have too because its not. You left a negative comment which I could have easily just deleted and moved on but I didn't because I wanted to understand your motivation. I was hoping I would find some redeeming quality but unfortunately I haven't. Telling people they don't know what they are doing is not helpful its just an insult. If you feel this overwhelming need to help people then actually help.

Yeah, I found this video to be very useful and motivating.

Thanks, yes it was the first pair, really happy with them too they work great!

You could say it was a Bangin video!

Thanks, I've used these tongs quite a bit for heat treating knives and they work great.

You might need to anneal it. Heat up the area for the pin to bright red and then let it air cool to room temperature. That should soften it enough to drill through it. Good luck!

"Clouds" by Huma Huma

If you are able to go for it then you can make your own turning tools?

Im not so sure about that. Forging rebar, which is usually low carbon steel, is (allegedly) easy enough. Im not so sure the same applies to the hss steel types used for turning tools. And then there is hardening which can be done at home with o2 tool steel, but not with hss. So yeah. Not likely. But its a nice idea nonetheless ;)

Rebar is great for practicing forging and welding not so much for edged tools. Has anyone tried making turning tools from tool steel? Will it just dull too quickly compared to HSS steel?

Older tools are toolsteel as are the super cheap sets. More time spent sharpening, but they wore reasonably well. I have a few of these older tools.

Check out this video no music nor talking. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-RveVtXPmZeg.html

Its the red headed step child of my shop for sure. I treat it like I caught it breaking in to my house. Some say Michael Jackson's hit song "Beat it" was based on this vice.

I have one or two that catch it.

It's been years and the vise is fine.

@@danthemakerman good tongs anyway xd

Thanks for the sub!

Thanks Dave!