Kens Custom Iron

Gliden07

Gliden07

Well-Known Member
I know a lot of you guys either have or make your own tongs. I wanted to get up and running, I'm building so many things from scratch now I needed a helping hand so I bought a few pair of Ken's Custom Iron tongs. First let me say the customer service is Great! The Rapid tong blanks I bought were great quality. Communication was awesome, ordered on Monday night, here on Thursday! And the cherry on the top was a signed card with my name and a Thank You! All the tongs he sells come with directions how to build, Ken also has videos on YouTube with how to build the tongs. The directions were very straightforward and easy to understand. I also watched the video. Here's my first set that I built.IMG_20200115_150809_277.jpg
These were sized for 1-1/2" x 1/4" stock. If anyone needs cheap tongs that you can actually help make buy some of these tongs! And Ken dosen't pay me anything!!
 
I recommend Ken to ALL of my students! Buying his tong kits is a great way to get usable tongs, and give a person forging practice at the same time!

I've even purchased a number of his kits, and made them into "specialty" tong....those that I rarely use, but when I need them, nothing else will do.
 
Gliden07 said:
I know a lot of you guys either have or make your own tongs. I wanted to get up and running, I'm building so many things from scratch now I needed a helping hand so I bought a few pair of Ken's Custom Iron tongs. First let me say the customer service is Great! The Rapid tong blanks I bought were great quality. Communication was awesome, ordered on Monday night, here on Thursday! And the cherry on the top was a signed card with my name and a Thank You! All the tongs he sells come with directions how to build, Ken also has videos on YouTube with how to build the tongs. The directions were very straightforward and easy to understand. I also watched the video. Here's my first set that I built.View attachment 71670
These were sized for 1-1/2" x 1/4" stock. If anyone needs cheap tongs that you can actually help make buy some of these tongs! And Ken dosen't pay me anything!!
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I bought a set of 4 or 5, can't remember, last fall. I kept waiting on the summer to cool off so I could forge without stroking out, but then in Oct, I ripped my quadricep off the knee. Just now getting back to normal and that box of tong blanks are still sitting there waiting. I really need to get them out and make them. Did it require a lot of drawing out on the reins?
 
Self Made Knives said:
I bought a set of 4 or 5, can't remember, last fall. I kept waiting on the summer to cool off so I could forge without stroking out, but then in Oct, I ripped my quadricep off the knee. Just now getting back to normal and that box of tong blanks are still sitting there waiting. I really need to get them out and make them. Did it require a lot of drawing out on the reins?
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Guess it would depend. I just rounded mine up. You could draw them out if you wanted though?
 
Jon Buescher said:
Anyone checked out his new power hammers?
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Looks like he's offering some nice hammers. The only issue is that they aren't self-contained units. You actually have to supply it with air from a compressor.

They recommend a 5HP, 2 stage compressor. 17ish CFM.

So, you're looking at a decent chunk of change for a compressor that size if you don't have one already.... Plus cost of freight. My 60 gallon compressor weighs like 600 pounds. Give or take. That's just the pump, motor, and tank, and the pressure switch.
 
Right. That's where I'm at, too.

I think I'm going to make mine. If it takes 17 CFM for a 100lb hammer (Per Ken's website) I should be able to get away with something a good bit larger.

Ideally I'd get about a 300lb hammer... ain't gonna happen unless I slow it down A LOT. A lot of the scrap steel I can get (fairly) easily that I can use for knives is big in diameter. Good for hammers. No good for blades.

Edit: I'm just guessing I could make 40 to 50 CFM at 90PSI. That's if I gang my two larger pumps together.
 
52 Ford said:
Right. That's where I'm at, too.

I think I'm going to make mine. If it takes 17 CFM for a 100lb hammer (Per Ken's website) I should be able to get away with something a good bit larger.

Ideally I'd get about a 300lb hammer... ain't gonna happen unless I slow it down A LOT. A lot of the scrap steel I can get (fairly) easily that I can use for knives is big in diameter. Good for hammers. No good for blades.

Edit: I'm just guessing I could make 40 to 50 CFM at 90PSI. That's if I gang my two larger pumps together.
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I have an extra 60 gallon tank I was going to plumb into my main compressor just to give me a buffer so that my compressor can take a breather, I don’t forge for long long periods at a time, mainly because my elbows and shoulders can’t take it. I had to get multiple injections this past year in my shoulders and right elbow…
 
The scuttlebutt was that of the smaller "utility" hammers, only the Iron Kiss hammers hit really hard like a good self contained hammer. My limited experience was using a Big Blu 100 and a 110 Say Mak once each. The Say Mak definatelyh hit harder. Folks on the here on interwebz have said that Ken's hammers are very well made and have great control, but probably have enough 'umph" for general blacksmithing work, but perhaps not enough for say big damascus billets, especially if you are using the minimum recommended compressor. But who knows? Use4d to be if you asked what hammer do I need, folks woudl tell you 50 pound Little Giant is the minimum. Now some say that the 33-34 Anyang hits as hard as the 50 LG. But if you ask if the 34 is enough, they will say only for blade forging. Otherwise you MUST get at leat the 55/64 and btter, the 88 pounder. Go figure. ;) What I figure out about the Kens or the Iron Kiss was that you would probably have to spend a couple of thousand dollars on a real compressor if you wanted to do it right and that made those hammers not quite as great a deal as they appeared initially.
 
Jon Buescher said:
... I had to get multiple injections this past year in my shoulders and right elbow…
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What are they shooting in there? Have you tried "visco-supplementation"? It's some stuff looks like jello they shoot in both my shoulders and knees every six months. I have late-stage psoriatic arthritis and all four of those joints need replacement, but no surgeon will touch me. MonoGel manages to keep me moving.
Helped me so much more than steroid injections.
Just a thought, depending on what your problem is in there. Ask yer medic. Best wishes on those joints...
 
Jon Buescher said:
I have an extra 60 gallon tank I was going to plumb into my main compressor just to give me a buffer so that my compressor can take a breather, I don’t forge for long long periods at a time, mainly because my elbows and shoulders can’t take it. I had to get multiple injections this past year in my shoulders and right elbow…
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Depending on your compressor pump, it may be a good idea to set it up for continuous run and just have it "idle up" when there's enough demand. Just like an engine drive compressor.

Most of the wear on an engine or compressor is at start-up.

But, again, not all compressors are designed for continous run.

What I plan to do if I don't have enough CFM from my main compressor, I'm going to add my secondary compressor into the loop.

Basically, I'll have my main pump running straight into a 60 gallon receiver tank at 175PSI, then have a regulator step down to between 120PSI and 140PSI, then my secondary compressor will get plumbed in, then maybe another receiver tank, THEN another regulator to get my working pressure, then the rest of the plumbing.

I'm thinking about doing this anyway. The "secondary compressor" is engine driven, so when it's not in the back of my truck or otherwise away from the house, I can use it as part of my shop air system. I could make some sort of a "docking station", where I could roll it up and hook it into the system.

I THINK I could get something like 50CFM@90PSI if I do this.
 
fitzo said:
What are they shooting in there? Have you tried "visco-supplementation"? It's some stuff looks like jello they shoot in both my shoulders and knees every six months. I have late-stage psoriatic arthritis and all four of those joints need replacement, but no surgeon will touch me. MonoGel manages to keep me moving.
Helped me so much more than steroid injections.
Just a thought, depending on what your problem is in there. Ask yer medic. Best wishes on those joints...
Click to expand...
Steroid of some type
 
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