Tong choices or big pliers maybe?

Absinthe said:
Yeah, well that clinker was all over our roads as of first snow. So if you were sledding hills you would eventually hit it. It would slice you up but good!

Thorns are fun too.

I wasn't sure you could get much anthracite outside of PA, figured there would be plenty bituminous elsewhere.

But one could use hardwood or charcoal, or briquettes.... Or electricity.

I will be trying to see if I can get some redness with the propane alone. Worst case, I imagine it would work cold for how much it needs bent. The v-bit one only needs a short offset in 2 directions rather than a 90° twist like the other ones
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A LOT of Anthracite coal is shipped to Norfolk (Lambert's Point Coal Terminal, if you want to look it up on Google Earth or something), loaded on ships, and sent over seas to supply foreign power plants and steel mills with fuel. I believe that modern power plants (not sure about the steel mills) grind up the coal into a fine powder and blow it into the furnace or firebox or whatever they call them. In the form on an aerated powder, I believe it burns much faster. I wouldn't say hotter, but you're able to produce more heat. Or in other words, extract more energy from the fuel faster.

Like, if you try to burn a lump of coal, it burns from the outside in and the surface area of the coal is shrinking as it burns (also being covered in ash and whatnot). If you turn it to powder, you have exponentially more surface area.

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With all the straightness you folder folk require… i would make some stainless welding rod hooks or loops put that through the pivot hole, and grab those… no cooling rate changes, no warping to one side, if you want to quench with alu plates make it a hook that is easy to remove… get the tongs, you need them in any case but i warped a few folder blades handling them with tongs
 
Thanks ya'll for the "16" long reach needle nose" link. I picked up the set this week. I think I'm gonna like them - the straight nosed set is at oven for use there. Not sure yet what I'll do with the 90° set, I think I'll use them like that and see how useful they'll be before I straighten them.
 
KenH said:
Thanks ya'll for the "16" long reach needle nose" link. I picked up the set this week. I think I'm gonna like them - the straight nosed set is at oven for use there. Not sure yet what I'll do with the 90° set, I think I'll use them like that and see how useful they'll be before I straighten them.
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You can keep the jaws bent at a 90 degree, forge them out a little longer and bend them to grab funny shapes like rounds or square pieces.

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fitzo said:
I wonder how many of us saw those long pliers and had to have a pair? Mine arrived mid-week.
Thanks for the tip, @52 Ford !! :)
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No problemo! :)

If you're ever in Tractor Supply, check the promotional bins (the cheap tools near the front of the store). I like to buy vise grips and long pliers there.

It's a 50/50 chance the cheap Chinese locking pliers are going to be crap, but they're usually fixable. The worst thing that I've seen from a pair was soft handles. As in, the handles were dead soft. These were 8 inch locking pliers and I was able to bend the handles by hand. Other than that, sometimes the threaded hole in the handle spreads open and needs to be closed back up in the vise, then tack welded.

I've seen pistol grip long reach needle nose up there. Personally, I prefer the straight handled ones, but I buy them anyway (if the price is right). I just stick em in the forge and make the handles (reins) whatever shape I want.

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Honestly, I'm surprised y'all hadn't tried those long reach pliers before now.

I'll have to noodle this over and see if I can come up with any other tools that might help y'all out in the shop. :)

Also: I don't think I've ever used the term "noodle this over" before. Seems fitting, though.
 
Bruce McLeish said:
Pic , please. Thanks
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These are triple pickup tongs. Doubles have two round sections in the jaws, singles have one. Worth noting that single pickup tongs have that round bit set away from the pivot point (see picture)

These pictures are from Pieh Tool's website. You can buy them there (i have no experience with them)
d8becf6aa2c106955167156f813f8029.jpg
3cf84404ed5f3565d241a00f349685f8.jpg


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52 Ford said:
These are triple pickup tongs. Doubles have two round sections in the jaws, singles have one. Worth noting that single pickup tongs have that round bit set away from the pivot point (see picture)

These pictures are from Pieh Tool's website. You can buy them there (i have no experience with them)
d8becf6aa2c106955167156f813f8029.jpg
3cf84404ed5f3565d241a00f349685f8.jpg


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Thankee kindly.
 
Okay, so a simple propane torch will not get this material anywhere near read. I've seen some blue, but mostly I am getting a nice silvery grey. Unfortunately, I am out of O2/C2H2 and will have to wait on a tank exchange. I have cut steel with that rig, so I know it will get hot enough. Hopefully my son will do the exchange for me today, otherwise I may have to run to Lowe's tonight and try a yellow tank. They still say Mapp on them. And the website says it contains propane and propylene or something like that.
 
Absinthe said:
Okay, so a simple propane torch will not get this material anywhere near read. I've seen some blue, but mostly I am getting a nice silvery grey. Unfortunately, I am out of O2/C2H2 and will have to wait on a tank exchange. I have cut steel with that rig, so I know it will get hot enough. Hopefully my son will do the exchange for me today, otherwise I may have to run to Lowe's tonight and try a yellow tank. They still say Mapp on them. And the website says it contains propane and propylene or something like that.
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Yeah, outside of using a forge, an oxy fuel torch is really what you're going to want. I've been able to get parts that size glowing with a propane torch by sort of boxing them in with brick or pieces of metal or whatever, but it's not very efficient. I don't recall what oxy-propane burns at, but I believe it's over 4,000 degrees F. Oxy-acetylene is something like 6,300F if I recall correctly.

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