In last week’s all-new Tool Talk, I mentioned that I own a pair of blacksmith-made blacksmith tongs. And here they are. While I admittedly don’t own a forge — I had to sell the one I inherited from my father — I kept these around because they’re just about one of the coolest tools I own.
They were made by my friend Ray Robinson, whose touchmark you can see on them in the photo below.
So far they spend most of their time in the pliers drawer, but one of these days I’m going to get around to setting up a forge and spending some time with it. I’m in a suburban neighborhood now, so a classic coal-burner (like my father’s) is out, but I’ve been considering a small gas forge — and maybe a foray into bladesmithing.
(PS: Yes, those are bits of Sean’s table project laying on the floor in the background. I promise I’ll clean ‘em up later today.)
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You’ll have to buy another forge someday. Those are just too nice not to use.
@Paul: You’re so right, sir. It pained me to sell his, though Ray — the man who made the pictured tongs — found a good home for it, along with his original Little Giant hammer and some other tools that I’ll never be able to replace but couldn’t just sit on and leave unused, either.
Arabic legend has it that Allah made the first set of smith’s tools and gave them to Man, because the tools cannot be fabricated without the use of tools already made.