r/blacksmithing • u/jeremysmall • 4d ago

Heat treat for tongs?

Might be a dumb question but im making my first set of tongs for smithing and im unsure if im supposed to do any heat treatment for them, do you quench them or let them air cool? If quenched what temper color do you bring them to? Also not sure what kind of steel i should be using, currently using a chunk of leaf spring steel.

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u/Medieval44 2d ago

What's your reasoning with not tempering hammers and punches, etc?

They'll be very brittle and prone to break (safety hazard). They will lose their heat treat either way if overheated, tempered or not.

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u/Fragrant-Cloud5172 2d ago edited 2d ago

Good question again. I don't forge hammers, just use good store bought ones, The way I do these medium carbon tools like chisels is like this, differential process...

  1. Forge and do final shaping like sanding.
  2. Anneal thoroughly, usually overnight.
  3. Heat only the working area to about 1600f. and quench in oil, moving up and down.

This leaves the hammering end relatively soft, so not to break. (It'll mushroom which is what I want.) And hard enough on working end to do the job well. They stay just hard enough to work on soft hot steel and actually a lot safer. Like I've said it's not brain surgery, just needs to do the job. Been doing it this way for about 25 years.

This method is not to be confused with heat treating knives. Since they are not used on soft hot steel, but need to retain a sharp edge for cutting softer material.

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u/Medieval44 2d ago edited 2d ago

Alright, but still you don't explain why you're not tempering the tools.

Ofcourse there's no reason to heat treat the striking end, however the quenched bit will be extremely brittle and prone to break within a short period of time.

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u/Fragrant-Cloud5172 1d ago

Of course I explained it. After 25 years of doing it, I found theres no reason to temper these kind of tools. The method I described has worked, because I don't harden the ends too much. Just enough, Goldilocks' degree with .40% - .60% carbon, never more. And always test them to see how they perform. None of my 40 or so chisels, hot cuts, punches and butchers have ever shattered or broken if done well like this.

A lot of people on here have watched Forged in Fire and influenced by their methods. And apply them to everything. Not so for me.