How to forge blacksmith tongs – Blacksmithing 101 series – Video Download
19 $
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Video tutorial chapters
- Flat nosed closed tong
- Hollow tong with an asymmetrical jaw
Square-jawed hollow tong
19 $
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Square-jawed hollow tong
Please support our blacksmith video projects with $19 and get a download link to our video ‘How to make tongs’.
Square-jawed hollow tong
Gábor Szombathy was born in 1961 in Budapest. After graduating from High School he began studying artistic forging, working six years as a blacksmith for the workshop of György Seregi artist blacksmith. He graduated in 1985 from the Secondary School of Fine and Applied Arts.
He opened his own workshop in 1991. From 1992 to 2005 he was the notary of Hungarian Blacksmith Guild, after that the Master of Tasks until now. He studied French blacksmith techniques and worked for 18 months in New Jersey from 2007 to 2008 at the French-based Les Métalliers Champenois Corp. He worked and also taught for six months at Nishida Mitsuo’s Page One workshop in Japan from 2007 to 2008. Since 1997 he has been invited several times to Finnish Craft Vocational Schools (Savonlinna, Lahti, Petajavesi, Jyvaskyla) on a yearly basis.
In 2016 he was one of the members of the Hungarian team at Covax design’s forging the four main gates of Yale University’s new building block, which later won the Stanford White Architecture Award in the handcraft category next year.
Gábor Szombathy
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Keeping the blacksmith traditions alive has always been the primary aim of the Hungarian Blacksmith Guild. In Hungary not only has vocational training for the blacksmiths ceased to exist, but this profession has also been removed from the official list of occupations. Some might say that this noble profession, dating back more than 4000 years, is virtually dying. As a result, it is up to those handful enthusiasts who cultivate the blacksmith profession and those with ardor interest for the trade to reverse this judgement.
This is why in 2019 we decided to make a series of educational videos. We want to help those who are not only interested, but are willing to make an effort and learn this beautiful yet difficult profession. In our films we present you the tricks of the trade: what it takes to get from the basics to the master level. We have put together an easy-to-follow, step by step guide that anyone can follow. If you aquire the basic tools, devote enough time, effort and energy to these forging exercises, you will attain the lore of the blacksmith.
Our FIRST FILM in the series encompasses the basic techniques of forging. We start with the basics, namely how to stand beside the anvil, how to hold and handle the hammer properly to achieve an efficient hammering technique. Then we will go through the basic techniques of a blacksmith, such as stretching, widening, shouldering, upsetting, punching and splitting. With these you will learn how to manipulate and re-shape any workpiece.
The SECOND FILM in the series showcases the creation of those simple forged objects, which in Hungarian tradition were made by the blacksmith’s apprentice. By making these small tools you can practice the basic techniques while creating useful yet fine objects. At the same time, these exercises will provide you a good example of developing simple operational sequences from the aforementioned basic techniques.
In the THIRD FILM of the series we present you the techniques to make forging tongs: one of the most important tools of a blacksmith, alongside the hammer and the anvil. Blacksmiths make a lot of their tools themselves. Among these, forging tongs are the most significant ones, as you could only buy these from other blacksmiths or purchase them at scrap metal yards. This is why it is very important that those who want to practice blacksmithing learn the characteristics of a good tong and the process of forging tongs at an early stage. With this you will be able to make the right tool for each of your new tasks. In addition, making tongs is an excellent way of practicing your basic forging techniques, providing you with further opportunities to develop simple operational sequences from the already mentioned basic techniques.
We truly appreciate the amazing support of several blacksmith associations, blacksmith colleagues and non-blacksmith friends worldwide for our previous blacksmith video projects. We’re truly honoured.
Education Center of Austrian Federal Office for Monuments Care, Mauerbach
Black Bear Forge – John Switzer
ABANA (Artist Blacksmith Association of North America)
Artistic Anvil – Travis C. Fleming
Artist Blacksmith’s Association of Finland
Jim and Nicholas Archambault – Elite Custom Ironworks
Eric O’Neill – Killuragh Kraftworks
Russel Jones – Santa Cruz Gates
The Devil’s Blacksmith documentary