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Rant: I used to forge all my tongs from scratch, but my buddy in Boise got me a pair of those new bolt jaw tongs for my birthday.
I spent maybe 20 hours making my first set back in 2010, filing and fitting everything by hand. Now I just heat and tweak a $40 set to fit the stock I'm using that day, which saves a ton of time. Do you folks still make your own tools, or is buying and modifying the new standard?
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kai4632mo ago
You said you heat and tweak a $40 set to fit the stock. Does that feel like cheating after putting in all that hand work before, or is it just smart?
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riley8602mo ago
Call it a cheat code for when my hands get tired of the hard work.
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gibson.seth3d ago
Cheating's a pretty strong word for buying pre-made tongs... we're not talking about grinding your own steel from ore here. People act like using a file jig is "cheating" too, it's a tool to make a tool. Twenty hours on a pair of tongs is time you could have spent making something that actually pays for the propane. If you're a weekend hobbyist and love that process, cool, but for production it's just math. Saving that time on a simple tool lets you focus on the tricky parts of the real project. It's not a code of honor, it's just iron and time.
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