Why the Jaws Matter More Than the Handles

Tongs are the only thing between your hand and a piece of steel at 1,200°C, yet most of us buy them almost at random and then wonder why our grip fails halfway through a taper. The reins matter for comfort, but the jaws decide whether you keep hold of the work. A pair that fits well lets you forge with a relaxed hand, using just enough pressure to stop the stock rotating. A pair that fits badly forces you to clamp down hard, which tires your forearm within minutes, distorts the tongs, and eventually ends with hot metal on the floor.

The principle behind every good fit is contact along the length of the jaw rather than a single pressure point at the tips. If the stock only touches the very ends of the jaws, it pivots like a see-saw no matter how hard you squeeze. Test any pair on cold stock before it ever goes near the fire: hold the work, lift it, and give it a gentle twist. If it moves, the jaws are wrong for that size.

Flat-Jaw Tongs: the Everyday Workhorse

Flat-jaw tongs are where most smiths start and where most of us end up, because square and rectangular bar is the backbone of forging. Their parallel or slightly tapering faces grip across the flats, giving a wide, stable purchase on 6mm to 25mm square stock. Buy them in the sizes you actually use most: a pair for 10mm, a pair for 16mm, a pair for 20mm. A 16mm pair will happily hold 14mm to 18mm, but pushing them to 10mm means the jaws meet before the stock and you lose all feel.

They are also the right choice for flat plate and sheet, particularly if the jaws are wide and the faces are dressed smooth. Wide jaws spread the load and reduce the deep jaw marks that show up so clearly after a finish is applied. For thin sheet, look for tongs with a broad, flat bit rather than a chunky one — you want surface area, not thickness.

Round-Jaw and Hollow-Bit Tongs for Round Stock

Round bar is a nuisance in flat jaws because it only touches on two narrow lines and rolls under the hammer. Round-jaw tongs are an improvement, meeting the bar on two arcs, but the real answer is a hollow bit or box jaw that cradles the stock in a curved recess matched to its diameter. Once you have used a properly fitted pair on 12mm round bar, you will not go back.

For smaller diameters — 6mm to 10mm — pick-up tongs with a shallow round recess are ideal, especially when you need to retrieve a short length from the fire or hold the end of a bar while you work the other. If you forge tube or pipe, treat it as round stock and size the jaws accordingly; squeezing thin-walled tube in flat jaws will oval it every time.

Bolt Tongs: for Heads, Rivets and Finished Work

Bolt tongs have a circular recess cut across each jaw, usually with a short slot behind it so the shank of a bolt or rivet can sit clear while the head is held. That recess grips round stock along a broad arc, which makes them the gentlest option for work that is already shaped and finished — no sharp jaw edges digging into your scroll or your hammered surface.

Keep a pair sized just under your usual rivet and bolt diameters. They are also excellent for holding a bar end while you form a head, for gripping the shank during twisting, and for any moment when you need to hold a round section firmly without leaving marks. In a busy workshop, they are the pair that saves a finish.

Wolf-Jaw Tongs: the Versatile Gripper

Wolf-jaw tongs carry a V-shaped notch cut across the jaws. The stock settles into the notch and is held on two converging faces, which means one pair will grip a useful range of sizes and a mix of shapes: square, round and hex all sit reasonably well. Because the notch bites rather than bears, these tongs resist twisting better than flat jaws of the same size.

They come into their own on awkward work — ball ends, chain links, welded assemblies, scrolls, and anything irregular that refuses to sit still. They are also handy for holding a bar at an angle while you make an offset bend. The trade-off is marking: the notch concentrates pressure, so on soft or finished surfaces use bolt tongs or smooth flat jaws instead. For rough stock and general grabbing, though, a good pair of wolf-jaw tongs earns its place on the rack.

Fit, Length and Keeping Tongs Working

• Match the jaw to the stock. Jaw width should be roughly the width or thickness of the work, never much narrower.
• Choose rein length for the job. Around 350–450mm suits most bench work; longer reins give leverage on heavy stock, shorter ones give control for fine work near the horn.
• Check the boss. A sloppy pivot lets the jaws spring apart under load. Re-rivet or peen it tight before you trust it.
• Adjust hot, never cold. Heat the jaws to a forging heat and bend them to fit; cold bending will crack the steel.
• Keep them to hand. A rack or bucket beside the forge beats a heap on the floor, and it saves you hunting for the right pair mid-heat.
• Use two pairs when needed. Upsetting, twisting and drifting are all easier with one pair holding and another steadying.

Safety Points Worth Repeating

Never reach for pliers, mole grips or a pipe wrench to move hot metal. They grip on a knife edge, they slip, and their handles transmit heat fast. If the work starts to slide, let it drop and step back — chasing a falling billet with your hand is how smiths get burned. Test every grip on cold stock first, keep your path to the anvil clear, and put the tongs down where you can find them without looking. Get the jaws right and everything downstream — your hammer control, your finishes, your hands — becomes easier.