40 MODERN BLACKSMITHING 



outside edge of the anvil again so far that the shoulder 

 or set down you now have up, will be about an inch out- 

 side and over the edge of the anvil, now give a few 

 blows to finish the jaw, then finish the shanks and weld 

 in half inch round iron to the length desired. The 

 jaws should be grooved with a fuller, if you have none 

 of the size required take a piece of round iron and ham- 

 mer it down in the jaws to make the groove. Tongs 

 grooved this way will grip better. Next, punch a hole 

 in one jaw, place it over the other in the position 

 wanted when finished, then mark the hole in the other 

 jaw, and when punched rivet them together, the jaws 

 to be cold and the rivet hot. The following story will 

 suggest to you how to finish it. An apprentice once 

 made a pair of tongs when his master was out, and 

 when he had them riveted together could not move the 

 jaws. As he did not know how to make them work 

 he laid them away under the bellows. At the supper 

 table the apprentice told his master the following 

 story: An apprentice once made a pair of tongs and 

 when he had them riveted together he could not move 

 the jaws, and as he did not know what to do he simply 

 threw them away, thinking he must have made a 

 mistake somehow. "What a fool," said the master, 

 "Why didn't he heat them." At the next oppor- 

 tunity the apprentice put his tongs in the fire and 

 w^hen hot they could be worked very easily. 



