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I HE FARMERS H VNDBUOK. 



Fig. 7a illustrates tongs for holding bolts. The rounded jaws leave room 

 for the head, and enable the points to take a firm hold of the bolt. 



The tongs in Fig. 7b are designed for holding hoops and fla*, rings, such as 

 the round stocks of dray wheels, &c. This form gives such a grip that, when 

 hammering, the work can be brought into the required position by merely 

 turning the wrist. This is an important point, as iron cools quickly, and 

 everything must be arranged so that no time whatever is wasted. 



Fig. 8a shows a pair of tongs for holding a ploughshare. The lower two- 

 pointed curved jaw is obtained by making an ordinary flat jaw about 1| inches 

 longer than the upper one. This jaw is split down the centre, and each section 

 curved as shown, and the tips turned in at right-angles to prevent the share 

 from moving from side to side. Similar tongs, smaller in size, are used for 

 holding coulters. 



Fig. 8.— A— Tongs for holding Ploughshares. 



B— Tongs for holding a Pick. 



Fig. 8b is an illustration of tongs for holding a pick. The jaws are curved 

 round as shown, and are helped by a ring, an end of which holds the two parts 

 of the tongs together instead of the usual rivet. 



The Fire. 



The best coal must be selected. Coal which crumbles up when firmly 

 pressed in the hand, and has a bright glassy face on the fractures, as a rule 

 gives the best fire. Hard dull-coloured coal, or bright splintery coal, doe 

 not make a good fire. Some of the dull hard coal is very unsuitable. It 

 often contains a good deal of gas. burns away rapidly to white ash, does not 

 bind when heated, and instead of forming a close-textured coke, falls to 

 pieces. In a fire of this class a high heat cannot be obtained, and the fire 

 does not last long. 



Coal is generally used by smiths for firing, but in some of the bigger shops 

 coke is used. As a matter of fact, it is coke which produces the heat in the 

 small smith's fire also, the only difference being that the coke is produced from 

 the coal by the smith on his own hearth. 



