thing 24: tongs (mostly done)

in my blacksmithing class tonight, we started making tongs. we started with 2 steel bars (like the one in the last photo above) that were 11″ long x 3/4″ wide x 1/4″ thick. i heated and hammered them into the right shape and are now almost 15″ long. i used the hole punch i made last week to punch the hole where a rivet will hold the two pieces together. our instructor didn’t expect us to get this far, so he didn’t bring the rivets to class. next week we’ll add the rivet and shape the ends a bit to be better for gripping things. it’s frustrating being limited by class time.. if i’d had just a bit longer (and the rivet), i could have finished. i still feel like i did the bulk of the work and you can see what it is.. so it counts for today’s thing.

also i made a blister on my thumb and a purple pinky finger. fun!