Nice welding table.. this is how I shape steel. Before I built this natural gas forge, I was doing it in my furnace. Like the garden hose feeding it? LMAO
I "NEED" an anvil, a lathe, a mill ... don't feed the disease please Jason! A wee bit of design progress today...
That looks better! 1/4" or even 3/16" construction should be plenty. Here is my swedish soderfors. Best 900bucks I've ever spent on a boat anchor. The seller showed me this video and I said... MINE. Mail it!
Here is my unfinished set of tongs. I'm getting there though. Just need to weld on 90 degree handles, stops, a second set of crucible holder flaps and its ready for testing. Hopefully my welds hold LOL 16 b crucible lifting tongs diy by Zapins, on Flickr
Those are looking good. The welds look good, but welds that look good and welds that hold can be two different things. You can always do a couple of test welds on some scrap, and then bend them to see if the weld snaps. A weak weld will be too shallow. I think the rule is if you are welding two pieces together, there should be a slight runout on the back side, ie: the weld went all the way through the thickness of the metal. Its been too cold here to get out and fabricate anything. I need to find my jumpsuit and get out there; I am getting cabin fever. There is only so much of watching others build stuff and posting here that I can stand; I need to build something.
Hello all, I am a new member here and have enjoyed gaining so much insight reading this thread. Does anyone know how I may procure a set of the Brian Oltrogge style tongs? I would happily pay to have a set made! Alternatively, I would be interested in a cad file that I could use to have the pieces cut as Brian says he had done in his video where the tongs were debuted.
Hello and welcome, Copperstack! I don't think he's made those files available; you might be on your own there trying to copy them. They sure look nice and seem to work well in his video, but they also seem quite elaborate. It has always made me think, fewer moving parts would mean fewer ways for it get bound up or jam when it has heated up and parts have expanded a bit when you're trying to sling a hot crucible around... You mentioned getting someone to make them for you. Guessing that means you don't do welding? Making crucible tongs and pouring shank is a pretty good excuse to learn, if you haven't already... But it can definitely be a bit daunting at first. Have you seen Myfordboy's no-weld 2-in-1 tongshank video? He used rivets IIRC. Another very simple, effective, affordable, and ready to use off the shelf option for smaller crucibles (my #6's for example) is a set of 3-finger fireplace tongs like I showed here in our other crucible tools thread: http://forums.thehomefoundry.org/index.php?threads/lifting-tongues-and-pouring-rings.898/#post-20840 Maybe one of those ideas could get you going while you figure out how to make your Oltrogge tongs. Once you figure it out, I'm sure a few people here would be interested in your own CNC cut-out files! Good luck, Jeff
Good luck.. We tried to get him to give them up. I thought someone around here was working on drawing them up??? Anyone remember who that was?
If it’s this you’re referring to— —then I have a PDF with dimensions. But I no longer remember where I got it from, nor whether it’s licit to share it.
It was Negativ3. Page 1 of this thread http://forums.thehomefoundry.org/index.php?threads/crucible-tongs.175/
I now have the PDF, but it is missing the crucible grippers. It seems that Brian Oltrogge has not released the plans or finished tongs for sale, nor uploaded to youtube or facebook, nor updated his website in over 2 years. Hope he is ok. I built the fire keg foundry from plans I purchased from Brian's website where I also found that the tongs were "coming soon" section of the store. Guess I will have to settle for another option. Looking for tongs/pouring tool to use with this keg foundry and a #10 clay graphite crucible. I do not have a welder or very much metal fabrication experience. What options are available for sale that will fit this application?
Maybe I'm missing the genius of the thing but that design always seemed a little Dr Seuss to me. Seems like an awful lot of work for what it does. To each his own I guess. Check this out Copperstack, it might interest you. https://mifco.com/foundry-accessories/crucible-tongs-shanks/
It wouldn't be any work at all if we had the damn cad files. I could email them to a shop and pick it up in an hour. Nake a couple of bends and bolt it together. One and done. With that said, I do appreciate pulling the crucible and sitting it down for a moment. It slows the tempo down and makes me assess the temperature of my melt and if I need to pull some crap off it. For guys that barely get their metal melted because of wuss furnaces, they probably enjoy the speed of pulling and immediately pouring.
The problem with these tongues is your pretty much standing over the pour instead of beside it. There is a lot you can’t see. (my buddy pours using a similar set up). it works. If I only had access to a welder and a disc grinder, I build them out of angle iron. I would just use 3/4” x 3/4” x 1/8”. With the same tools,...I would build the pouring shank/ring using 1/2” schedule 40 gas pipe.
Think I'm with ya on that one Petee. For small crucibles and low melt point metals you can get by with about anything but they don't scale well nor does the consequences of failure. Hard to argue with the tried and true........until it comes time to write the check......that'll make a welder out of you. Best, Kelly
