Finally figured out why my tongs kept slipping on round stock

I spent about 3 months getting frustrated with my tongs slipping whenever I tried to hold round bar stock for scrollwork. Turns out I was gripping way too close to the hinge instead of using the sweet spot near the jaw tips. Has anyone else dealt with this or found a better way to grip round shapes?

3 comments

3 Comments

claire_hart531mo ago

Hold the tongs wrong and the metal might as well be greased, that's what I learned. Your mileage may vary but I'd bet half the problems in a shop come from some tiny grip adjustment nobody bothered to mention. Guess we all gotta reinvent the wheel before we admit we were holding it backwards.

tara7931mo ago

Small stuff always seems to have a sweet spot that nobody tells you about until you've already wasted time figuring it out.

hannahsingh1mo ago

Sweet spot nobody tells you about" is pretty much the story of my entire life in the shop. I spent a week once trying to figure out why my hammer kept bouncing off a piece and it turned out I was just standing wrong.