Just realized my tongs were the reason my scrolls looked off

I was making a set of gate scrolls for a client in Boise and kept getting a weird flat spot on the inside curve, no matter how careful I was with the hammer. My mentor came by, watched for two minutes, and said 'your tongs are twisting the stock before it even hits the anvil.' I switched to a pair of box-jaw tongs and the problem vanished. Has anyone else had a tool issue that was messing up a basic shape?

3 comments

3 Comments

emery_white13d ago

Yeah, that "hidden twist" thing Emma_dixon70 mentioned is so real. I've fought with a pair of tongs that were just a hair off, and it makes every single hit feel wrong. It's amazing how the right tool just lets the work happen.

emma_dixon7014d ago

Tongs can absolutely ruin your work without you even noticing. The wrong hold puts a hidden twist in the metal before you even start. Good call switching to box jaws, they grip square stock without that torque.

harpery4714d ago

Emma_dixon70 is right about hidden twists. It's crazy how the wrong tongs can fight you the whole time. I had a similar thing happen with some scrolling tongs that were just a bit too tight, putting a slight bend in every leaf I tried to make. Took me forever to figure out why my work looked tired. Sometimes the fix is so simple you just stare at the tool and feel silly. What was the worst tool mistake you ever made?