I have found tong reins with bulbous terminations very appealing to use. While I’m waiting for the heat and they are just dangling from my hand the balls allow good control with a minimum of grip. From time to time I have purchased a few of these two types at conferences.
Billy Tongs
Tom Tongs
As a result of liking their feel, I have modified most of my other tongs by adding welded mild steel punch drops from 3/8” plate to the rein ends. Sometimes I drilled a center hole in the drop.
Punch drops are one of my favorite type of mild steel stock. I pick them up at a local engineering/fabricating company and dump them in the tumbler where they serve as aggregate until I find a more specific use. A lot of them are used as filler metal in various constructions. Some are forged into botanical elements such as grapes or berries or buds. Some are welded to spring dies to constrain the registration of the top die. Hardly a day goes buy without using a few.
I suppose I don’t have enough big things to think about if I muse on the little details which make work a more comfortable experience.
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