Best tongs for heat treating

[Stromberg Knives]

I've been heat treating O1 coupons this morning, trying to calibrate my process.

I've noticed my coupons get different hardness depending on how far inside my oven I put the steel. Initially I put the steel just inside the oven (it's a 24 inch Paragon) and the end toward the door was a lot softer than the other side.

It seem pretty obvious that I should put my blade/coupon closer to the TC, which means more to the middle/end of the oven. But how do I reach my blade with a sufficient grip for a fast quench?

What kind of tongs do you guys use? The opening of my oven isn't huge, so they cannot be too clumsy.

 

[A.McPherson]

You could drill a hole, pass some sturdy wire through it and use your regular tongs to grab the wire...

 

[Lieblad]

.......

 

[JTknives]

I love thoes tongs, thoes where my first set and I use them all the time.

 

[Fish30114]

I bought several pairs listed as different sizes from Tracy, at USA Knifemaker, and they were all actually the same size when I got them--he says right on their website to not be afraid to adjust them to your needs-so I did just that--hit em with a torch til they were cherry red at the spot I wanted and bent them to suit me--they needed to be able to pick up damn thin stock for my needs---they seem to be pretty basic solid tools, and I anticipate them lasting a really long time--very reasonable priced by them also.

 

[Natlek]

I've been heat treating O1 coupons this morning, trying to calibrate my process.

I've noticed my coupons get different hardness depending on how far inside my oven I put the steel. Initially I put the steel just inside the oven (it's a 24 inch Paragon) and the end toward the door was a lot softer than the other side.

It seem pretty obvious that I should put my blade/coupon closer to the TC, which means more to the middle/end of the oven. But how do I reach my blade with a sufficient grip for a fast quench?

What kind of tongs do you guys use? The opening of my oven isn't huge, so they cannot be too clumsy.

I make long one for me from ordinary pliers. Squeeze pliers in the vise with close jaw .With angle grinder cut where is the red line . Repeat if it is not enough / take pliers from vise and close jaw again and put back in vise / Weld extensions to handle ....... Of course if shape of this pliers fit to you ...