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An old timer at the Montana state fair told me my tong reins were 'too stiff for a working grip' and I've been tapering them differently ever since. | Blacksmiths - The Design Community Hub

diana55•5mo ago

An old timer at the Montana state fair told me my tong reins were 'too stiff for a working grip' and I've been tapering them differently ever since.

He said, 'You're making them like a crowbar, not a tool,' so now I leave the last three inches much thinner and rounder, which has saved my hands on those eight-hour forge days, but I'm curious if anyone has a different method for reducing hand fatigue?

4 comments

4 Comments

averymitchell5mo ago

Totally get that, @matthewbarnes is right about fighting your gear.

jesse8635mo ago

Tapering helps, but I found the bigger fix is changing how you hold them. I keep my grip loose and let the reins pivot in my hand instead of clamping down hard all day. That old stiffness might be from fighting your own tools. Try relaxing your fingers between heats, even for a few seconds. It made a bigger difference for me than reshaping the handles.

wright.nancy5mo ago

You're right, @jesse863. A lot of problems come from fighting your own gear. People get used to a bad grip and just push harder, which makes everything worse. I see it all the time with folks using power tools, holding on for dear life until their hands cramp up. Loosening up feels wrong at first, like you might drop something, but it lets the tool do the work. It's a simple fix that most people never try because they're so focused on the tool itself.

matthewbarnes5mo ago

That old timer was onto something. It's crazy how much we fight our own gear without even knowing it. You see it with people death-gripping a steering wheel on a long drive, or white-knuckling a phone charger trying to plug it in. The tool's design is half the battle, but the other half is learning not to work against it. Loosening up feels wrong, but it's usually the fix.