Brad Sondahl on tue 14 feb 06
I don't think a better alternative currently exists. I've heard of
people welding steel protrusions onto channel lock pliers, but don't
know how well the results work. But I'll add my pet peeve that they
used to make the tongs a couple inches shorter, which is a lot less
leverage to contend with when glazing heavy pots. When you look at all
hand tools, few are longer than 8 inches, but the tongs today are too
long not only due to leverage, but to fit at an angle in a five gallon
bucket. If you were rakuing with them, I could understand the extra
length...
I have a couple sets of the older tongs, but the middle rivet or
whatever that holds them together does loosen over time, making them
more prone to slipping sideways with age. I've considered replacing it
with a hardware store bolt and either glueing, capnutting, or double
nutting the nut on to keep it from loosening, but mostly I try to
support it with my other hand when possible to keep it from twisting,
which indeed often wrecks the pot...
Brad Sondahl
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Jennifer Smith on fri 17 feb 06
I remember an article in the first issue of PMI (Winter 1998, not the
CM supplements) about glaze tongs made from metal hangers. Sorry, I
don't remember the author. These were self-closing so you just had
to use pressure to open them to attach to pot and didn't have to
squeeze constantly to hold the pot while dipping. (It was the
constant pressure of holding a pot in the commercial tongs that
always killed my wrists.) The tongs made from the hangers don't have
any bolts/nuts that loosen over time and are also quite short so you
don't have that torquing problem like with the longer ones. It is a
simple design that could be adapted if need be ( the three prongs
could be spaced wider apart for more stability for example).
Jen Smith
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