The old forge in Plymouth had a trick I never saw before

Stopped by a working forge on the harbor in Plymouth last weekend, just to watch. The smith there used a wet rope wrapped around the tongs to keep the handles cool on a long draw out. Never crossed my mind in 8 years of swinging a hammer. Has anyone else got a simple trick like that from watching another smith work?

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the_nina9d ago

And then you start thinking about all the other little things like that. A wet rag on the tongs is genius because it lets you keep a steady grip without burning your glove, and you can re-dip it in the slack tub without missing a beat. I bet that trick also works for holding hot rivets or chisels when you need to keep your hand close for a while. Once you see one simple fix like that, you start noticing how much of this trade is just clever workarounds people figured out over a hundred years ago and never wrote down. Makes me wonder what else I'm missing that some old timer would've laughed about me not knowing.