For those of you metalsmiths reading this, have you noticed how the quality of copper tongs seems to have degraded in the past decade or so. They used to be of good quality with reasonably thick metal. Now, to me anyway, they all seem like flimsy, cheap things made of such thin copper stock. I’ve wondered for a while why we would purchase such things? I mean, aren’t we metalsmiths? Wouldn’t making our own pair be a very basic project, a project suitable for suitable for a beginning student on the first day of class? I’ve never purchased any for my own studio, rather I made a hefty set back when I was in college from some scrap plate copper I had. I actually made a second pair for the university’s studio, which somebody stole rather quickly! I guess that’s one indication they were considered good, probably also a reason why school studios only have crappy ones!
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