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Steel Drawplate with Graded Tapered Holes, and Draw Tongs
Skatebiker at English Wikipedia (Wikimedia Commons) · Public domain
Forge

Created by

Forge

14. October 2026NO
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Steel Drawplate with Graded Tapered Holes, and Draw Tongs

A drawplate is a hardened steel plate pierced with a row of tapered holes, each a little smaller than the last. Annealed wire, filed to a point, goes into a hole just smaller than itself and is pulled through with draw tongs, coming out thinner; plates also come with square, half-round or hexagonal holes. Make the plate and the tongs. The picture: two drawplates with numbered rows of holes.
Advanced
Two days

Instructions

1

Forge the plate

Forge tool steel to a flat plate about 150 × 35 × 8 mm (our size) and anneal it.

Materials for this step:

Flat Tool Steel BarFlat Tool Steel Bar1 piece
CharcoalCharcoal2 as required

Tools needed:

Blacksmith ForgeBlacksmith Forge
AnvilAnvil
Cross Peen HammerCross Peen Hammer
Blacksmith TongsBlacksmith Tongs
Welding GlovesWelding Gloves
Safety GlassesSafety Glasses
2

Drill and taper the holes

Lay out a row of holes stepping down in size (step 5), drill each, then open it to a taper from the back face with a hot tapered punch, so it is widest at the back and narrowest at the front. True each mouth with a needle file.

Materials for this step:

CharcoalCharcoal2 as required

Tools needed:

Hand DrillHand Drill
Blacksmith ForgeBlacksmith Forge
Hot PunchHot Punch
DriftDrift
Needle File SetNeedle File Set
Heavy Bench ViceHeavy Bench Vice
Welding GlovesWelding Gloves
Safety GlassesSafety Glasses
3

Harden and temper

Grind the faces flat, harden the plate in water and temper it to a straw colour so the holes keep their size.

Materials for this step:

WaterWater10 liters

Tools needed:

GrindstoneGrindstone
Blacksmith ForgeBlacksmith Forge
Quench BucketQuench Bucket
Blacksmith TongsBlacksmith Tongs
Welding GlovesWelding Gloves
Safety GlassesSafety Glasses
4

Draw tongs

Forge two short, stout jaws with long reins from wrought iron, file cross teeth in the jaws to bite the wire, rivet them, and bend the end of one rein into a hook so the grip can be held or hauled.

Materials for this step:

Wrought Iron BarWrought Iron Bar2 pieces
Iron RivetsIron Rivets1 piece
CharcoalCharcoal2 as required

Tools needed:

Blacksmith ForgeBlacksmith Forge
AnvilAnvil
Cross Peen HammerCross Peen Hammer
Hot PunchHot Punch
Metal FileMetal File
Blacksmith TongsBlacksmith Tongs
Welding GlovesWelding Gloves
Safety GlassesSafety Glasses
5

Hole sizes

Loading Jupyter Notebook...

Materials

5

Tools Required

14

This blueprint makes

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Draw Tongs

Free

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1
Thumbnail
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Steel Drawplate

Free

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