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I Forge Iron

George Geist

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Posts posted by George Geist

  1. 1 hour ago, Charles R. Stevens said:

     

    Am I the only one who prefers rimmed shoes. 

     

     

    31 minutes ago, jlpservicesinc said:

     

    I like a rimmed shoe as long as there is plenty of break over..  In other words I like a training plate vs a race plate...  I use Eventer shoes now and are the only ones I keep in stock up to size 4...  I also like a huge radius on the inside web so there i no chance of sole contact.. The relieving of sole hoof material or IE not over thinning the sole because of over trimming the hoof wall is also very important.. 

    Far be it from me to be a pain in everybody's butt about this, but yes we've all been trained that sole pressure is bad. We all knife it out as concave as we can, we all seat out the bearing surface with a hammer, some folks use an angle grinder. Judges at certifications go all around under the shoe with a credit card making sure there's clearance. Problem is when we come back to see that beast again the shoe is always flush on the foot and/or filled under with dirt. Seems our sole pressure relief is temporary at best:o

    Then the natural BS folks come along and tell us anything in front of the frog apex is "distortion" and they radically set shoes back till it's riding on sole.

    Having seen this a few times, as well as people not worrying too much about relieving sole pressure and horses going just fine anyway, I can't help but wonder is this really as important as we've always believed?

     

    And yeah guys rim or British concave is great. Should fit the bill for almost anything.

    George

  2. Cast iron is a real tough job even for an expert welder. Usually it works best brazed. Critically important step is bringing the entire part up to a uniform heat. This often requires fabricating a special makeshift forge outside in the ground or BBQ pit. When the piece is hot enough uniformly all around, it's brazed with an oxy-acetylene torch. Chances of doing this successfully are about 50/50.

    This is how racked manifolds and such can be fixed but due to the uncertain results of such an undertaking most people just dig into their pockets for a new part.

    George

  3.  

    That looks more like a torch track by the hardy hole to me. Please don't do any grinding on the face it'll shorten the anvil's live. Working hot steel on it with hammers will sooth it out nicely. It looks to be in pretty decent condition.

    Frosty The Lucky.

    Seeing that one photo with the angle grinder I knew would get your attention. If that device is close enough to be in the same picture frame as the anvil it's definitely way too close. Any grinding, welding or cutting equipment needs to be in a different building.

    George

  4. Well......

    Never having been there I can't say, but I can tell you how to figure out what they ought to be. And if I were going there I'd be able to set prices accurately as soon as I arrived.

    To find prices in a given area first find a Barber Shop. Look at price of a haircut. Cost of shoeing a horse is about 8 times the price of a haircut. Barefoot trim is about 1/3 the cost of shoeing. Shoeing half a horse about 2/3.

    Is no surprise to me that prices over there are all over the boards. They are here too. Reason for that is sadly that entirely too many people just don't know the nuts and bolts of their own trade. Barbershop formula works. Is very accurate.

    George

  5. 1 hour ago, rockstar.esq said:

     

    First off, I think the guild/trade/certification/license/registration approach is assumed to be a meaningful way to achieve quality assurance.  I strenuously disagree.  On the "white collar" side,MBA graduates run businesses into the ground every day.  Unethical people have no problem lying to an organization so they can gain credibility via membership.

    Rockstar with all due respect, that's not logical. Are you implying that somehow or another their education and training somehow makes them less qualified and competent than someone without? XXXX?

    Yes unethical people can lie, but it's much harder to do if there's compulsory testing. Occasionally airplane pilots crash airplanes. Nonetheless I'd still prefer to fly with one who's tested, licensed and experienced.

     

    Quote

      On the "blue collar" side, I've encountered scores of licensed tradesman who were total incompetents.  It mystifies me how people who accrued the necessary hours, and passed exams can be so incompetent but it happens all the time.

    When it comes to them vs the amateur shade tree mechanic types you really don't want to keep score do you?

     

    Quote

    Bringing back the exclusivity, elitist, and cloistered approach is how guilds lost ground in the first place.  It's rebuilding the wall that kept information and opportunity away from outsiders.

    Guilds are still going strong back in the old world as they have for centuries. USA didn't ever have too many of them anyway but the few we do have do great. American Bar Association comes immediately to mind. Screen Actors Guild is another. You belong to those organizations or you don't work right?

    Tell me just what is so wrong about that? Many people purchase weapons to defend themselves, their families and their homes. There is nothing wrong with that. I see that as good. Many people wore their country's uniform at some point in their lives to defend their respective countries. That's a good, noble and honorable thing to do.

    As far as people's trades, work, livelihoods, bread and butter. Their means of feeding their families. Why is protecting and defending that seen as a bad thing? I certainly don't see it that way.( but I am a Union thug to the core) What makes outsiders who are oftentimes no better than the barbarians invading Rome think they're entitled to anything?

    Certifications, Licenses, Endorsements etc are all about earning one's place. It's really that simple. Unfortunately too many people aren't willing to earn anything. I have no use for such people.

    George

  6. 16 hours ago, Marc1 said:

    I think you will be hard pressed to find a "consensus" on anvils!

     

    Actually, it has been done. The late Bill Pieh of Centaur Forge brought together a group of the best top hand Standardbred shoers he could find. He got input from everybody, put all the ideas together and had Kohlswa of Sweden make him a boatload of Horseshoers anvils which are still the standard others try to measure up to. Later, he also had Kohlswa modify it slightly as the first Bruce Daniels pattern.

    That and GE weren't really much different from the old Hay Budden pattern except for the Centaurs being of that fine Swedish steel.

    8 hours ago, Charles R. Stevens said:

    Anvil hunting is an interesting sport, but in this day and age thie is no excuse for new folks coming on here to get took by Flea bay crooks. Google is a tool I use when I go to pawn shops, yard sales, flea markets and stop at the side of the road venders. I look up what that item (or a comparable one) costs new. If they want a $1000 for a 150# anvil I will pass, as I can order a 165#. from northern (rigid/pendenhaus) and have delivered free for $1200. 

    Same goes for auctions. Idiots routinely catch the fever and bid more than new. I set a price, rarely start the bid (then about a 1/3 of my price) and happily walk when it exeads it. 

    Personaly I think we all need a massive hunk of scrap in the shop, something we don't mind the thralls beating up when they strike for us. Hint, use handled top tools and instruct them to hit the top tool! Only chiped edge I have is from a striker. 

    As far as that goes I can remember a pretty well known guy who used to be on this forum and others that used to watch every transaction he could find. If somebody was getting a good deal on an anvil someplace from someone that was pretty clueless and just wanted to be rid of the thing, this guy would contact the seller and tell them what his opinion on the worth of the anvil was advising them not to take any less than $_____.

    This individual ruined a lot of good deals for a lot of people and quite possibly can be blamed for much of the inflated costs today. He used to claim he couldn't stand to see people not get full worth although other people's buying and selling was none of his business.

     

    Post has been edited to meet the site guidelines.

  7. Just curious, of all reported and unreported cases of anvil abuse and cruelty, I believe this is an unprecedented butchering of a hardy hole? Can anybody imagine what in the world that could have been done for? Glad to see that good old anvil withstood the torture and didn't break under questioning.

    George

  8. Home Depot, up around these parts anyway, has flatbed trucks available for rent. Last time I checked they were only about $19.00 a day. These trucks have small forklifts on back of them. They work great for things like gun safes so an anvil shouldn't be any problem. I notice they even have off road wheels on them so lack of a good surface shouldn't be any problem either.

    George

  9. As I see it, horseshoeing anvils don't usually get any bigger than about 125# or so, which is adequate for shoeing but a little light for heavier hanging and banging. I think it'd be kinda cool if somebody could make a horseshoers pattern in about 200#

  10. I don't know, I've reall never seen any work you could do an a regular smiths anvil that couldn't be done with a decent shoeing anvil but maybe from using them all my life I'm a little prejudiced.

    Yeah MFC is another POS. His hand tools might make good fishing sinkers though lol!

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