George Geist

Is a calking vise. Like Thomas said you hold it closed with your foot. They don't have springs. If I can find a film of the thing being used I'll put it up but in the meantime have a look at the sharp shoeing jobs done on these horses for the winter ice in this vid. A calking vise was a very handy tool for this type of work. George

From this vantage point I'm inclined to agree with Josh. George

Waiting for them to get back to me. Hopefully hear from them today.

Bought a used Hypona gas forge recently. It came with no hose or regulator. I realize any of them will probably work but does anybody know what regulator that model of forge comes with? Same as Forgemaster? Or NC? Anybody have one or know? George

Why all this talk about angle grinders? Especially to a beginner. What ever happened to using a hot rasp? Also please don't be spending upwards of $200 on hammers. As taxpayers we got mad at the government for throwing away that kind of money toward General Dynamics, Halliburton etc. Let's try to be a bit more intelligent at a personal level. George

As for jurisdictional agreements of the various labor organizations...... Stuff being talked about here is domain of the ironworkers. Any construction blacksmithing to be done is job of the boilermakers but ironworkers pretty much handle what's being talked about here. George

Not made with that in mind but I suppose it could be used for that. Essentially those type of patterns were made with horseshoers in mind. The bigger horn and narrow face with cut under heel as well as 2 pritchel holes are very handy for shaping horseshoes as well as the tools associated with that specialty. The thing I like best about that one is the size. Most horsehoers anvils are between 100 and 125 lbs. That one being so much heavier (obviously a shop anvil) is a big plus. George

Real nice one, obviously the pattern copied years later by multi-products, AP BigTex and so on. Hole in horn I'd guess to be a modification somebody did to it for some reason known only to themselves. Wish a contemporary maker would still offer that pattern. Is excellent for horseshoers. George

Mr Elliott, Thank you for your service sir. Here's a link to someplace else where yours truly posted a few vids of how to build your own: http://horseshoersforum.invisionzone.com/index.php?/topic/111-build-your-own-forge/ Not really that hard and perhaps a little less aggravating than trying to fix one? The one you have looks like an old riveters forge. Nice find though. The TPAAAT is probably best way to get an anvil. To each his own and all that kinda thing but in JMNTBCHO an NC is barely out of the ASO category.

Can you give any examples of any such individuals or groups who might be doing that? Very true. Is why I said there is nothing new in the trIe. Twas all known by 1900. Ok, assuming you've had some good luck with this, do you do a resection on the toe in combination with this package? If not, what do you do about the inevitable abscesses? That I find easily believable. Too many of the schools merely prostitute the trade with no concern to the destruction they bring on the industry. Not sure which certifying group you're referring to. If you're talking about AFA you're incorrect. I think both of you would like the Unions test. Is a better way to do things. Aside from that I think best thing about certification is legitimacy. I don't know either of you from a can of paint. If you were certified Id be sure you'd made the grade and earned your place in the trade. Without that, all I can be sure of is that you folks are some people on the internet. Another good point. Certainly nothing wrong with earning a living wage.

Asked before. For some inexplicable reason you never answered.......What is balance? I kinda like how it was done during the Renaissance and Enlightenment periods. Not really sure how much it differed during the Dark Ages but I'll check on that for you With the exception of radiusing the wall with a bevel just what do you find different about one trim versus another? We needn't mention Strasser butchery. Hmmmmm, can't help but wonder who it was that taught these super trimmers how to trim? Nah, I'll stand by what I said before. First week apprentice work. See above. Live sole isn't wittled away at by anybody competent that I know. Why is it talked about as if it's a widespread problem? Flares if not dealt with can and will cause much more complicated issues to develop. Ever see a Heavy Horse with hooves split like three leaf clovers because of flares? I'd contend that when you see them you better get pretty aggressive about dealing with them. If horses are kept on proper schedules such issues should be minimal though. Doesn't mean anything of the kind. Those excuses are pretty sorry. On this forum we have a lot of welders. Welding certs require a test. They're also tested at every job by every contractor. If they don't weld for 6 months they need to re-test. It's pretty redundant but they do it. Is there a law requiring certs to operate an arc welder? No. It's the JOB MARKET that demands it. Do they whine about it or the testing bodies? No. They just do it. Truck Drivers take a State test then are re-tested at every job. Do they whine about it? No. They just do it. Any occupation you want to name. The JOB MARKET demands it people do it. Crying out loud this is the only occupation I can think of that the practitioners of fight to the death to keep any kind of standards from being introduced to their industry. To what question is that which you refer? Correct answer is "it depends". Clarify what situation you're referring to. Agreed Exactly, nor am I attacking anyone else. Just encouraging folks to use a cauliflower shaped object located behind their eyeballs. Truth be told they probably still trash you behind your back same as they always did and probably sent you stuff they didn't want 20 years ago same as today. Me too As long as we're not running for office or asking for any of their votes we really don't need to give a fiddlers fart what anybody thinks of us do we?

Nice one, good score George

Well.... I've made small pony shoes, belt buckles, things like that. Some people make railroad spike knives which are pretty neat after throwing in a twist and polishing up. Basically you're only limited by your own imagination. Steel is steel. If you're new to forging I'd suggest not making anything in particular but use them for practice. Forge the square shape into an octagon. Then forge the octagon round. Then forge back square again. Practice drawing, tapering and upsetting. Basic fundamentals. Is all good. If you do find some wrought iron ones you'll learn proper temperature. Those need to be forged as hot as possible. White or welding heat then stop when it's at about orange. If it cools to red it's too cold and will break. Steel can be worked all the way down to black but not iron. Iron spikes will teach you that if you can find them. George

Yes, they're excellent. Plenty of stuff you can make with them. If lucky, sometimes you can find real old ones made of wrought iron too. George

There's a place nearby called Wertz Coal Yard in Mechanicsburg where you can get good coal. Trying to use anthracite is a waste of time. Good luck to you. George

Interesting. Have you had a lot of success with it? Not sure which bodies you refer to here. AFA? BWFA? Essentially all they ask is for you to pass a pretty easy written test, make a shoe display and shoe two feet with keg shoes. Is really not that big a deal. I'd say if it were administered properly, and not run by a bunch of knuckleheads as it often is, I'd highly recommend anybody who couldn't pass that test to give serious consideration to a different career choice. That's my opinion on it. What would you change about it to make it better? As I said before I'd highly doubt you'd have an ill broke puke on your place. Bad horses are a direct reflection upon the people. In case it went over your head that was a compliment. Never said it did unless we're talking about spelling maybe? The questions I asked you were very open minded actually. Is in an attempt to learn something. I've dealt with a few founders. I've won some, I've lost some. So have you so has she. So has everybody. Hard as we may try, it will continue to be something that confounds horsemen as it has since the first two horses stepped off the ark. I've seen heart bars work and I've seen horses die graveyard dead no matter what was done. I've seen some helped by shoes, I've seen plenty helped by being left bare. Questions I asked of you are in an attempt to spur on some critical thinking among everybody. My apologies if you think I was showing you disrespect. That was certainly not my intent. What happens that gets folks like me started on being a pain in everybody's butt is absolutist statements. The words "always" and "never" should not be in our vocabulary when discussing the trade. When folks do make such statements they should be prepared to defend them. George

Why is that? First off what have you got against heart bars and why would you choose the method you described? Would you always do this each and every time? If so why and if not why not? Again, every time? Even when they're forming a nice rock trap? How about when full of thrush? Do you ever get retained sole? If so what do you do about it? Might you be certified perchance? If not have you ever stood for a certification? I'm sure that's the case. I'd highly doubt we'd ever find an ill broke puke in your barn.

Nice work George

I'm sure Josh will be along soon enough but if it were delaminating I believe it would be a first. Fishers just don't do that to best of my knowledge. Hard to tell from photo but I tend to doubt it. George

Happy Memorial Day everybody. To those still living who served in the Armed Forces...Thanks

Well yeah, but let's not forget that coal also has carburizing oxidizing and neutral flames. The more oxidizing the less smoke. New fire with green coal smokes a lot till it cokes up. Hard to say if it has a bearing on scale formation because we're always fine tuning and fussing with the fire to keep it burning right. Gas we don't do that. What we got is what we got. George

Another thing I think worth mentioning is gas forges do get buildup of waxy by products and dirt in their hoses and fittings from time to time which can mess up fuel flow. Aside from that using gas your work will scale up more anyway regardless. I've always wondered if coal burned cleaner or if it just knocked a lot of scale off by rubbing against to coal when pulled in and out? George

I like this thing but looks to be totally useless without it's holder or something similar being fabricated. Very cool George

Get the best you can afford. It's one tool that will last the rest of your life. You don't need to be buying another one down the road. George

Not sure why you have so many cripples. You talk as if everything is lame. I've been shoeing a long time and haven't done any I can remember from birth to death but a few have been real close and most all the ones I've done stayed sound and healthy all their lives. Again, what exactly is their problem and what did their being shod do to cause it? Wanna bet? Go to any parimutual track you care to visit. Look at them in the paddock before they run when they're all freshly done. I challenge you or anybody else to tell me who did who. Shoeing competitions same deal. When folks set out to do them all the same they'll all be the same. Correct as far as acute and chronic but one thing you left out. Acute is a vet problem. Chronic is a shoer problem. Fortunately I've reached an age that I don't need to worry about doing this very much anymore as I have other better sources of income. Thus, I pretty much observe the hairline. Vets I know don't concern themselves with things below the hairline. That's mine. Anything above the hairline is theirs. They can have the whole rest of the horse. Not a bad deal huh? You'll find that certain animals will develop such maladies regardless of what you do or don't do for them. There is expensive medicine that's pretty effective in slowing it down, but eventually it will get them anyway. It's always been around. Was only about that long ago they came up with a name for it. Same with foundered ponies. Have been around since first 2 ponies stepped off of the ark. Old joke says there are only 2 kinds of ponies-those that have foundered and those that will. You are correct in the increase in laminitis and founder in bigger horses though. That can be blamed on modern vaccines and dewormers. Then clarify, Good people. The kind that are good horsemen. The kind we all like to work for, tend to have good horses. When a bad one gets in their barn, next time you see it it's either good or it's gone. These kind of people consider it an insult to their horsemanship to have one that doesn't stand. Most of these people are unfortunately dead. OTOH we have the others who are growing by leaps and bounds. The ones who really should give serious consideration to finding a different hobby. These people couldn't train a horse to eat carrotts. Usually all their horses are bad. If a good one has the misfortune to wind up on their farm it doesn't take them long to ruin it. As I said, is a direct reflection upon the people. Another big red flag for me is folks who say they can't get anybody to come out there. Every single time I've ever heard that I've always learned pretty quickly there's a real good reason nobody wants that work. Anybody who says that now I don't waste the time. Isn't worth my turning the key in the truck. Well crying out loud you're only trimming most of them! How much trouble do you expect in 10 minutes of work? I don't beat on them either. Is not worth the wasted effort. Kicking is a different story. You ever see a horse kick another horse? They can fire with enough force to kill a man. What does the one who gets kicked do? Just trots off and eats from a different pile. I couldn't hurt one if I tried. For that reason They will NEVER EVER get higher than me in the pecking order. They try to kick me I try to kill them. They don't try it again. And what do you propose to do about ignorance, owner neglect, people having horses who really can't afford them? The industry is in a shambles. If you can solve any of those issues you'll be in a league with King Solomon. Jumping into bed with the parasitic self appointed gurus who profit off of the ignorant and gullible is not the answer. Not a big Redden fan either. Early on he had some interesting ideas but over the years has gotten more and more whacko. He's another one who should stay on his side of the hairline. Ah Hah!!! Was waiting for that one! Sole Callous, Natural BS buzzword. No such anatomical structure It doesn't exist. It's a figment of Robert Bowker's fertile imagination. Read stuff written before 1990 you'll not see any such term. Observational is your designer term? Sounds very nice. I usually do the barn aisle trim myself although sometimes I'll switch it up and do the hitchrail trim. When I was on the track I did the box stall trim which I favored over the shedrow trim. I might even have a picture of me somewhere doing to corn crib trim. Good grief it really is getting higher and deeper around here Yeah I mentioned it already. I used the term "sophistry" And the feral hoof studies that became the foundational basis for the natural BS dogma have been proven to be flawed. They give themselves an out by saying it's ever evolving and constantly changing. If you don't like it it's because you don't understand it. If it doesn't work it's because it wasn't done properly, on and on. At my age I have a very low tolerance level for bovine excrement. You're assuming facts not in evidence. Some horses need shoeing some don't. What gives you this crazy belief that everything is lame? Is really no good reason you shouldn't have had that anyway. If not up to a certain point...you were doing something radically wrong from the get go. Don't forget the competitive disadvantages you put them at in the various competitions they participate in. Yes they've raced ran and jumped barefoot. Do they win anything? Not really to speak of. City carriage horses, Amish buggy horses, Drafts, Just about any animal that works for a living. Not going far without shoes. ,Well, Most of the horseshoers sites these days are dead. Go on them you can hear crickets chirp. Seems everybody has abandoned forums for facebook these days. I'm also not sure if Glenn approves of that as I know there are certain sites he doesn't want mentioned on here. I used to have mine in my signature line and it got removed with the new format. Can't get it back on. I'll send you some on a PM