3DistinctKnocks

Final product.

She's tickled!  I polished it up really nice this morning.  Went up to 1500 grit with water.  Its "purty" but still has dings and some hammer marks, which she wanted.  Thanks for the comments.

Thanks very much, VaughnT.  I wasn't really wanting something SUPER sharp...she's 12 after all and I'd feel really bad if she ended up getting sutures because of something I made.  I seriously considered splitting what would be the cutting edge and forge welding in a section of tool steel.  I wasn't quite comfortable with doing something that advanced just yet, so I just forged out the horseshoe instead...basically relying on what little hardening I could do with a basic heat treat and quench.  After a couple of quenches, I put it in the oven at 375 for a few hours.  Like I said, I'm a complete newbie and just took what information I've gleaned from this site and put it to use.  I didn't really want to start out making knives...that wasn't my goal.  My daughter presented me with a challenge, so I did what I could with what little I know at this point.  I'm really wanting to make hooks, rivets, and other stuff that can be used around the house and farm.

So, my 12 year old daughter (one of the twins) wanted a hunting knife.  I couldn't find one that I was comfortable with her having so I decided to make her one.  I've rigged up a little charcoal forge out of an old cast iron sink and picked up a nice piece of rr track for an ASO.  I had several horseshoes laying around off of our TN Walkers.  Jayme loves riding and hunting so I made her a horseshoe knife.  Keep in mind that this is my first attempt at anything forging-related so don't expect to see Excalliber!  I'm not entirely done with sanding and finishing, but I thought I'd show ya'll what I have at the moment.  I somewhat heat treated the blade section and it is a little harder than the handle (quarters and heel) so while it does hold an edge somewhat, it won't cut a cord of wood if you drop it.  I stamped her initials on the heel, which will get a good polish.  My initial and the year is stamped on the back of the handle (not shown).  Maybe she'll end up using it as a letter opener as an adult.  Might even pass it on to her kids when I'm old and gray-er.

 but if I used the blower I've got forging temps in 5 so where's the benefit?

Just throwing out a suggestion.

You can pick up a "grill chimney" from walmart for very little $.  Just pour in your corn, charcoal, or coal.  Twist up a sheet of newspaper and drizzle some cooking oil over it.  Light it with a match and give 'er a few minutes to let it get burning.  10-15 minutes later, you have a good heart.  No air blast necessary.

Beautiful work.  I especially like the first knife.  I use one very similar to that when skinning game and absolutely love the blade shape.  Very impressive work.

I'll post some pics later tonight, but I thought I'd let ya'll know that I gave the "sink forge" a go today.  I didn't line it with clay or anything.  Using charcoal, it got so hot that I nearly burned up the end of a horse shoe I was heating and banging on.  I used a standard hair dryer (wife bought a new one recently) as a blower.  After using it on high, I decided to leave it on the low setting.  The heat was actually melting the ceramic off of the cast iron!  Gonna do a lot of tweaking to get it to where I want it to be, but this was only the first round.

Thanks for all the advise on this thread, guys!

Thanks, guys.  I'll try to take a couple of shots of her hooves and side view.  I work nights so I'll be hitting the sack in the next hour or so.  Here's a side view that I already have.

Here's a shot of the biggest amount of riding we do on her right now (its too $#&% hot for anything more!!)  Sorry the feet aren't shown, but then again ya'll get to see my cute little girl.

And for your viewing pleasure Mr. Turley, here's a shot of my wife's uncle about to mount his ole Tenn. Walker back in the 50's

Whether to do a major trim on an abused/neglected horse is decided case by case. And may involve the assistance of a large animal Vet with horse experience. For those horse left go so long that they have rams horn kinds of hoofs a foot long or more a vet will  likely ask for a dramatic trim...those can involve electric saws to get back to the point nippers can be used. For horses that are a couple of inches longer than would be appropriate. Bring back at least close to proper angles may be done right away. How the horse is kept plays a large part for me. If it is stall bound in deep bedding the proper angles are not quite as important as ,if like yours it is being ridden barefoot. Just being ridden changes the matter. When we climb aboard things are different. Then things like proper alignment of the joints at P1, P2, P3 are needed to keep lower legs healthy. I would also want to take a look at wot you describe as lamina stretching. Sometimes just long hoof walls will show that. sometimes it requires more study. A trained farrier develops a sense of feel for the trimmed sole of the foot and may be able to tell problem areas inside the capsul with fingers or hoof testers. So back to wot I typed above....I would not touch this horse with information gleaned from text or limited pics. 

However I am a strong believer in the  "its yours shop,,your rules" approach, applied here its " your horse"

Thanks for your perspective, Mr. Hale.  It is very much appreciated.

Mr. Turley, Mr. Stevens, thanks for your responses as well.  Its good to hear from experienced smiths and farriers such as yourselves.  I've been around horses all my life, but haven't messed with hooves much other than doing the basic picking and rasping.  And....sorry to hijack the thread!!!

She's 15 years old, Tenn. Walker.  I wish we'd taken a few pictures of her when we got her.  Her front feet were HORRIBLE!  Thrushy, overgrown, and hadn't been picked out in years.  The main reason I posted the picture and question is just to get other folks' opinion on her from the poorly shot picture that I had after her initial trim and description .  We primarily ride her on dirt and in wooded areas.  Her heels look good once trimmed up.  Cracks are minimal on the hoof wall, especially now that she's been trimmed up.  We have no plans to shoe her at the moment, but winter might change that depending on how cold and muddy it'll get.  She's in good health overall.  Her hoof wall seems to grow quickly and that's another reason I don't want to put shoes on her right now.  If we rode her on blacktop or in rocky conditions, I'd shoe her but for now she's barefoot.  My biggest question (and I'm really asking for farrier's opinions) is do you suggest a major trim on an overgrown hoof or to work it back gradually?  That's been my biggest conundrum.  I'm not farrier, but I do have some horse-sense.  If I run into an issue that I have any big doubts about, off to the Amish farrier we go.  I'd rather spend some big bucks to keep a horse in good shape than to let pride get in the way and allow a horse to suffer needlessly.  Like the old saying goes...an ounce of prevention outweighs a pound of cure.

As a farrier, what would you do with these hooves? 

I've been working on her hooves for about 6 weeks.  This is the "before" shot (Sorry for the poor quality of the photo.  I didn't take a side view shot, either).  For now, she's barefoot.  I've trimmed the toes back a good 1.25 inches and taken her quarters in as well to round everything up.  Lamina had been stretched and could be seen on the bottom.  She was shod before she came to us.  When I took off her shoes, she had a pretty bad case of thrush, which has been treated and is now cleared up.  She had a lot of false sole which has been removed since this photo.  Her bars are well defined and the white walls are tightening up now.

Would you leave her barefoot or put shoes on? 

Waylon,

Here's a rooster for you to shoe.

I thought about putting this in the Anvil forum, but was hesitant.

Browsing on eBay just now, I came across a church windows blacksmith anvil dated 1819 that, according to the seller, was in the Tim Kris collection and was on display at The Anvil Museum in Brasstown, NC.  I know a lot of you guys like antique/collectable anvils so I thought I'd give ya'll a head's up. 

Looks like something off of an old cotton picker.  On the other hand, its probably from the Roswell crash site.  :ph34r:

I have to strongly agree with Tim here.  Until you get into heavy bar or tool steels steel is CHEAP.  You can buy a 20' length of 3/8" round for less than $10. The predictability is well worth the small cost.  Do you want to spend a couple of hours making something and then have it break because you wanted to save 50cents on material.

 

If you don't know where to find steel locally join your local ABANA chapter, not only will you learn lots at the meetings but you can ask local people which steelyards are open on Saturdays and small customer friendly or which fab shops will sell you drops or full lengths at a reasonable price.  Chances are there are professional smiths in the group who will sell you steel if there are no local steelyards open when you are available.  If you are buying from a local smith or fab shop pay CASH and don't be a nuisance be prepared to cut the bar in half yourself, even if they mark it up a little they are not really making any money on the deal if it takes them any time. If it takes a bunch of time they are LOSING money. 

 

When I worked for someone else and I needed steel midweek I used to leave work at 4:30 and as long as traffic was OK I could make it to the steel yard 15 minutes before they closed.  If I needed them to make a bunch of cuts I would pay and then pick the steel up the next day after work.  Many steelyards open at 7am so you may be able to go before work.

Thanks for the advise.  I work nights, and I'm off duty some during the week, so this isn't really a problem.  Just doing a quick 'net search yielded a couple of metal suppliers in my area. 

I know this has probably been beat to death, but would regular ole rebar be sufficient to use for decorative items like wall hangers, draw/cabinet handles, and the like?  Nothing really weight bearing or structural, just decorative items.

Excellent work with a beautiful little cutter as the result!  The ONLY thing I would change would be the color of the leather sheath.  I think a rich mocha brown would have complimented the handle materials very nicely.  Great job, man.

I recently saw a YouTube video of some folks incorporating his wife's ashes into metal for an everyday carry knife along with a few smaller pieces for jewelry.  Those guys did a canister weld method mixing the cremains with the powdered steel.  They used a stainless square tube with a smaller mild steel square tube set into the ss tube at a 45 degree angle (a diamond in a square basically).  Slivers of high carbon steel and nickle steel were set into the tubes, then several grades of powdered steel and nickle steel (mixed with the cremains) were poured into the gaps.  A cap was welded on after squirting some WD-40 into the canister.  Canister was brought to welding temperature and pressed to create a billet.  Once the piece was solidified, the exterior stainless tube was stripped away and the billet was cut, folded, and welded several times to refine the billet.

I don't know what the ash/steel mix ratio was. 

Pure sweetness.  Congratulations!

I've started using the TPAAAT method (Thanks, Mr. Powers!!!) recently and within just a few days I have a couple of solid leads to folow up on.  I work in a hospital and that gives me ample opportunities to talk to some of our older citizens.  I asked an elderly gent the other day if he knew of any one wanting to "get rid" of an old anvil.  He told me a "feller" came by the other day that had 3 for sale.  A nice 200lb'er for around $100 that looked like it was in really good shape.  Another man told me he did a lot of buying and selling for auctions, be he hadn't come across an anvil in a while.  I gave him my card anyway...just to be sure.  On my way to work tonight, I had a sudden "urge" to stop somewhere...anywhere that had a bathroom.  Since its Labor Day, the only store between my house and the hospital was closed.  There was a small auction building that happened to have some folks unloading stuff getting ready for tonight's auction.  Made the pit stop and talked to the owner of the auction place.  He said he got anvils in pretty regularly selling for about $1/lb. 

I was thinking the same thing, Stuart.  KYBOY, that anvil is ruined....not worth a thing.  Allow me to properly dispose of it for you.  No no...I don't mind. ;)

My wife calls me "Tim the Tool-Man Taylor"!  Recently my wife was out of state picking up a horse while I was at home with the kids (twins were 11, youngest was 7).  I figured I'd go ahead a fit up an old double bit axe head to a new handle.  Rasped down the section that fits into the head a bit to get a good fit.  Thought I'd do a little better with a pocket knife.  My wife calls my knives "suicidal sharp".  My idiot self places my right hand onto the wood to "clamp" it down while I shaved off some wood.  The blade turned toward the pinky side of my hand and I thought prophetically to myself, "Self...it would really suck if this knife slipped."  No  sooner than I thought it, the blade skipped off the hickory and stopping itself into the meat of my right hand. 

I dropped the blade, clamped my other hand over the wound and wriggled my pinky to make sure it still worked.  Good to go.  Blood everywhere.  Called to Jayme and told her to get her sisters in the house.  Jayme did that and, seeing blood, asked me what happened.  Seeing the wound, she ran and got the trauma kit and helped me bandage it tightly.  Peggy grabbed the phone off my belt and called my dad, asking him to meet us at the ER since mom was out of town.  Morran (the baby) started cleaning up the blood off the floor. 

11 stitches later in the ER where I work (don't laugh), my wife arrives with horse trailer still attached.  Everyone gets a good chuckle.  I work at the hospital and do NOT come to the ER unless its truly an emergency.  They see me come in out of uniform, they start dragging out suture kits.

Moral to the story...never cut TOWARD your skin!  Goes for cut off wheels, knives, chisels, etc.

I agree with the last two posters, but if you want to do a little something to give it a "more" personal touch, have the vase section professionally engraved with the couple's names and date of marriage.  Just a thought.

Not an estate sale, but a friend of mine whom I told I was looking for an anvil texted me yesterday from a outdoor flea market and said she just found a 50lb rr track anvil.  Told her I was looking for something in the 200lb range, but thanks for being on the lookout for me.  She replied and said the guy selling it told her that I'd better buy it 'cause I wasn't going to find anything better.  Can you believe that!?!