Hotshoein4 (Mark)

I sure am. I'm in Marengo

Always have high goals and shoot for them. Doing it good enough works, but you'll never be happy with it. It'll happen at some point

Go see a good orthopaedic surgeon. Get an MRI done. Not worth messing it up more. Find the problem and fix it. You're to young to live with that pain. Maybe early enough physical therapy could help. Maybe to late and might need surgery. I am NOT a doctor, just a guy that's had a lot of joint issues.

Crippled up farrier

I've made a few holdfasts from 5160. Kept them annealed. I would keep them annealed from the 1045 as well. They don't need to be hard. If they over bend, bend them back. You don't need to risk a crack or anything like that. Post a pic when you're done. Cheers

Wow, hard life indeed. Great job fixing it up

Thank you!

Thank you. I wasn't sure if it was an inlay or something else...? Lol I slit it slightly and put it in, but some parts popped out. Worked decent though I need to make one of these in the worst way! Excellent work Attempt at a calla lilly and hummingbird. Bird is a started it's life as a piece of 1 1/4x1/2 about 1 3/4" long or so. Needs a lot of help yet. Just when you make something to sell, mom always has priority. She took it over quickly

Made this shoehorn about 5 weeks ago before my second hip surgery. 35" long. RR spike forge welded to the 3/8x3/4 that I drew down. Decided to do something fancy for the twist. Rounded out opposite corners and layed in some copper wire on opposite sides then did a simple twist quick. Learned a bit about trying to keep that wire in there and how I'm going to try doing it next time. It was fun, finish is rough yet. Just wanted it done for me. I'll finish it when I'm recovered. Works great though!

Thank you

Don't you usually want a little nickel and chromium in the drift steel to make it a little tougher opposed to just a carbon steel? If using 4140 to drift, is it ok to dunk in water or is it going to make it brittle and explode? I made a mini axe and made a small drift from s7. It worked perfect and no distortion while drifting

Sweet jeeps! Wish I still had pictures of my 85 cj7. Loved that jeep. Also had a 2000 tj. I had a lot of fun in it. Unfortunately I don't have any pictures

They market something very similar to farriers and they fit into the hardy hole. Pretty dang handy

This was a fun project using 3 different metals. I started with 3/8x7/8 aluminum. I bumped the end up to have meat in there for the opener hole. Made the hole, then made half a shoe. Then tapered and made the good pick part. I used copper nails as rivets, a farrier thing, and attached the steel pick to the aluminum shoe. Then made the little cap opener and inserted it through and riveted it. Wish that was cleaner, but it works great. Aluminum can be tricky, but fun!

Yup, make what you can now, but it's not a bad idea to have goals. And honestly, they're not horrible to make. Just something to shoot for is all.

A bit of strength up near the boss, but I think mostly sex appeal. I personally like the looks. And when made, it takes some extra skill to achieve a nice looking shoulder. Are they needed, nope, but they look nice and show some hammer skills.

Turned out nice. I watched the same video. I like tong reins with the shoulders in them opposed to straight reins. Looks a bit better. Nice job

Very true and it kills all my hours of research and reading. Hahaha. I figure anymore at the end of the day, I got a great vise no matter the maker. As long as it works

Don't Columbian vises have an open screw box on the back? I'm still learning about these too. Such little information about them out there.

When I learned to forge weld, I welded rings out of mild steel. 5/16"x1/4". If the weld stuck, you could hold the ring on your finger, weld down, and tap it with a hammer lightly and it would have a nice ring to it. If the weld was bad, it would be a dull thunk sound. Just lots of practice and luck.

I can say Scott anvils are some of the better on the market by far. I one the tapered heel 100lb. I've used a striker with a 16lb sledge on it no problem. That little fella would be a fantastic anvil to own. He will stand behind his anvils 100% as well. They hold up great. Not to soft. I'd always say start with a 100lb, but if it's not in the budget, I think that little one would be just fine. Obviously don't expect a whole lot out of it as far as making heavy projects. I also agree with you, the amount people want for old banged up anvils is ridiculous. Good luck with whatever you decide on. Buy once, cry once.

Excellent bit of info on the stock size. Thanks

I think there's way to many variables in a rasp to properly say if they'd work harden or not.

A friend of mine was in Romania visiting with farriers and they were making them out of rebar there too.

I was touching on a few posts there. Didn't make that overly clear. Gotcha. There sure is a possibility of that. If i get my hands on some high carbon steel, id have no problem making shoes for a horse and trying it. Just have to keep it in the normalized state. We tend to quench everything. Lol. That would be a fun experiment for sure. I know mild steel is super slick on horses, it would be interesting to see if high carbon steel effects it more. Honestly though, some horses slide around more than others