BIGGUNDOCTOR Posted August 2, 2009 Share Posted August 2, 2009 I have an opportunity to get a TON of horseshoes from an estate, and you know how hard it is to turn material down I have one sculptural idea in mind, but would like some other ideas that you have seen, or make. I live in an area where horse property is common real estate terminology, so a horse related item should sell well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tyro Posted August 2, 2009 Share Posted August 2, 2009 hoof pick,napkin holder,bridle rack ,table, chairs,clothes hook, gate latch, magazine rack, rope hook, railing..................................................... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
longhunter Posted August 2, 2009 Share Posted August 2, 2009 A wine rack would be a cool idea , you can weld up to make the frame of a coffee table and put a glass top on it . I got to see a real neat coat rack that was free standing made from a bunch of horse shoes ,Hoof pick and have made hearts out of the shoes for deco in homes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beth Posted August 2, 2009 Share Posted August 2, 2009 once saw a nice bench seat with curved back and little roof of welded together shoes - no frame just shoes- quite sweet really:) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arftist Posted August 2, 2009 Share Posted August 2, 2009 Hang one over your shop door, to catch good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John B Posted August 2, 2009 Share Posted August 2, 2009 Here's some ideas, seen at the Royal Agricultural Show some years ago, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlotte Posted August 2, 2009 Share Posted August 2, 2009 (edited) Used horse shoe art is very popular for some reason. Anything that can be pieced together out of horse shoe's can be sold as art. Cowboys, with (wire) rope lassos catching Horse shoe cattle is always a big attention getter. It doesn't matter if the shoe has been twisted 5 ways from sunday. As long as you can still recognize it as starting as a used shoe you can sell it. ;) Edited August 2, 2009 by Charlotte PS I'm thinking table top art not the monumental works above. Take to horse shows . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimbob Posted August 2, 2009 Share Posted August 2, 2009 look for the book "101 Things you can build from Horseshoes" by W.F. Dohrmann 1985 no ISBN so must be self published Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BIGGUNDOCTOR Posted August 2, 2009 Author Share Posted August 2, 2009 Alrighty then, I had seen some trivits, and a chair, but you all have given me some other good ideas to get started. I have a picture of a horse that my Dad had taken on a trip to visit relatives. It did use a ton of shoes plus some other horse appropriate scrap. I picked out a couple bigger, and more interesting shoes to hang on my front gate to the house. One big shoe had a couple of large thumbscrew looking pieces attached to it. Don't know if they were possibly for winter traction up on Mt Charleston. Whatever it was for, it was a big horse. Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Ameling Posted August 2, 2009 Share Posted August 2, 2009 (edited) Those studs in the horse shoes are called Caulks. They are for added traction - often used on "winter" shoes. Western Horseman magazine compiled a book called Horseman's Scrapbook by Randy Steffen isbn 0-911647-07-4. It has a LOT of ideas for using old horse shoes. My copy says The Revised at the top, and was published in 1986. I've got a couple "cowboy" sculptures made from horse shoes that another farrier made up years ago. I will see if I can get some pics of them and post them. Two tacked together at the heels and at a 90 degree angle become book ends for the shelf. Two with a short length of pipe welded between the ends and a rod passed through both becomes a door hinge. One welded on its side to an iron plate so that it sticks out works as a coat hook, or hanger for tack. A pair of them become a gun rack (with a little leather wrapping to protect the gun). Also --- frames for pictures like snapshots of the family. A series of shoes welded by their heels and at 90 degrees to a pair of iron bars turns them into a CD or DVD rack - either setting on a shelf or bolted upright to the wall (just get the "flat" sides all facing up). A slight tilt for the wall mount helps hold the cd's or dvd's in - kind of like a magazine rack. And the options can go on and on and on ... Mikey Edited August 2, 2009 by Mike Ameling Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimbob Posted August 2, 2009 Share Posted August 2, 2009 I saw one the other day forged into a crescent moon with a nose forged in ...Man in the Moon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BIGGUNDOCTOR Posted August 3, 2009 Author Share Posted August 3, 2009 I just did a Google search for horseshoe crafts, and got a lot of ideas. Toilet paper / paper tower holders, napkin holders, door knockers, various racks / hooks. candle holders, wall sconces, boot jack,coffee mug trees, and a shoe and branding iron towel bar. The CD rack sound interesting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas Dean Posted August 3, 2009 Share Posted August 3, 2009 WOW! some GREAT ideas and JohnB, Thanks for those photos! Something that has sold well for me is a 'snake' from horseshoes, if they have a caulk even better as they can be made into 'rattlesnakes' the extra material forges into a nice head and then the other end make square, twist, the flatten to form rattlers. If you are doing a demo, have one laying on the ground close to where the crowd will be and once in a while 'warn' them of the 'snake' at their feet! Get's 'em every time:) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted August 3, 2009 Share Posted August 3, 2009 Hinges---roll the ends over a pin and drill out the nail holes for screws. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HWooldridge Posted August 3, 2009 Share Posted August 3, 2009 OK - how come nobody said you use old horseshoes to shoe old horses? Sorry, couldn't resist... It was already mentioned but lots of folks like gun and hat racks made with them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nakedanvil - Grant Sarver Posted August 3, 2009 Share Posted August 3, 2009 Hwooldridge: Can't you get a shorter handle than that? My finger is tired before I get to the subject. You been hangin' with Frosty way too much! I surely don't know which one of you is worse (better?). So, when people find out you're a blacksmith, do they ask how you got that way? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crazypyro448 Posted August 3, 2009 Share Posted August 3, 2009 I turn them into hearts for candle holder bases etc. Trivets, Split it in half and make a fork/ spoon set out of it, Buisness card holders/Picture holders, Fold in half for a nice Folding knife handle, put some hooks on it to make a keychain holder, decorate it up to hang on a wall, use it as a back for a door knocker (use a railroad spike for a striking piece fixed to it like a hinge), ... The list goes on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HWooldridge Posted August 4, 2009 Share Posted August 4, 2009 Hwooldridge: Can't you get a shorter handle than that? My finger is tired before I get to the subject. You been hangin' with Frosty way too much! I surely don't know which one of you is worse (better?). So, when people find out you're a blacksmith, do they ask how you got that way? Heh-heh. I got a million of 'em. Dat's my boy dat said dat...ha-chaaa-chaaa-cha. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oak Hill Forge Posted August 4, 2009 Share Posted August 4, 2009 I'm the most guilty of saving pictures of someone elses great ideas ! I think this one came of this site and once again (NOT MY IDEA / DESIGN) and if it was yours please claim it, but it cracked me up and I enjoyed it at any rate ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GD85 Posted August 4, 2009 Share Posted August 4, 2009 I hang my angle grinders, die grinder, hand drill, broom, and dust pan on my brick wall from brackets made of used horseshoes welded together. They look and work nice for a 2 minute job each. I have also made several wine racks, a door knocker, a flower sculpture, a steak/pigtail flipper, short bbq forks etc. from these. It is kind of gross when you think where the shoe has been, but you just have to tell yourself that the heat from the forge probably killed anything bad! The wine racks which I have given away and sold are painted. The steak flipper and forks I treated with baked/burnt on vegetable oil and have kept for personal use, I have yet to get sick. Just some ideas, Take care, -Grant Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HWooldridge Posted August 4, 2009 Share Posted August 4, 2009 I haven't seen it mentioned yet but at one time, most shoes were typically made from very low carbon steel so they would cold work easily. That characteristic makes them easier to forge than what passes for mild steel these days and also would probably make a good base material for damascus. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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