freeman Posted April 27, 2011 Share Posted April 27, 2011 A friend brought by an entire box of horseshoes last night. Apparently his girlfriend got rid of one of her horses and had no further need for the shoes. I got to looking at the lot and all of them have this shiny outer layer that looks suspiciously like zinc or maybe chrome. Having run afoul of zinc during a disastrous experiment in casting brass I have no interest in poisoning myself further. Anyone know what this stuff might be and if it's safe to toss one of these things in the forge? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted April 27, 2011 Share Posted April 27, 2011 What brand? I could ask the farriers around here about them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattBower Posted April 27, 2011 Share Posted April 27, 2011 I'm no farrier, but are you certain they're not aluminum? I know there are aluminum shoes. I've never heard of plated shoes. Seems hard to imagine any plating would hold up to that kind of abuse for long. (But again, that doesn't mean they don't exist.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mat Posted April 27, 2011 Share Posted April 27, 2011 could be a dum question on my part but alot of modern horse shoes are aluminium ?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NRunals Posted April 27, 2011 Share Posted April 27, 2011 Having run afoul of zinc during a disastrous experiment in casting brass I have no interest in poisoning myself further. I don't mean to hijack your thread, but the timing of your post may have saved me from serious injury. Let me clarify as well as ask a question or two. I just got some broken cymbals (from a drum set) and I was planning on cutting them up into small pieces, melting them in my forge and then reforge them into cymbals again. As far as you know does all brass have zinc in it? Would this project be advisable? In regards to your horse shoes, I really don't know what it is. It may help others to identify what the material is if there was a picture available. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ironstein Posted April 27, 2011 Share Posted April 27, 2011 Brass is an alloy of copper and zinc. I wouldn't put it in your forge. Look what happened to Paw Paw. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Sells Posted April 27, 2011 Share Posted April 27, 2011 I don't mean to hijack your thread, but the timing of your post may have saved me from serious injury. Let me clarify as well as ask a question or two. I just got some broken cymbals (from a drum set) and I was planning on cutting them up into small pieces, melting them in my forge and then reforge them into cymbals again. As far as you know does all brass have zinc in it? Would this project be advisable? In regards to your horse shoes, I really don't know what it is. It may help others to identify what the material is if there was a picture available. Brass is an alloy of copper and zink so Yeah. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ramsberg Posted April 27, 2011 Share Posted April 27, 2011 Freeman, You may want to try cutting a piece of it off with a hacksaw. If it has a coating then you should be able to see a thin shell on the outside of the shoe. You could also ask the person that you got them from what type of shoes they are. Most people are pretty particular as to what type of shoes go on their horse. Caleb Ramsby Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NRunals Posted April 28, 2011 Share Posted April 28, 2011 Wow, I can't believe I didn't know that about brass... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank Turley Posted April 28, 2011 Share Posted April 28, 2011 It doesn't make sense to plate a horseshoe. It's going to get beat on cold or hot for fitting, and the thin coating will get distorted or burned away. Further, the horse is going to wear through a plating after a few steps. In the early days, some skilled horseshoers would make a "shoe board." They would forge a series of specialty shoes and would file finish and polish them. Each was then nickel plated and mounted on a board, often with a fancy frame surrounding the board and with a glass plate. The board was a display piece, a matter of pride. That's the only plating that I know about with horseshoes. Using common sense when melting brass will save you. Do your melting with (1) all doors and windows open; (2)outdoors; (3) under a fume cabinet. Whitish vapors are given off the liquid brass, and that is the zinc. http://www.turleyforge.com Granddaddy of Blacksmith Schools Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
archiphile Posted April 28, 2011 Share Posted April 28, 2011 As a horse owner, I let my Farrier do the purchasing of shoes. This person could of had these shoes plated for some other use. I would NOT touch'em if in I were you. My rule is that if I even suspect something of haveing a nasty coating on it I DON"T TOUCH IT PERIOD. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BIGGUNDOCTOR Posted April 28, 2011 Share Posted April 28, 2011 If they are light weight, and don't stick to a magnet they are aluminum. If you are worried about plating, trade them to a farrier for old worn out shoes. I am sure that you can find a farrier willing to do that trade. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freeman Posted April 28, 2011 Author Share Posted April 28, 2011 I don't mean to hijack your thread, but the timing of your post may have saved me from serious injury. Let me clarify as well as ask a question or two. I just got some broken cymbals (from a drum set) and I was planning on cutting them up into small pieces, melting them in my forge and then reforge them into cymbals again. As far as you know does all brass have zinc in it? Would this project be advisable? In regards to your horse shoes, I really don't know what it is. It may help others to identify what the material is if there was a picture available. Wikipedia has a list of cymbal alloys: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cymbal_alloys That being said, unless you're 100% certain the material in question doesn't contain zinc (bad) or lead (even worse) I'd skip it. I've had the flu, I've been food poisoned and in my opinion zinc is worse than either of these. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freeman Posted April 28, 2011 Author Share Posted April 28, 2011 Brass is an alloy of copper and zink so Yeah. If you're lucky zinc's the only nasty stuff in your brass. In addition to zinc there's a good chance it could be leaded and/or contain arsenic. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brass#Brass_types This is why I now stick to silicon or aluminum bronze for all of my cupric casting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Murray Posted April 28, 2011 Share Posted April 28, 2011 Sounds like you have some aluminum shoes . a lot of them are tumbled then run through a shot blast machine. or glass shot as some call it. it puts a finish on the aluminum so they dont corrode. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freeman Posted April 28, 2011 Author Share Posted April 28, 2011 Looks like I may have gotten excited about nothing. The shoes are St. Croix Forge lite shoes. Nothing on the manufacturer's website suggests they coat or treat their shoes with anything weird. On closer inspection in better light it looks like they're just solid steel shoes that had been polished to a high shine at one point but rust is starting to take over. I feel kinda stupid now. Carry on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spiritrider Posted April 28, 2011 Share Posted April 28, 2011 The dies horseshoes are forged on are highly polished in machining (to prevent sticking) and through use, that coupled with "scale" does make them look coated. Ours are not shotblasted. I have some aluminum shoes here that are at least 30 years old. spiritrider Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pkrankow Posted April 28, 2011 Share Posted April 28, 2011 Brass is going to tend to give more zinc fumes off if overheated. Use sense and ventilation. On trading, I bet a few new shoes get you a whole bucket of worn out shoes. Phil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted April 28, 2011 Share Posted April 28, 2011 Better safe than sorry! I think you would find that trying to recast the cymbal you would not get anything like the original material due to the burn off of zinc and the uptake of various gasses during the melt. I use my forge to melt a number of metals: copper, brass, bronze, tin, silver(fine and sterling). It's a useful skill but it is a skill and you need to study and practice it. learning that what you are going to melt may not be what ends up in the poured piece is part of that. Safety issues are generally worse with molten metal too! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paddy Posted April 30, 2011 Share Posted April 30, 2011 Hello, Being a working farrier and blacksmith. Horseshoes today are made from mainly 4 types of material ;- 1) Mild steel, standard keg shoes, most common. Only gets bright if its polished up / hammer finished or buffed up with a wheel, or sometimes get a glaze from the factory in the processing, depends what brand they are. 2) Aluminum (various grades T6 6061, or sturdier or softer stuff), common to racehorses mainly, but popular in mainstream hunter/jumpers, NB shoes,some western stuff. Then there are all the therapeutic cut shoes. 3) Titanium, were for awhile, popular - these would be shiny finish and very light. They are as hard as anything, and they 'sting' feet, the strength of the material is quite uncomfortable for a horse. Maybe these are the shiny shoes you have. If so, recycle them and get some money, as I doubt many farriers would use them. 4) Plastic shoes - no comment. Cheers, Paddy Falvey AFA CF paddysforge.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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