Randy Posted March 14, 2012 Share Posted March 14, 2012 Okay, here I go... I hate horseshoes! Anyone with me on this? Am I turning into Lewis Black? I guess it's connected to being associated with horse shoeing for so many years. From day one, "I'm a blacksmith." "Oh, do you shoe horses?" "No, just flies." Seemed like no matter what I was demonstrating, flowers, dragons' heads, hardware, you name it, someone always said, "look at him. He's making horseshoes!" I show people my portfolio or they see my work and it's, "wow, I didn't expect that! But do you shoe horses, too?" Aargh!!! What's the big deal about bending a "U" even if it is on the side of the material? Hey, I appreciate farriers tremendously. That takes a lot of education and skill. Plus you put your life out there every day. I know a lot of farriers and many have either have bad backs, knees kicked off, multitude of cuts, bites, etc. Not for me. So I have great respect for them. A lot of our smiths started that way, too. I know they just want to show you that they know something about what you're doing and maybe have some past connection with a blacksmith as they saw one once... I guess it's just educating the public. But after 40 years and the number of smiths today and the number of articles and shows and demos, come on! Maybe we need a new name instead of "blacksmith" so there's no confusion? Guess while I'm at it.... I hate rr spikes, too. Again, what's the big deal??? It's metal, so? Metal is available in bar lengths, too. And you can order exactly the type and size that we want. Maybe it's just me. I just don't see it. Well, maybe this will get some response? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clinton Posted March 14, 2012 Share Posted March 14, 2012 Can I add rebar to this list? I feel the same way Randy, and I wish I had a dime for every time someone says, "My______ was a blacksmith" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Backwoods Blacksmith Posted March 14, 2012 Share Posted March 14, 2012 Well, I have to agree with the previous sentiments. I know that I have hammered tons of rebar into tent stakes. trivits, campfire tools etc. The same with horse shoes. I think I have horse shoe cowboys in every bank and real estate office between Katherens Landing and Yuma. At the time I was glad to get the free material. Now I am working on useing RR spikes as decore enhancements. I have two 5 gal buckets of them and will be glad to see the bottom. By the way. Is spell check avaliable in this venue? I can't seem to find it in the above tool bar. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seldom (dick renker) Posted March 14, 2012 Share Posted March 14, 2012 Randy, My background is a farrier as well although I have pounded on iron befor I started that. And I can understand your frustration. One of feeders to this problem is exposure. I gave demo's at schools, group meeting , 4h and the list goes on. Plus when you are working at a stable you exposed to the public even more. So today as soon as someone hears blacksmith, right away they think horse shoes. I guess it just comes with the territory. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Francis Trez Cole Posted March 14, 2012 Share Posted March 14, 2012 people just do not get it at all. Randy I just read the book the village blacksmith and Blacksmith, Farriers and wheelwrights formed separate guilds in the 1600's. so its not a new thing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seldom (dick renker) Posted March 14, 2012 Share Posted March 14, 2012 Oh and yes my back is shot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob S Posted March 14, 2012 Share Posted March 14, 2012 I avoid using the 'b' word for that very reason. If I have to categorize myself I call myself a metal worker. The 'b' word evokes the whole spreading chestnut tree image and seems to limit creativity with way to much emphasis on the boogity boogity of forge welding as the be all and end all. But I kinda like rr spikes. :unsure: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted March 14, 2012 Share Posted March 14, 2012 I don't know about you but 5 neighbors that live within 2 houses of me own horses for a bit over 20 in the close neighborhood. They were quite disappointed to find out that when I said I was a blacksmith I wasn't a farrier! But I don't complain about their horses and they don't complain about my smithy and we get down the road pretty well. Thomas Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beth Posted March 14, 2012 Share Posted March 14, 2012 as a uk'er - railroad spikes seem very exotic - this item seems to be peculiuer to you USA'ers, and that gives it a certain cool :) we do have horse shoes tho.... :) and where i live there are swarms of horsey type people (not me..) and their farriers, although i have to say some of the competition shoes i was shown recently, forge welded in the centre with extra bits and bobs looked blimmin lovely, and i am thoroughly impressed with what farriers can do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
macbruce Posted March 14, 2012 Share Posted March 14, 2012 Good rant Randy.... B) .....I'm sick of em too. Jim Wallace as far back as 76' said something to the effect of; ''It's time people realized there's more to this than making bottle openers from RR spikes'' Here, Hear Jim! If I see horseshoe or RR spike describing a item posted anymore I pass....Spikes and shoes adnausm. If it's something good, I'd sooner not be able to tell or read it came from either of those two, the novelty is long gone...... As far as the ''B'' word, I wear too many hats to feel comfy in that box and I'm sick of fielding q's about horseshoes and XXXX. I do metal work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tzonoqua Posted March 14, 2012 Share Posted March 14, 2012 My farrier dropped in to my workshop yesterday for a chat, funny enough he said he was getting annoyed at people asking him if he made gates!! :rolleyes: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin W Posted March 14, 2012 Share Posted March 14, 2012 Heehee...I hear ya'. When I'm in situ with those folks I say something about the differience between making a shoe and getting it on a horse, followed up quickly with something about orthpedic ferriers and corrections to the ... ( by this point in the conversation I have no idea what I'm talking about) ... If they glaze over I talk about what I do to see if they are looking to hire me, if not , I'm in over my head and and reffer them our local ferrier while averting my eyes. It has never really bothered me too much, but I really don't do demos either. In fact I rarely leave the house ( thats where my shop is ). Hey Randy, You probably dont remember but I sent you an e-mail through your web site more than a year ago, b-4 I found this site, about a particularly wide and flat type of 5 burner gas forge. The job didn't come through so I never built that forge ,but, I do remember how impressed I was with your willingness to respond , and in the response. Thanks, Kevin from Alabama "don't let it get you down, its only castels burning" Neil Young "If all you have is a hammer pretty soon everything you see starts looking like a nail" Mark Twain Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
macbruce Posted March 14, 2012 Share Posted March 14, 2012 as a uk'er - railroad spikes seem very exotic - this item seems to be peculiuer to you USA'ers, and that gives it a certain cool :) we do have horse shoes tho.... :) and where i live there are swarms of horsey type people (not me..) and their farriers, although i have to say some of the competition shoes i was shown recently, forge welded in the centre with extra bits and bobs looked blimmin lovely, and i am thoroughly impressed with what farriers can do. i am thoroughly impressed with what farriers can do. As am I......''They kept the fires burning during the dark ages'' as a pal of mine likes to say.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich Hale Posted March 14, 2012 Share Posted March 14, 2012 I see both sides of this matter, based on personal experience. When folks ask me that since I smith do I shoe horses I simply say I used to. i really learned to smith turning shoes and makeing the tools to make them right. Body mechanics, fire management, steel selection, all of the things a smith needs came from shoeing. Randy the only way I feel you can appreciate wot a farrier does is to walk in their shoes a bit. And farriers that have not stepped away from the horses into a working smithy may benefit by tht experience. when I suggest you walk in their shoes I do not mean get under a horse. but if you can find a farrier willing to let ride wiith them for a day, When he shapes a shoe to fit a hoof, maybe he will allow you to shape one for one of the other feet. Etc. Then invite him to your shop for a swap of skills. I guess I hate folks that hate stuff........OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOoooooooooooooooooooouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuccccccchhh I am one of them now.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seldom (dick renker) Posted March 14, 2012 Share Posted March 14, 2012 And people are educated(?) by hollywood. Did you ever see a movie that had a blacksmith scene in where he was hammering on any but a horse shoe.? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eric sprado Posted March 14, 2012 Share Posted March 14, 2012 All of the above is fine except resentment for" My grandfather was a blacksmith". Does that mean you don't want YOUR grandkids to remember you as a blacksmith??? I'd kind of like mine to remember me as such. I prefer that to "my grandfather was an old time computer programmer". Time comes soon enough when we are only dust and completely forgotten. Let the kid cherish the memory of grandpa when he/she watches your demo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bigred1o1 Posted March 14, 2012 Share Posted March 14, 2012 By the way. Is spell check avaliable in this venue? I can't seem to find it in the above tool bar. for spell check just right click in the "Reply to this topic" text window and you can select check spelling in the in the drop down menu that shows up Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich Hale Posted March 14, 2012 Share Posted March 14, 2012 Thanks Big Red. I can use a spell check thing everytime I get on here.Unfortunatly on my drop down menu there is no spell check,,,,, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larry H Posted March 14, 2012 Share Posted March 14, 2012 So whats going on ? You mean you people didn't shoe horses in the beginning ?...I guess its OK, I don't though, I'll have to check with the others..... I'll get back to you.....or not Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted March 14, 2012 Share Posted March 14, 2012 I think a lot of the current thinking that blacksmiths shoe horses comes from post WWII America. Blacksmithing was a dieing craft until the mid 70's at least as anything but the farrier's craft. Lots of farriers but few ornamental or restoration smiths till recently. Okay, maybe there were lots but you never heard of them, except the occasional shot of someone in a movie or TV show holding a top tool upside down over a piece of hot iron. I try not to get irritated doing demos, even by the folk who insist I'm doing it wrong or it isn't a "real" fire or . . . Actually I appreciate these folk, they provide such splendid straight lines and I LOVE a good straight line. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HWHII Posted March 14, 2012 Share Posted March 14, 2012 Randy, When you come for the demo this weekend. Please pay no attention to the 5 gal. buckets of horse shoes and railroad spikes I have laying around. Just think of them as scrap metal. ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LDW Posted March 14, 2012 Share Posted March 14, 2012 I like horse shoes, I make several things out of them. I like railroad spikes, I make several things out of those too. People like to buy things made of railroad spikes also. As far as shoeing horses. Our President of the MS Forge Councils explains to people when they ask if he can shoe horses, that he can shoe a horse as good as anyone, he then proceeds to put his hands down by his sides with the palms facing the people as if pushing them away and says shoo horse shoo. By the way my Grandfather was a Blacksmith, my uncle asked me one day if I wanted his tools. Thats how I got into this. My Grandfather was also born in 1896. I am not ranting by no means just telling my side. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dablacksmith Posted March 14, 2012 Share Posted March 14, 2012 this is a dissucion i have with school kids a lot when i demo and theyre take on blacksmiths is usually "blacksmith ... you make swords and armor" not any better in my opinion but i satill get a lot of older people who have no clue ... but the same people think my coke burning and ask "so where is the propane" or "is that electric?" they never have seen a fire!its kinda scarry..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blacksmithpete Posted March 14, 2012 Share Posted March 14, 2012 Hmmm Im sure back in the good ol dayz the village smithy use to shoe horses in the quiet times for a little extra money butidostandtobecorrected B S Pete by the way I do make horseshoes Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peacock Posted March 15, 2012 Share Posted March 15, 2012 Well my grandfather was not a Blacksmith, But my my wife'sBlacksmith is a Grandfather. I have shod horses, I do make shoes for farriers to put on horses, I have even made RR spikes. What I like best is forging Little Giant power hammer parts. I doubt if many people would call that blacksmithing but I do. The question I like best at demos is "have you ever got burned", My responce is "yes but I'm over her now" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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