October 17, 201312 yr Not exactly blacksmithing but perhaps interesting nevertheless http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-10-17/an-horse-shoe-printed-by-3d-to-improve-racing-performance/5027306
October 17, 201312 yr Maybe I should get back into farrier work. $150 for the cost of the shoe and $????? to put it on.
October 17, 201312 yr A number 8 draft doesn't come in at 1 killo, in steel, much less a 0 aluminum racing plate. New t trick with 3D printing to be sure but the reporter is a bit daft. Some of the exotic shoeing packages for gated horses come in close.
October 17, 201312 yr Author A number 8 draft doesn't come in at 1 killo, in steel, much less a 0 aluminum racing plate. New t trick with 3D printing to be sure but the reporter is a bit daft. Some of the exotic shoeing packages for gated horses come in close. I agree the reporter made a bit of a mess of the story. The technical details are here http://www.csiro.au/Portals/Media/CSIRO-leads-additive-manufacturing-charge-with-new-titanium-facility.aspx
October 17, 201312 yr That and the price tag, that's about 5 sets of soes, installed. Other than bragging rights you need 25 resets to break even, god forbid you lose a shoe. But as far as cool, look what we can do... Great advertising. One wanders what a set of Brian's "ultamant" tongs would cost? Always was partial to purple
October 17, 201312 yr The shape of a horses hoof is in direct relationship to the internal bone inside,,the coffin bone. I have had maybe a hundresd of these bones in my hands over the years and not one of them is symetrical. they are longer around the outside edge than they are the inside edge. And the hoof properly trimmed will be the same. And of course I suspect there must somewhere be an abnormally shaped one that defies the norm. The shoe pictured appears to me to be the same shape on inside branch as it is on the outside branch. Which means in all likely hood wouild mean shaping to fit the foot. And that means the same for all four of the feet. A good farrier can hot shape that properly. Not sure it will look the same when fitted correctly! Steel or aluminum keg shoes have the same problem...some brands need to be reshaped entirely to fit a well trimmed hoof,,,some other brands not so much involved. If the shoe in the pic is not symertrical and does indeed fit the hoof properly or if this is one of the abnormal foot horses that does not follow the rest of the herd then nevermind all I just said.
October 17, 201312 yr Well said Rich. Do you still shoe, or have you gotten smarter than the rest of us?
October 18, 201312 yr Author . . . . .Steel or aluminum keg shoes have the same problem...some brands need to be reshaped entirely to fit a well trimmed hoof,,,some other brands not so much involved. If the shoe in the pic is not symertrical and does indeed fit the hoof properly or if this is one of the abnormal foot horses that does not follow the rest of the herd then nevermind all I just said. My understanding is the horse shoes will be custom made for each hoof by scanning the hoof with some sort of 3D scanner which is sent to the printer via the internet and 24 hours later the shoes are ready for use. The custom made Ti horseshoes are really just a demonstrator of the capability of the metal printing facility by horse and sport obsessed Aussies will to pay bet silly money on two flies crawling up a wall . Elsewhere in the world 3D Ti printing is being used to make custom made all sorts of useful stuff like replacement bone inserts /implants.
October 18, 201312 yr A and M university in Texas did some involved work with scanners to determine pressure points and centers of gravity with the horse at rest and in motion. And repeated the work after foot was trimmed and again after being shod...Dr. Hood if i remember right. Would be interesting to know if he is adding this technology to the program.
November 10, 201312 yr Rich is correct. If I remember my reading rightly, the old books 'Horseshoeing' by Dollar & Wheatley, and 'A Textbook of Horseshoeing' by Lungwitz & Adams, show diagrams of the foot being fuller and more rounding on the lateral side. I think it was Professor William Russell who wrote books showing the absolutely symmetrical foot [wrong!]. Russell may have been a good hand at the anvil. However, some people are good in the forge and don't know what to do under a horse and vice versa. Sayings and Cornpone "You can get used to anything. You can get used to hanging, if you hang long enough." Okie saying from Pawhuska.
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