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I Forge Iron

Ideas For Forged Items From Horseshoes


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Ok. So here's one that will go along with this thread. It's several years old. I think it probably has my 1st married name on it....

I don't have many drawings because I usually give them away. Sorry if it comes out really big. I'm on a device I don't usually post pictures from 

image.jpeg

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CGL, your horse drawing is eye-popping.  Your horseshoe hooks are just fine, look good.  I would suggest an overnight bath in vinegar, quick rinse in water, quick dunk in baking soda bath, dry and wire brush.  I spray mine with Rustoleum clear matte spray for rust protection.

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Glad y'all like the drawing. Kinda weird to post that here. I used to frequent an art forum, but haven't looked at it in awhile. Looking at Randy's post reminded me my MIL had given me a couple of Christmas reindeer made from shoes because I didn't have much to work with then. I cut them apart and they became something else. I think each one had like 6 shoes holding them together. 

Thomas, good idea for a simple doorstop. 

arkie, I may do that with those hooks. That's straight out of the forge. I didn't ever clean them up because I wasn't too sure I liked them. But if you think they look alright, I may go ahead and finish them up. 

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6 hours ago, CrazyGoatLady said:

We thought about harness training my big wether to pull a cart,

A chariot, I started to make a chariot for a team of 4 African Pygmy goats but Deb and I went a different direction. You have leads, hay forks, rakes, shovels, etc. to hang in the barn. Horse shoe implement hooks are easy peasy to make, about as difficult as the door stop. 

Horse shoe horse head hoof picks are easy sellers at the feed and seed. Dragon's heads and sea serpent openers at the card & game store.

Frosty The Lucky.

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  • 4 weeks later...

A goat chariot? Like Odin's Wain?  For awhile I played around with friction folders from half horseshoes.  Very popular with horsey people.  Cut in half and forge the cut end to look rounded like the other. You have to grind or file down the insides before bending though, or they end up way too clunky.  Lot of fun, no wooden scales or such, so very little fit and finish.

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Unfortunately Deb gave up raising Pygmy goats, they got too popular so mixed breed little goats flooded the market. Deb bred and raised them to improve the breed but the market just went away so we let the heard fade as they died. It was a sad time, I loved the little darlings. 

Anyway, we no longer have suitable critters to pull a chariot. I didn't consider the sheep at all, too stupid to be taught to walk away from you, and the dachshunds would make too wild a ride once they got into it. You'd probably want 10 unless you only rode the chariot on clean concrete. 

Horse shoes make nice hinges and gate latches that sell well and make popular gifts for horse folk. I simply turn the heal calks to hold the pin. Match for horse shoes for a set, each hinge gets a pair heals to the pin base to the door. A slight bend to parallel in the calks so they'll turn and it's a done deal.

Gate latches are more complicated but not terribly, depending on what and how you make them. 

Frosty The Lucky.

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Nobody, that is an intriguing idea. I'll have to look into figuring out exactly how to make a friction folder from them. Thanks. 

I could just imagine what my little Doxie would look like trying to pull a cart or something. She'd probably be like the dog on How The Grinch Stole Christmas and spend most of the time hanging in the air :P

 

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You aren't thinking of a spring pole buggy hitch or pole and yoke hitch are you:o?! I"m thinking any self respecting doxie would use them as chews and let you pull the cart. I'm thinking a more traditional sled dog harness and hitch. Not sure if I'd go with a gangline and individual tug lines and neck lines or the Native hitch with each dog having it's own tug line directly to the sled.

The gangline and tugline hitch is better for narrow trails as all the dogs are hitched to the main line in pairs. The individual tuglines hitch is better for open country as the dogs spread wide. 

A gangline hitch takes more training as each pair has a specific job: Lead, Swing, team, wheel. Not all dogs are suited for a particular position and a leader has to be a team alpha to get the rest to follow and needs to be biddable enough to follow commands. There tends to be fewer fights too but you can't run dogs without knowing how to stop fights. 

Darned if I can find what the old style hitch is called. You can find a few pics searching antarctic explorer pics though. The hitch is just tug lines and fights were more crazy, it's easier for all the dogs to get involved. 

Either of our Dakels can drag an office chair around on a rug with nothing but their collar. I don't think 8-10 would have a problem with a bicycle wheel chariot on reasonably even terrain.  We're not talking the Iditarod trail race are we? That's just nuts the guy with the team of poodles put a fast stop to allowing anything but vet checked healthy sled dogs in the race. I'm thinking on the lines of short parades and such events. For funnsies. 

I can't imagine breaking up an 8-10 doxie team fight. :o!!  It'd be like going for a dip with hungry land piranhas.:unsure:

Frosty The Lucky. 

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4 minutes ago, Frosty said:

I can't imagine breaking up an 8-10 doxie team fight. :o!!  It'd be like going for a dip with hungry land piranhas.:unsure:

Frosty The Lucky. 

I have 3 dogs. One is a Cane Corso (Italian Mastiff). She's a big girl. Probably 100 lbs. or more. And one is a Great Dane mix. But my little doxie rules the roost. It's funny to watch such big dogs defer to one who weighs maybe 18 or 19 lbs. She ( the doxie), has prescription dog food. The other dogs aren't allowed to eat it. And we didn't even have to teach them that. She set them straight and they don't come near her food or her unless she allows it. Dynamite comes in small packages. 

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Oh definitely a gang line hitch team!  Doxie's the leader, no question!  Dane for the swing and Cane Corso as wheel. You want your biggest dogs right in front of the sled in case the driver can't stop or turn it in time, they need to be strong and heavy enough to pull the sled around brute force if necessary and take getting hit by it. Getting run into by the sled is more common than you might think.

Frosty The Lucky. 

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