Finding local smiths

[bluerooster]

I went to grab a bag of coal  last Friday.  And got to thinking about it.  I get my coal from a farrier supply. I don't know of any farriers that use a coal forge  in their business of horse feet.  All farriers that I know, or see on the road use propane forge on the job.  But somebody is buying coal, or the supply place wouldn't stock it.  So, just for the fun of it, I looked for "Blacksmith in GA" on social media. Low and behold, I found two groups. One with 7 members, and one with 746 members.  Of the members in the latter group, 3 are within 5 miles of me. And several more are within a 30 min drive.   Ain't that cool?  I plan to meet up with a couple of them and see what I can learn.

  So, I guess one can check out the social media of your choice, facebook, twitter, etc. to find  smiths near you.  

[Frosty]

I believe there are still some farriers here who use coal but not many. We have to ship metallurgical coal in from outside or dig it ourselves from exposures that the coal companies who own the rights allow it. The problem there being the owners do NOT allow commercial collecting so collecting for your livelihood is iffy. 

Propane forges have the advantage of being pretty much on / off equipment. Depending on the forge most come to working temp in the time it takes to pull the shoe and trim the first hoof and the first shoe or bar is heating along with the forge. When the job is done it can be turned off, closed up and the farrier can head for the next job. Can't do that with a coal forge though you CAN dump the fire in a bucket of water with little negative effect.

Frosty The Lucky.

[bluerooster]

Most farriers here have a Camper shell type of affair on their pickup. These are shaped like no other, so you can usually tell at a glance that they are farriers. The forge is mounted just inside in such a manner as to not be able to move it.  with a hood and vent through the roof to allow the heat to escape.  And propane tank mounted just outside.