Forging The Plain Stamped Front Shoe
In this article I have detailed how to forge the Plain Stamped Horse Shoe for a standard saddle horse. In the near future I will make a video of this process. This should be useful for any farrier learning to forge hand made horseshoes or just wish to brush up on existing skills.
Tools Needed
Tools needed: rounding hammer, tongs, drift, head stamp, pritchel and clipping hammer. As with all tools make sure they are ready to do the job. The tongs should hold the stock securely and stamps and pritchel should be sized for the nail used and finished clean. For more on tool making go here……….
Measuring: for this stock I will add length and width plus 1 1/2’ for a universal shoe adjusting the measurement to compensate for any work I may put into this shoe for example if I were to make near and off side shoes which I have done in this exercise.
The stock I have used for this is 3/4″ x 3/8″ (20mm x 10mm)
Step 1: Mark steel 1/16 off centre making the longest side the lateral side then get a nice even heat along the length of the stock
Toe Bend
Step 2: Holding the stock on the face of the anvil start the toe bend beginning and finishing 2/3rds from the centre of the stock keeping the stock close to the anvil face. The steel should then work around your hammer.
