Seen a lot of new guys burning toes with their gas forges lately

I've been shoeing horses for 22 years now, and I swear every young farrier I run into at clinics is cranking their forge way too hot. You don't need it glowing bright orange to shape a keg shoe, that just burns the steel and makes it brittle. I keep mine at a dull red, around 1300 degrees, and it moves just fine without wasting fuel or ruining the temper. Saw a kid last month in Kentucky spend 15 minutes trying to weld a crack because his forge was so hot the material was flaking off. Your mileage may vary, but slow and steady still wins with hot work in my book. Anyone else notice this trend at their local shoeing meetups?

2 comments

2 Comments

vera_sanchez1mo ago

Really ruining shoes that bad" - yeah, I've seen guys burn through a pair of keg shoes in 10 minutes flat because they had the gas cranked to the moon. Just dial it back to a nice maroon glow and take your time, it'll move way cleaner and you won't kill the metal.

hugo_coleman281mo ago

Man, are they really ruining shoes that bad? Seems like a pretty basic thing to get wrong.