Does anyone remember when forge welding was the only way to make a shoe?

I was helping a younger farrier last week and he reached for his welder before even thinking about fire welding a set of keg shoes together. Don't get me wrong, I use my MIG for plenty of things too. But there's something about getting the heat just right in a coal fire and hammering that joint closed that you just can't replace. That high carbon steel from a forge weld holds up way better on a heavy draft horse than a tack weld ever will. Has anyone else noticed more farriers skipping the forge these days?

3 comments

3 Comments

fisher.jessica14d ago

Switched to forge welding on draft shoes years ago after a Belgian ripped a MIG weld clean apart in a muddy pasture. That was enough proof for me. The grain structure in a proper forge weld just binds better with the parent metal. Even with a gas forge instead of coal, getting that joint to flow right takes patience but pays off in a shoe that actually stays together.

laura_wilson14d ago

Hang on, @fisher.jessica, you're telling me a Belgian draft horse actually ripped a MIG weld off? That's wild, I would've thought that thing would hold unless the metal itself gave out.

quinn3418d ago

And you can really feel the difference when you hammer on a forge weld.