Guest Danjo Posted August 20, 2002 Posted August 20, 2002 Well, it has been a long time since my last post. I have been BUSY working fulltime as a highschool teaacher, ASB director, and taking 18 units per semester to finish my credential and Master's degree. But, the degree/credential behind me, I now have much more time to view and post. (long intro I know, but it's been awhile). Now, I have continued to bend 60d nails every week since I have first been able to perform this feat, but I had to stop there due to time constraints. Until recently, that is. I went out last week, to the feed and pet store nearby and found horse shoes for sale. I bought 4 #8 forged steel shoes , from "Thorobred" for $8.00 and took them home. My wife insisted on putting one above our door (grrrr, the price one pays for being allowed to indulge in one's hobbies) but the other three, I bent. And I mean BENT! I practically wadded them up. They were far easier than the 60d nails, though they were harder than 40d nails. The first bend was done holding the shoe in front of my chest and simply gripping one bar in each hand and pushing in toward the middle. This created an "S" shape. I then gripped the center of the shoe with my left and bent the arm/bar with the right and folded it over, which also twisted the steel in corkscrew fasion. I did that with both sides and it created a heart-like shape in the end. NO two shoes bent exactly the same way, but they all had the same difficulty. I then found another horse shoe at a western shop. It was used ($2.00) but it was still thick and shiny. the size said "00" on the stamp and it said it was forged steel. I bent it also on my first try. It was a bit harder than the ones from the feed store (it was thicker), but it was still far easier than the 60d. I think it has to do with leverage. Anyways, it is a lot of fun, and I am determined to find as many Horseshoes as possible and bend the crap out of them! Has anyone else been bending horse shoes? Quote
terryduty Posted August 21, 2002 Posted August 21, 2002 Danjo, my training partner is into bending horseshoes (and nails, of course). His handle on this GripBoard is BabyGrip, but he's switching over to a new ISP and is presently without Internet access. Like you, he's into "wadding" the horseshoes up. Here are a couple of pics that he sent me. Some mangled horseshoes: and here's a close up of one of the horseshoes that he "wadded up": If you have any immediate questions for him, just reply to this post or send me a private msg and I'll forward it to him. He should be switched over to a new ISP in a week or so. Train smart! Quote
Guest Danjo Posted August 22, 2002 Posted August 22, 2002 Well, I went back to the feed store today and bought some more horseshoes as described before. I also bought several used ones. Of the used ones, I have been able to bend only one so far. I have only been able to get an initial bend on it. These are much thicker than the others I have been bending, but it is only a matter of time. Brookfield said that horseshoes differed greatly in strength, and he wasn't kidding. I'm actually glad that I have found some I need to work up to. When I can bend those, I'll know I've done something. Quote
Guest Uberman Posted August 22, 2002 Posted August 22, 2002 Danjo, I have been doing horseshoe bending for awhile. Not lately though, avd injuried a bicep tenden Dling The back of my truck. This has been a while back and I started strand pulling and the pain is back. I think it may be rehab pain. Anyway I use-used shoes that I get from local horse owners. These are fairly hard for me, If I get one that isn't really worn. Cool thing is the real worn ones I can practice technique and other positions. As far as your comparison to nails I don't do nail bending, started with the shoes. Got info from Strongman on nail bending but had already injuried bicep so I had to lay off this training. As far as different hardness. Yes there seems to be a huge difference, I have had very worn shoes that were really hard, and hardly worn ones that were fairly easy. Someone told me there is something called work harding that metal can get harder as it is put under stress. Mike Quote
terryduty Posted August 22, 2002 Posted August 22, 2002 Mike, some materials will become harder to bend after being bent. This is known as "strain hardening" and occurs with brass, copper, and stainless steels - hot rolled or cold rolled will not. Train smart! Quote
Guest Danjo Posted August 24, 2002 Posted August 24, 2002 I agree that metal can harden after a bend etc. It seems that the thing I'm dealing with is that different manufacturers make substantially different quality of horseshoes. Plus, there are different grades of horseshoes by the same company. The ones that I have no problem with are "racing shoes" which I assume means lighter shoes than those for more mundane work. It's an exciting thing to bend a horseshoe given all of the legends about it. The people that have watched me bend nails for awhile are really impressed when they see me bend a shoe even though the shoes I can actually bend are easier. It's more visually exciting I think. Quote
Guest Uberman Posted August 24, 2002 Posted August 24, 2002 Strongman thanks for clearing up the hardening thing. Danjo I'll have to see if I can find the shoes you are speaking of. I want to get back into shoe bending but have to watch my bicep. But can bend around it(no pun intended) I think. My technique is different from yours. The racing shoes seem fun. Mike Quote
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