Joey Aczon wrote:
Nice! Im glad I didn't wait to post this till later in the week after I did a laminitic horse with it.

This is great information for me!

With IM not readily available in NZ and equipak @ ~$70 a tube, this is a boon.

Thanks Slowshoe et al and horseshoes.com

As soon as y'all figure this out post asap... with pis of what u used..and or names to the esact kind and mix..

someone do a video

I'm gonna make a guinea pig of my girlfriends horse tomorrow. I've been debating adding a bit of wedge on him for a while, and this gives me a reason, and a test subject.

I'll post some pics of the process.

BTW, the silicone I used in my test was literally the cheapest clear silicone at wal-mart. I picked some up this evening for $2.67 a tube. (@ 299ml/tube vs equi-pak @ 180ml/tube) Corn starch is roughly $1 for equal parts per tube, so for $3.67 you get more than 1.5 times as much material as one $29 dollar tube of equi-pak.

And, my test from earler is still pliable 4.5 hours later. A little softer than normal equi-pak but firmer than sil-pak. (I haven't used the pink stuff to compare to) We will see if that changes by tomorrow. (final set firmness is my no 1 concern)

"After 5 mins it was soft enough to push through an NB perf pad"

...5 mins is a long time to wait. I like that I can mix IM and use it almost instantly. Do you think iodine could speed up the reaction. I remember someone here saying Iodine plus Silicone really speeds up cure time.

If I was in another country with limited access or if materials were $70 like Anthony said, this would be a goldmine.

What does the final consistancy feel like- medium, soft, hard?

Is this more comparable to thick impression material or thin polyrethane pour-in pad?

Alan has a point. When I use DIM or hoofpack, I keep up the foot until the packing is set. Only then I put down the foot. I firmly believe in a lot of pressure with not too hard a hoofpacking. When you have to wait even 5 minutes, you'll be in trouble I guess holding up a foot of a laminitic horse for that long. Even if it lets you.

Years ago we used silicon as a hoofpacking. It was the only thing available in those days. That stuff would set only after several hours. What I did is shoe the foot, tape it and inject the silicon between pad and foot and then I would tape a piece of board underneath the shoe. That prevented the horse from pushing all the silicon out when put back in his stalls with straw or shavings. On laminitic horses I had the stalls cleaned out or had the horse tied on concrete for a day.

Don't underestimate the loss of support when only a little gets squeezed out.

If I was down where the regular hoofpacking material was unavailable I would use the cornstarch trick and my taped on board system.

Ronald Aalders

If it starts setting in 5min and some say that's a bit long to hold up a foot and I agree...but if ya play with a good bit and get a exact setting time...well then start ur mix take a 4min brk and at the 4 min mark. ..start stirring a tad more and then pack the foot and that way it starts seeting up as the shoe goes on...

The stuff sets up pretty much exactly like soft IM.

I think heat def helps the reaction. I made a set of earplugs with it last night. It set up in my ears completely in about 15 min.

My recommendation would to be to mix this stuff then go cut your pads or trim the back feet or something that takes about 10 min. Shortly after this time it loses its moldability a bit and starts to firm up and loses its tackyness. Use of a heat gun could probably help.

Also try mixing it in a plastic freezer bag to be less messy.

Travis Reed wrote:

That's kind of the way I see it going. The problem I've always had with IM is that it sets too fast for me. I can barely get it mixed and its already almost set up. With this I can see mixing it and letting it set while I get tape or nails etc, and mix the second batch and let it set while I clinch the first foot.

Also, I'm quite sure it will set up faster outside in the heat.

Peters Shoeing

Re: After 5 mins it was soft enough to push through an NB perf pad"

...5 mins is a long time to wait. I like that I can mix IM and use it almost instantly. Do you think iodine could speed up the reaction. I remember someone here saying Iodine plus Silicone really speeds up cure time.

On a hot day, if you paint the solar surface with Durasole, then squirt a dollop of silicone caulk in the hoof cavity, mix red Bondo body putty hardener (benzoyl peroxide) with the silicone until it changes color, scrape off the excess with a tongue depressor, then nail on the package, the silicone will be set up to the point of non-extrusion when you put the foot down. Catalyst color is unimportant, but the red is easier to see; Durasole is used to kill any microorganisms present because silicone creates an anaerobic environment on the solar surface.

I'm in my rig right now this very sec...let me just say..what goddang mess...I got damn corn startch blowing out of the rig...its all over the friggin floors...I look like the damn pilsbury dough boy that has killed someone...my hands are red because I got the rtv red stuff....they lookin at me like I lost my mind....

Call 991

Travis Reed wrote:

What a picture ha ha ha ha ha ah ahbewdy:p

Travis Reed wrote:

I'm settin her laughing my azz off thinking of the look on your face and the faces of the people around. I had a feeling this would happen to someone.