just crossed my mind the other day
some lads box the shoes or linish then fit hot or cold
some fit the shoe and then box or linish

whats your preference and why

I fit first making sure I get the expasion I want,then I box and safe.
Mike

box the shoe first and sometimes i get wall hanging over the bevel. fit the shoe first and im sure of the bearing surface and more acurate boxing

Rancho JD wrote:

JD are you talking hot or cold fitting
with clips or non clips

Most keg shoes I use are already boxed but if I have a pair thats not and I fit them cold, I box before fitting. If I fit hot, I fit first, make sure there's
expansion ,then box and safe.
Patty

smitty88 wrote: Don't remember how i was taught but yes all the above, especially hot fitting so as i can read the burn and know exactly where i want to box. It's also my habitual time to give the shoe a critical inspection before it's applied.

I practice a bit of fish hook nailing on poor quality feet which can call for a coarse nail punch, some feet cant handle that and a little stock removal after fitting is an option to hammer work if there will be to much shoe hanging out. Here abouts its easy for a farrier to quickly get a rep for losing shoes to the environment. plenty of expansion means plenty of lost shoes and time to think it over as you will get fired no matter how good a replacement policy. so we fit them tight with little margin for error and reccomend a schedule. for what its worth.

Remind me please about fish hook nailing, I don't remember when the discussion came up earlier what exactly was going on.

As for the boxing, hot or cold shoeing, I prefer to get the fit , then box, it gets you a better idea of where and how much needs to be boxed. Boxing before fitting, if it's too much, it's pretty hard to adjust!

I always hot fit and box after fitting. This gives the shoe a nice "silver lining" contrast to the blue of the shoe. Aluminums I box after fitting too, no special reason. Probably because I'm used to that sequence with the steel shoes.



Ronald Aalders

I must admit my innocence or ignorance, or both, but what is "boxing?"

"Boxing" is bevelling /rounding the exposed top edge of the shoe so it doesn't get caught as easily by another shoe.
'Safeing' is bevelling the bottom edge, also so it can't catch another shoe as easily. And to help limit shoe edge damage to the horse should he brush himself.
Patty

I box my shoes after Ive fit them, ALL OF THEM. It looks pretty says alot of my female clients. Most of all its good craftsmenship finish it as wellas u put it on.

I box and safe with the hammer when I'm shaping the shoe. If I'm making a shoe, I box while I'm building my heels (a neat trick I learned from Scott Davidson). In both cases, I just find it more efficient to incorporate it, rather than adding it on as a separate step / process.

I linish it before nailing, but I don't get too carried away about this step unless the horse is at or on his way to a show. If he's showing, I'll hot rasp it for the linish. If he's not showing, I simply run my hot rasp over the cold shoe to highlight and "brighten" my hammer boxing.

What the heck does linish mean? Gary

Gary Hill wrote:
It means to grind, sand, or polish a surface smooth. It's one of those "scrunched together" words that comes from "linen" and "finish." I think it's primarily used by machinists.

I thought it applied more too making a surface smooth and flat.