A gift from my horse shoeing friend. $31 at the local feed store. Less the handle.

It is not for fine work or finesse, but if you have a lot of wood to move this thing is a Salt Water Croc:

And the teeth are sharp. I like the plain end so the thumb and fore finger will not lose skin.

Yup, it's called a farriers rasp. I have a few of them. Whip one of those out at the lake and every beaver within a 10 mile radius will come down with inadequacy issues! Most of them will give up lake life and go out and buy a Black Corvette out of sheer penis envy.

Heck , that's my finishing tool , no need for checkering .

Yep, used those for many years, mostly on hooves, but they will remove wood in a hurry. The nice thing about wood is it seldom bites or kicks.

Back on the farm I used one on more then one horse.

Damn Rod, now all I can picture in my mind is a beaver sitting in his black vet looking down at his shriveled up little tallywhacker. And I have a boring meeting I need to sit thru in an hour, how do I explain the silly grin?

quote:

Originally posted by hogfarmer:
Yep, used those for many years, mostly on hooves, but they will remove wood in a hurry. The nice thing about wood is it seldom bites or kicks.

Our first horse shoe guy was killed by a big old mule. Rear hoof dead centered in his chest, ruptured the aorta, spleen, liver, and other damage. He lasted maybe 3 minutes after the kick.

Where is Ray? I betcha he has some shoeing stories.

quote:

Originally posted by 50 Calshtr:
Damn Rod, now all I can picture in my mind is a beaver sitting in his black vet looking down at his shriveled up little tallywhacker. And I have a boring meeting I need to sit thru in an hour, how do I explain the silly grin?

South East Georgia? Makes me think of Deliverance. I grew up along the Altamaha River Swamps between Darien and Brunswick. When I saw that guy named Griner in the movie e smashing his finger with a hammer on the anvil I thought of my relatives: Looked just like him and had the last name Griner!!!

I'll just hold back the guard on my circular saw and whittle away...or a chain saw...

Cripes, that thing looks dangerous sitting still, like a cheese grater in reverse...

quote:

Originally posted by WoodHunter:

quote:

Originally posted by hogfarmer:
Yep, used those for many years, mostly on hooves, but they will remove wood in a hurry. The nice thing about wood is it seldom bites or kicks.

Our first horse shoe guy was killed by a big old mule. Rear hoof dead centered in his chest, ruptured the aorta, spleen, liver, and other damage. He lasted maybe 3 minutes after the kick.

Where is Ray? I betcha he has some shoeing stories.

One of my Grandfathers had a sawmill. He used teams of mules to skid the logs out of the woods. Several of his mules were killers, but in those days a trained mule was more important than workers and they stayed on the job. Early last century was a different time.

I have been kicked a couple of time nothing too serious as we learn to watch really close the most painful was catching a hoof on the thigh as I was moving out of the way.

When my father and I would drive around talking about the old days I was always amazed with it stories of neighbors that were killed by horses.

Mostly run away teams.

He taught us early that they were dangerous.

Along with studs, bulls, boars and any livestock with young.

People who never grew up with stock do not realize how fast an large animal can hurt or kill you.

quote:

Originally posted by 50 Calshtr:
Damn Rod, now all I can picture in my mind is a beaver sitting in his black vet looking down at his shriveled up little tallywhacker. And I have a boring meeting I need to sit thru in an hour, how do I explain the silly grin?

4th quarter profits?

back in the day as a kid on the farm my grandfather would constantly admonish me not to walk behind the horses w/out letting em know i was there. i always had a hand on em when i had to walk behind em. one day i come in and hes sitting on a stool with granny fixing to wrap a ace bandage around his chest. she took a lotta pleasure showing me the U shape of the mark around his left nipple. i started laughing so hard i almost pissed my pants and hes sitting there with his teeth gritted growling bout how he was gonna fix me when he healed up. i stopped poking the bear when he started healing up them 3 ribs.
and yea, that rasp is common on farms and ranches. from horses feet to making repairs fit.

I have a few of those and used properly they are fine, there is more to knowing how to use a rasp than the rasp itself..a gentle touch can make all the difference in the world, let the rasp do its cutting, not pressure otherwise you will exhust yourself sanding the rasp marks out of the wood...as usual its technique that works.

My dad told me one time if you can rope, you can rope with a well rope? same with rasps used right a horse shoe rasp will work, but I don't really use one!! but I could in a pinch.

Stories, LOL....

I went to blacksmithing school right out of High School, decided to specialize in ornamental ironwork & farm repairs after getting my ear bit pretty good (still is misshapen but not obvious).

One thing people don't realized is why Blacksmiths/Farriers wear those split aprons. When you are driving the nails into the hoof with the new shoe, if the horse startles or jumps with his leg in between your two legs with an inch of nail sticking out you're in a very vulnerable situation. And not only your nuts, but both your femoral arteries are dangerously exposed at that point. Ahh, good times good times...

quote:

Originally posted by john c.:
back in the day as a kid on the farm my grandfather would constantly admonish me not to walk behind the horses w/out letting em know i was there. i always had a hand on em when i had to walk behind em. one day i come in and hes sitting on a stool with granny fixing to wrap a ace bandage around his chest. she took a lotta pleasure showing me the U shape of the mark around his left nipple. i started laughing so hard i almost pissed my pants and hes sitting there with his teeth gritted growling bout how he was gonna fix me when he healed up. i stopped poking the bear when he started healing up them 3 ribs.
and yea, that rasp is common on farms and ranches. from horses feet to making repairs fit.

This reminds me of two stories:

My father pretty much let me and my brothers have the run of his workshop and tools. But he would pitch a bitch if we didn't put them back. Particularly his slip joint Channelock "green handled pliers" Since we lived next to a lake without any public water, we pumped our water from the lake and had two pump rooms in our house. One day I went into one and saw his tool box that dad didn't put away under water. I just laughed and let him find them. He did cool off about expectations of perfect tool return after that. I still have that tool box.

As far as poking a bear, my best friend used to really jack with his dad when he came home drunk. He was a railroad worker and went to the bar before work, drank all day at work, and got really lit before driving home. He'd come home stumbling drunk and take off his work clothes downstairs and try to make it up the steps in his boxers. My friend knew he wouldn't remember what he did to him and he'd jerk his drawers down to his ankles and laugh when he fell. He'd squawk about what he would do to him if he caught him, but my friend knew he couldn't catch him. He was right, he'd sleep it off and forget what his son had done to him. His dad was pretty gruff and I was afraid to laugh, but it really was one of the funniest things I've seen.

Last time I used one was making a usable handle on a new bullet casting mallet.....read 4" x 4" piece of wood.

Found the one that I use now.

Back when I did shoe a horse occasionally I had one that had no handle on it. Very hard on the hands...........made a bad job harder......but it's what I had.

Took the knees out of a number of pairs of jeans with one !!!!

Used to carry my rasp, hammer, aligators and pliers in my tool box but took them out because they'd fall out in front of someone who wanted a horse shod/trimmed.

A very useful rasp variant for flat surfaces is made by the Shinto company. They are saw rasps. Several options from medium to coarse cut as well as length. If the handle is changed to a flat type so it does not foul the job, they are about the best I have used for shaping forends and flat areas on butts.

I never tried sharpening them by etching, though I do that for files etc. The Shinto products last so well on our generally hard Aussie walnut that I don't see the point. They are cheap enough. I have not purchased a new one for years, have a good stockpile, I assume the modern ones are to the same quality.

I've found the Shinto saves good more traditional tools a lot of wear and tear, but of course does not replace them.

The beauty of them is they cut the grain nicely, don't tear at it unless you are a hog, and don't clog. The finer cut ones leave a nice finish and the coarse ones remove wood nicely. The tool is light, too.

For myself the only downside to them is the little projections on the side, and the nose form - have to be careful around grips and cheekpieces etc, but that is no problem to anyone whose eyes are in good co-ordination with their hands.

No commercial interest in the company, just like the product.