[Woodartist]

OK, leave it to the new guy I have some art projects that involve horse shoes. New shoes (steel?) are coated with some type of powder or coating that I need to remove before I can apply a rust proof finish. Does anyone know what the material is and how to remove it? I was going to try some hydrochloric acid but was hoping there is another safer chemical. Don't want to do any scraping or sanding because there will be quite a few. Maybe a similar coating that is used for woodworking tools and chisels?????

[AlArchie]

Bill, I have no idea what that coating is....I'm definitely not a horse person. Horses seem to have one thing in mind with me....Throw him, then STOMP him!

But, I've used a small cement mixer filled with plain sand to remove rust and crud from chains and other large iron and steel stuff. Seems to me that would work on those shoes just as well.

1/4 full of sand, enough water to make a thick slurry, throw in your shoes and let the machine crank away. More or less sand and water to suit!

Al

[Woodartist]

Don't have a cement mixer, Al....however I did think of sand blasting a bit. There should be a simple answer out there and just need to find someone who has it

[Thomp]

i have drug crusty tow chains down sandy country roads before to clean them about 1/4 mile each end of chain,
heck wire them on a chain and go to the fishing hole.. go slow though..

i tried muriatic acid to rid rust on sheet metal, it worked fine turned the metal a pewter Grey, but even painted the rust come back 2 fold in 30 days when left exposed to humidity here.

how bout wire brushing them on a motor?

[tnartist05]

Might try using a wire wheel in a drill to remove the coating? Years ago,I would remove old nails and clean old horse shoes that way then spray a primer on them and paint them. Tn~

[Hi_Ho_Sliver]

I bought some new shoes to do a couple of Lynn's projects and there wasn't any coating on them?

[AlArchie]

Bill, I only mentioned the cement mixer because you said you had a lot of shoes to work over, and that seemed to be reasonable way to work around it. Put all the shoes in the drum, turn it on and walk away. Sandblasting, if you don't have your own cabinet can be pretty pricey. You can rent a small cement mixer in most communities for around 25 buck for a half day and maybe 40 for a full day.

Even thought I'm not a horse person, I have some friends who own horses and it seems to me that there is an aluminum riding shoe that has a zinc or nickle coating. Are you sure you don't have the aluminum shoes? If so, you shouldn't need to worry about rust.

Al

[Woodartist]

The shoes I bought had a coating that I figured was to prevent rust prior to shoeing the horse. The shoes are steel or an alloy, not aluminum. However the coating/powder came off in your hand as you handle them. Actually kind of messy, so I would think you would have known, Dave. Apparently yours were not coated? I think the wire brush in the drill is the best idea so far. That might solve the problem, along with wiping them down with a weak solvent of thinner.

The aluminum shoes are supposed to be more expensive and all they have here are the steel/alloy ones.

Think I'll try the drill/brush today unless someone comes up with a better idea.

Thanks fr the feedback!

[Lynn O. Doughty]

I have no idea of just want you're planning on doing with a steel horseshoe but I'll give you my two cents worth. I use a lot of horseshoes, mostly on our horses but sometimes I incorporate them into my carvings by making them part of a base. That grey powder coating on the shoe is not some specially applied finish to keep them from rusting it's just how they look when coming out of the foundry. Believe me, if you could see the back of our farriers truck there is not a new shoe in there that isn't in some stage of rusting. If they're applying some kind of protective coating to keep the rust at bay they're wasting their money.

When I use a new shoe for a base I run it through my flap-sander to smooth off the rough edges then I give it a coat of gun blueing to darken it up. Once dry I'll spray on some Deft or Poly finish to really keep the rust off.

Personally, I prefer using a used shoe taken off the horse over a new one. A used shoe still in fairly good shape has a lot more character than a new one as you can see the wear patterns of it's owner. If I can point to a base with a shoe and say that it came from my horse Boomer or my wife's horse Sunny it adds a lot of appeal and a very personal touch to a piece.

[Woodartist]

Great Lynn. Just the info I needed. I thought of gun blue but the cost will be high. I was thinking of a tung oil finish and then a wax over it. Good idea about the used shoes also. There should be a ton of them around here and I'll be asking for them. I did buy some and will have to use them but in the future I will use the used....why didn't I think of that