Grinding iron

[rockford33]

Just curious if anyone has any ideas on how to grind domw and smooth iron horseshoes? My grandfather had two horseshoes nailed on the wall in his garage. When he passed away a couple of years ago, I took them down and saved them for my own garage. I have been toying with smoothing one down to give to my Mom (it was her Dad) as kind of a sentimental gift. The horseshoes had been on the wall for as long as she could remember. I do have a benchgrinder and have had limited, and slow, success. I bought a drill attachment kit to see if that would work better. I wish I had an angle grinder, but can't fork out the dough for one right now. Any tips are appreciated.

Thanks,
Neil

 

[GearHead_1]

If this is as old as you are describing, I would recommend that you have it framed and give it to her. Grinding it down will RUIN any antique value that it may have.

 

[JohnHenrys48]

Hi Neil,

Just my opinion, but I wouldn't grind them down. The uniqueness of them is what makes them special. Every little ding and scratch. How about just cleaning them up with some Naval Jelly or similar, removing the rust and laquering them ?

 

[Luckydevil]

Thought about having them chromed? They will strip and polish them before chroming so they come out nice and pretty. It usually isn't that expensive for smaller things either.

 

[rockford33]

If this is as old as you are describing, I would recommend that you have it framed and give it to her. Grinding it down will RUIN any antique value that it may have.

Good point. I definitely want to remove the layer of rust on them though. Maybe a light sanding as suggested by John and a layer of laquer or something for protection.

Lucky,
I haven't looked at getting them chromed. I have checked about other items in the past at places near me and they charge a $125 minimum, no matter what the size. Not worth it right now for two horseshoes.

-Neil

 

[crasher]

You might want to do a web search on electrolytic rust removal. It's just using a plastic bucket of washing soda mix and a battery charger to de-rust the iron by electrolysis. Its kind of a *reverse plating* technique and it un-plates the rust from your iron. Do the web search, it'll fill in the details about mixture concentration, which is the anode/cathode, what to use as a sacraficial plate, what kind charger mode, and stuffs like that. It's alot easier than it sounds, and the times I did it it gave terrific results. It's a handy and reasonably simple thing and well worth the effort. Just follow the rules and you'll be surprised at the results.