I was burning my hoof knives for a decade before a guy at the Oregon show pointed it out

I was sharpening my hoof knives on my grinder like always, and this older farrier from Idaho just walked up and said, 'Kid, you're holding the color too long.' He showed me how to dip the steel in water the second it hit a light straw color, not the blue I was waiting for. I'd been overheating the edge and making it soft without knowing. Anyone else have a sharpening trick they learned way too late?

3 comments

3 Comments

cora_west53d ago

Honestly that's the kind of mistake you only make once you've already made it a hundred times. Tbh we all have that one basic thing we were doing totally wrong for years. At least the guy told you instead of just watching you ruin your tools forever. Makes you wonder what else we're all messing up right now without a clue.

tarar382d ago

My buddy Dave spent years thinking his nippers were just cheap junk because they kept chipping. He was grinding them on a coarse stone like you would with a rasp. Finally saw a guy at a clinic just giving them a few light passes on a fine ceramic rod... total game changer. Dave's face when he realized he'd been basically smashing the edge off for no reason was priceless. Sometimes the right way is so simple you just never think of it.

sethm582d ago

Man, that's the truth. I was putting a micro-bevel on my clinchers for ages before someone asked why I was making extra work for myself. Turns out the factory edge was already perfect, and I was just dulling them faster. Felt like a real genius that day.