How would you sharpen a hoof knife?

H

Houlahound

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Aug 2, 2017
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Only cuts on one side, held flat with the hoof, hard hoof sole to cut all day. How would you sharpen it?
 
Mora has a chisel knife that works well. I’d try to do something like that.

Keep in mind the chisel grind dictates whether you can pull or push cut and with which hand.

I love my Mora Chisel knife but at times I’ve wished I had a left hand version. (Mirror image)
 
Don't buy a fancy expensive hoof knife, these are disposable items. The first thing you do with a freshly sharpened knife is plunge it into areas of hidden rocks, broken off nails, dirt and miscellaneous debris.
A Frost knife for about $12.00 is perfect. Get a wide blade (not the narrow blade) and they come left and right handed.
Some of these fancy knives sell for over $100. Big long fancy handles and hardened steel that is hard to sharpen. I can always tell a poser who doesn't know how to use a knife he has one of these. If you want to choke up on the knife, add some duct tape about an inch wide at the base of the blade, built it up so it matches the thickness of the handle.
DO NOT get a double edged one.
They are useless when you buy them. The bottom is supposed to be FLAT. The top should be about 20 degrees or less. They don't come that way.
Use a vise and a 6" mill bastard file.
Sharpen the back first. Clamp the handle in the vise and lay the file across the back FLAT. Stroke into the edge. You will see that the file will only be touching the front and back edge. There is a concavity that runs along the whole center of the knife. You have to take that out. Sharpen until the whole back is FLAT. Sharpen the hook FLAT as well. FROM THE BACK! DO NOT USE A CHAIN SAW FILE IN THE HOOK!!!!!!
Now turn the knife over and change the 45 degree angle to 20 or less.
If you sharpen your knife this way, the knife will stay in the foot and you can take out smooth one piece ribbons. If you don't, your knife will keep popping up out of the foot and it will look like you used a spoon, and the foot will look the the surface of a golf ball.
That said. DO NOT OVER USE YOUR KNIFE! The biggest mistake people make is too much knife work.
If you are prepping for a shoe, just take out anything that is loose, rotten, or in the way. You've got to concave the foot the tiniest bit so the shoe does not sit on the sole. LEAVE THE REST. It is there for a reason, PROTECTION!
If you are just trimming. Leave your knife in the truck. Unless there is something obviously rotten or loose.
Horses shed their frogs twice a year, generally spring and fall. The sole will exfoliate as well. They don't all come out at once. If there is a loose flap, you can help it along so it doesn't trap debris underneath. Or you can just let if fall out on its own.
I have been a farrier for 45 years. Here is a handmade bar shoe, forge welded. 1"x 3/8"x 15 for a big Warmblood. Notice how just the rotten parts of the frog have been lightly trimmed and most of the sole is still in there; and this is a foot that is being protected by a shoe.
l470SE7.jpg
 
HopalongCassidy said:
Don't buy a fancy expensive hoof knife, these are disposable items. The first thing you do with a freshly sharpened knife is plunge it into areas of hidden rocks, broken off nails, dirt and miscellaneous debris.
A Frost knife for about $12.00 is perfect. Get a wide blade (not the narrow blade) and they come left and right handed.
Some of these fancy knives sell for over $100. Big long fancy handles and hardened steel that is hard to sharpen. I can always tell a poser who doesn't know how to use a knife he has one of these. If you want to choke up on the knife, add some duct tape about an inch wide at the base of the blade, built it up so it matches the thickness of the handle.
DO NOT get a double edged one.
They are useless when you buy them. The bottom is supposed to be FLAT. The top should be about 20 degrees or less. They don't come that way.
Use a vise and a 6" mill bastard file.
Sharpen the back first. Clamp the handle in the vise and lay the file across the back FLAT. Stroke into the edge. You will see that the file will only be touching the front and back edge. There is a concavity that runs along the whole center of the knife. You have to take that out. Sharpen until the whole back is FLAT. Sharpen the hook FLAT as well. FROM THE BACK! DO NOT USE A CHAIN SAW FILE IN THE HOOK!!!!!!
Now turn the knife over and change the 45 degree angle to 20 or less.
If you sharpen your knife this way, the knife will stay in the foot and you can take out smooth one piece ribbons. If you don't, your knife will keep popping up out of the foot and it will look like you used a spoon, and the foot will look the the surface of a golf ball.
That said. DO NOT OVER USE YOUR KNIFE! The biggest mistake people make is too much knife work.
If you are prepping for a shoe, just take out anything that is loose, rotten, or in the way. You've got to concave the foot the tiniest bit so the shoe does not sit on the sole. LEAVE THE REST. It is there for a reason, PROTECTION!
If you are just trimming. Leave your knife in the truck. Unless there is something obviously rotten or loose.
Horses shed their frogs twice a year, generally spring and fall. The sole will exfoliate as well. They don't all come out at once. If there is a loose flap, you can help it along so it doesn't trap debris underneath. Or you can just let if fall out on its own.
I have been a farrier for 45 years. Here is a handmade bar shoe, forge welded. 1"x 3/8"x 15 for a big Warmblood. Notice how just the rotten parts of the frog have been lightly trimmed and most of the sole is still in there; and this is a foot that is being protected by a shoe.
l470SE7.jpg
Click to expand...


Thanks for the great info, could not ask for more than that except to say wish you lived near me.

There is lots of demand for farriers in my area but there are no young guys doing it. Most of the ones available don't have a clue what they are doing they just cash in on the demand. The proper farriers are all scaling down and retiring.

I found a knowledgeable lady but she only does barefoot trims.
 
I'll let you in on a secret. These "barefoot trimmers" gravitate towards horses that are turned out on huge pastures with hard ground.
The horses are always running around and wear their feet down.
When these horseshoers without shoes show up, there is nothing to do. Nothing.
They smile, are friendly, do some schmoozing.
I'm a grouchy old man that has had 8 orthopedic surgeries, including both thumb joints replaced. LOL.
I don't know if there is a private message button here; don't want to waste everybody's time.
But if you tell me where you live, the climate, (hot and dry vs rainy and wet) pasture size, kind of ground ( soft vs hard), if the horses are stalled, amount of riding, and breed of horse, I can probably give a good idea of what you would need. If anything.
 
Last edited:
HopalongCassidy said:
I'll let you in on a secret. These "barefoot trimmers" gravitate towards horses that are turned out on huge pastures with hard ground.
The horses are always running around and wear their feet down.
When these horseshoers without shoes show up, there is nothing to do. Nothing.
They smile, are friendly, do some schmoozing.
I'm a grouchy old man that has had 8 orthopedic surgeries, including both thumb joints replaced. LOL.
I don't know if there is a private message button here; don't want to waste everybody's time.
But if you tell me where you live, the climate, (hot and dry vs rainy and wet) pasture size, kind of ground ( soft vs hard), if the horses are stalled, amount of riding, and breed of horse, I can probably give a good idea of what you would need. If anything.
Click to expand...

I think I have to do paid membership to do private message, will get around to that at some point.

I don't live in the states where I assume you are from. The made is recovering from a bout of laminitis, not sure if horses ever fully recover from that??
 
HopalongCassidy said:
Depends. I would have a lengthy answer, but don’t want to bore these knife guys.
Click to expand...


If they are bored the can get off the thread, free country.

Farrier imo is the same DNA as guys who make custom knives. Both are ancient crafts still important to this day and both are fundamentally unchanged by modern technology in essence.
 
your knowledge is valuable, any knife person should see that it's the same vein as knowing wth you're doing - ie being competent
(something which seems to lacking in the general population these days)

please share (if you're inclined)
 
A hoof knife is still a knife....and a practical work animal only ever seen in the line of a specific duty.
 
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