Iron shoe

“ The bottoms and edges are all finished when shoes get to this department, and nothing remains but [140] to finish the uppers and pack the shoes in single-pair cartons and then in wooden boxes or cases.
The different uppers are all finished by a different process, some being ironed with a hot iron, which is done to take out the wrinkles and smooth the uppers. Ironing was first introduced on kid shoes, but in recent years the hot iron has been put on nearly all kinds of stock. A shoe must be on a form or tree when ironed, the form or tree being the same shape as the last. ”

“ It requires skilful artisans, who will, consequently, demand a higher price for their labour. And even when fabricated from the best iron, I have found it very liable to break at some one of the nailholes, and one of its most objectionable tendencies is to widen at the points of the heels, owing to the lightness of the metal. This can only be remedied by making the shoe stronger, and of course heavier, or by having the last nails placed near the ends of the branches. ”

“ The shoe is rolled without a heel calk, so that the frog-pressure may be readily secured without heating and drawing the iron:—the nail holes are punched so that the nail furnished by us with the shoe may be driven, without the use of the pritchel to punch out the holes. The shoe, being made of the best quality of iron, may be bent cold to adapt it to the shape of the hoof. ”

“ Among the Scotch fishermen also iron is invested with magical attributes. Thus if, when plying their vocation, one of their number chance to indulge in profanity, the others at once call out, “Cauld airn!” and each grasps a handy piece of the metal as a counter influence to the misfortune which would else pursue them throughout the day. [72] Even nowadays in England, in default of a horse-shoe, the iron plates of the heavy shoes worn by farm laborers are occasionally to be seen fastened at the doors of their cottages. ”

“ When a shoe is "fullered" the groove made should be deep, so as to let the nail-head well down, and wide so as to afford room for giving the nail a proper direction. If the fullering be continued round the toe of a shoe by a good workman neatness is given, but when a clip is drawn the iron is so reduced that some wear is sacrificed. If only an inch at the toe be unfullered, the solid iron affords more wear just where it is wanted.
[Pg 55] ”

“ As nearly all shoes are applied immediately after being fitted they have to be rapidly cooled in water, and steel treated in this way is made so hard that, if the shoes do not break, they are dangerously slippery on most paved streets. As a material for shoes good malleable iron has no equal. It can be obtained in bars of various sizes to suit any form and weight of shoe, and the old shoes made from it may be worked up over and over again. ”

“ Besides good, tough iron for the shoe, we need an anvil with a round horn and a small hole at one end, a round-headed turning-hammer, a round sledge, a stamping hammer, a pritchel of good steel, and, if a fullered shoe is to be made, a round fuller. Bodily activity and, above all else, a good eye for measurement are not only desirable, but necessary. A shoe should be made thoughtfully, but yet quickly enough to make the most of the heat. ”

“ Some writers have maintained that the luck associated with the horse-shoe is due chiefly to the metal, irrespective of its shape, as iron and steel are traditional charms against malevolent spirits and goblins. In their view, a horse-shoe is simply a piece of iron of graceful shape and convenient form, commonly pierced with seven nail-holes (a mystic number) , and therefore an altogether suitable talisman to be affixed to the door of dwelling or stable in conformity with a venerable custom sanctioned by centuries of usage. ”

“ In this country most are hand-made—the front shoes from new bar-iron, and the hind from old shoes welded together and drawn out under heavy hammers. Probably no method of working iron gives such good results as this in producing a hard, tough shoe that will withstand wear. The custom of the trade is to keep a stock of shoes suitable for all the regular customers. ”

“ Being machine-made, the iron is not of such good quality as that of ordinary shoes, and to compensate for this, and insure wear for a reasonable time, thicker and heavier defences have to be worn. The nail-holes (eight in each shoe) are most defective in form and position, and being grouped in twos, must weaken the hoof by having the nails so closely jammed to each other, and if any elasticity or lateral expansion exists at the lower margin of the forefoot (as the patentee asserts) , it must be apparent that it would no longer be permitted when this shoe is nailed on. ”

“ The red-hot shoe at once disposes of those inequalities which cannot be discovered or removed by tools, and it shows the workman at a glance the bearing of the iron. The whole surface of the shoe intended to be in contact with the horn should be distinctly imprinted on the contour of the hoof, so as to insure the closest and most accurate intimacy between the two; and this carbonized surface should not be interfered with on any account, except by the rasp, which is employed to remove any sharpness of the edge of the crust that may have been caused in this fitting. ”

“ It is possible, also, that the hoofs of horses have in our time become less solid, in consequence of the continual paring and mutilation which the modern system of shoeing involves. If we compare the price of iron by the hundred with the cost of shoes, says Mr Rogers, and remember also that the charge of working iron was generally almost equal to that of the material, we shall find that the mediæval horse-shoe could not have possibly weighed more than half, and probably very often not more than the third of a pound. Traces are to be found of heavier shoes. ”

“ The outside of the shoe is black, as all iron work is when just from the hammer. The specimen weighs only 41/4 ounces, and is 41/4 inches long, and 37/8 inches wide. The calkins are rolled-over in the usual way; the immense oval depressions for the nail-heads are stamped nearly through the substance of the shoe, and have been made by a blunt tool when the iron was very hot. There is nothing to indicate that the shoe had ever been placed on the bick or beak-horn of an anvil to give it its shape. ”

“ The shoe manufacturer, after cutting his soles and taps, is obliged to skive them to get the particular iron he needs. This leaves what is known as a “flesh sole shape,” also a “tap shape.” These skivings are pasted together by another class of trade and again used for inner soling and taps in the cheaper grades of shoes. Smaller skivings, or waste, after sorting out the sole and tap shapes, are sold to the leather board trade. This eventually comes back to the shoe trade in the shape of leather board and is cut into heel lifts. ”

“ It is of the same size as the Hod Hill shoe, but has more breadth of iron.
The border is not undulated, and the nailholes, though large, are square; there is no socket for the nail-head. One side, which has no calkin, has four nail-holes; and the other side, which has a calkin formed exactly like the Roman and Gaulish specimens by doubling over the extremity of the branch, has only three. The iron appears to be remarkably good and fibrous, and much resembles that of the Saxon weapons made of that metal. ”

“ The brush now smooths the surface of the sole, filling in all small holes with wax and leaving the sole absolutely perfect. Finally, the shoe is placed against a rapidly revolving brush which finishes the uppers with a luster that would make any ordinary boot-black green with envy. Another operation that fully completes the process is the hardening of the edges with hot steel, which ends in producing an edge that is as hard as iron. When it is polished with a black dye, it looks exactly like a new sole. ”

“ Lightness and durability can only be attained by employing the best material. If the sole of the foot is not mutilated, it does not require to be covered by the shoe, as nature has furnished an infinitely better protection. Wide-surfaced shoes can therefore be at once dispensed with, and a narrow rim, fabricated from the very toughest and best iron, and adapted for travelling on slippery roads, while aiding foot and limb, and sufficient to sustain wear for four or five weeks, is all that is required. Here again the skilful artisan is needed, and science steps in to aid him. ”

“ No general form of shoe will suit every horse—no general arrangement of the nail-holes will suffice for every foot; and these quickly and cheaply-made articles, in addition to the many defects which machine-made shoes will always have, possess one which is perhaps the most serious of all—the softness of the iron. ”

“ The next shoe should surely be the correct size, or else the salesman’s ability will drop in the customer’s estimation. If it is the right size place it on the foot and lace it up. Iron out the shoe well by pressing the toe down with one hand and smoothing out all the wrinkles with the other hand. Both the fingers and the palm of the hand should be used for ironing the shoe, while the other hand is used to press down the toe. ”

“ Treatment.—It aims to remove the lameness and to favor growth of coherent horn. In the first place the removal of the exciting causes, followed by proper shortening of the wall. We should apply a shoe whose bearing-surface inclines slightly downward and inward, is perfectly smooth, and wide enough to cover the wall, white line, and outer border of the sole; the iron should be only moderately warm. Where there is lameness we use a leather sole with packing, or a bar-shoe. The loose wall should be freed from shoe-pressure only when it does not extend far along the white line. ”

“ The round holes pierced for the passage of the nails appear to have been punched through when the iron was in a cold state, as the round holes in the horse-shoes are made at the present day in Syria, Turkey, and the East generally. These apertures are only six in number, and there is no indication of attempts at raising a toe-clip. Both surfaces of the shoe are plane, and the workmanship is not of a very high order, but appears to have been executed in a hurried manner. ”

“ The ones called the upper calenders form sheets of rubber stock for the upper part of the shoe. The soling calenders form the stock for the sole or bottom part of the shoe; other calender machines are used to coat a layer of gum on one side of the fabrics used for lining and various strips, fillers, toe, and heel pieces. The gum sheets are sent to the cutting room.
Generally, linings for nine pairs of shoes are cut at once. The linings are cut both by hand and by machine. Men who cut with dies, by hand, stand at the bench and use iron mallets, like those used in cutting heels. ”

“ One thing in favour of toe-pieces must be acknowledged—they, with the calkins, restore the natural position of the foot and preserve the level of the shoe. On the larger draught horses the toe-pieces permit a lighter shoe to be used, as the portion of iron between heels and toe need not be thick to resist wear. It only requires to be strong enough to support weight and much less iron is therefore used. ”

“ The preparation of the foot and application of the shoe are described as follows: 'A shoe which precisely fits the outline of the hoof is selected from the stock. If a proper fit cannot be found, any slight alteration is made by a few blows on the cold iron; or, if heating be necessary, the shoe is made cold again before it is applied, and care is taken that it remain perfectly level and true. The farrier then prepares the hoof by cutting or rasping away the surface of that portion of the crust on which the iron will rest, leaving the centre of the sole and the frog and bars untouched. ”

“ To make a shoe to suit this kind of diseased feet, use a piece of iron three-quarters to one inch square according to the nature of the disease and the weight of the horse, and in making the shoes for foot founder leave all the thickness of the shoe at the toe possible, and thin the shoe at the quarters and heels to a quarter of an inch, have the bar wide and thin so as to receive all the frog pressure possible, the thicker the toe of shoe and thinner the quarters and bar at heels the better. ”

“ From such bars the shoes can be forged with an ordinary hammer: the iron is cut off in lengths proportioned to the size of the shoe; one side is made at a heat, but without stamping the holes; the second side is formed at the second heat, the turning of the shoe to its proper shape being effected by principally striking its upper border around the toe on the beak of the anvil, so as to give it the natural inclination of the foot. A shoe thus turned is narrower on its upper or foot surface than its lower or ground one. ”

“ The toe is turned slightly upwards, and the result is that a larger portion of iron is brought into wear. In the case of very hard-wearing horses that scrape out the toe of the ordinary shoe in ten or fourteen days this form of fitting adds considerably to the durability of the shoe, and so preserves the foot from the evil of too frequent removal of shoes, whilst avoiding any increase of weight. Without calkins wear is more evenly distributed, and the toe is not worn away disproportionately to the rest of the shoe. ”

“ A horse set upon heavy shoes grinds iron every time he moves. The least interposition of the frog will reduce the wear very materially, and if the frog is well on the ground, a horse will carry a shoe until he outgrows it.
A horse-railroad superintendent said to the writer, "We don't wear iron nowadays, we wear frog and cobble-stones; nature provides frog and Boston finds cobble-stones." When the Goodenough shoe is put for the first time upon a dry, half-dead foot, and the frog brought into lively action, growth is generally very rapid. ”