WEEK 2 DEMONSTRATION

Please note, all photographs have been taken in the lesson on Thursday 5:6 12th September using the boys in year 7. The instructions given in this demonstration have been given by P Skelton and shows just one way in which the goals can be achieved. There may be other ways to remove the nails that haven't been mentioned.

The horseshoes may be full of nails, so the first job is to remove them from the iron shoe. You will need two shoes of similar size for this job.

The nails will probably be sticking out by about 25mm or so and may be rusted in, so it is not an easy job to remove them and they won't pull or push out using your hands. care must be taken when handling the nails as they will be rough, damaged and sharp with burrs.

As the nails are so long and usually bent, it is not feasible to just hammer them back through the nail hole as the nails usually buckle up which makes it very difficult to remove at a later stage. I suggest cutting off the nail using a hacksaw as shown (preferably Junior) so that you have no more than about 2-3mm showing.

Carefully holding the shoe in one hand, position it over the jaws of a vice, so that any nail can move through the open space between the jaws and using a hammer (ball pein as shown in the photo), carefully hammer the nail back through the hole in which it was originally put.

Now, holding the shoe in the vice, either with a pair of pliers, or as shown using a pair of pincers, take hold of the short nail head that you have just driven through the hole in the shoe and remove what is left of the nail.

Repeat this for all nails.

Occasionally you are going to get a nail that has been bent over so far that it cannot be hammered through the hole, or perhaps it has been cut or has broken off and is too short t do anything with. If this is the case, I suggest clamping the shoe firmly to the bench using a "G" Cramp as shown and filing what is left of the nail off completely. You can then use a parallel punch to drive the remains of the nail out of the shoe.

Lastly, I would suggest that all shoes are stamped using the letter punches with each pupils initials, so that they can be recognised for next weeks demonstration and lesson.

Please note, the letters are being stamped with the shoe resting on a metal block, (called a chipping block). You may use an anvil to rest the shoes on if no chipping blocks are available. It is not advisable to rest the shoes on a wooden table or bench.