I used to shape every shoe hot, now I do most of it cold

Switched about 8 months ago after seeing a guy at the Oregon state clinic. He was shaping a bar shoe cold in maybe 3 minutes flat. I still finish the fit hot, but the time saved on the anvil is huge. Anyone else made that shift?

4 comments

4 Comments

fiona_west211mo ago

Cold work just seems like extra strain on the steel to me.

west.richard1mo ago

Man, I felt the same way after a clinic a few years back! It just looked so much faster and easier on the arms. I still hit the tight spots with heat to finish, but doing the main shape cold first saves so much time at the anvil. Really changed my whole routine.

william_harris1mo ago

Right? Seeing someone else do it fast is what got me too. I watched a guy at a clinic bend a wide web shoe cold and it just clicked. My arms don't ache as much at the end of the day now. I still use heat for the final set and the nail holes, but knocking out the basic shape first saves so much time. It felt weird at first but now it's just how I work.

blair_taylor321mo ago

One of my buddies made the switch last year after he wrecked his shoulder moving hay bales. He was worried cold shaping would be harder on his arm but actually said it helped a ton since he wasn't swinging the hammer as much. He still uses heat for the toe and the last few degrees of bend but cranks out the rough shape in maybe two minutes now. Says his anvil time got cut in half and he doesn't dread big jobs as much.