Horseshoe Nail Art

[NorthernLights]

Does anyone have experience with horseshoe nail art? I saw some before somewhere and thought they'd be a great gift for my children, wife, and family members. I suppose they are brazed, correct? I haven't done any brazing before, so this is the perfect opportunity to try it. Do you know what type of material the horseshoe nails are made of? What should I use for filler material?

I found some sites that have them for sale and the photos offer great ideas. I really like the clock out of the stirrup in Site #3.

Site #1
Site #2
Site #3

[NorthernLights]

Whoa!!! horsey.

Double post, don't know what happened. This thread has the link to Site #3 anyway. Sorry about that.

[david_r]

Northern,
Those are pretty neat. You'll need some brazing rod and some brazing flux. The welding shop will know what you need. I'd try to get some pretty thin stuff for those nails, maybe 1/16". You may be able to find it precoated with flux. I think it's more expensive that way and more fragile for storage. If you get the bare rod, you just heat it for a few secs with your torch and dip it in the flux.

The nails are steel. Run your O/A torch with a carburizing flame -- your outer cone should not be pulled all the way into your inner cone. If you get the metal too hot, the rod will bead up and roll off. If you end up with copper spots in your joint, you ran too hot and burnt out the tin from the brass.

I think the tricky part will be holding everything where you want it. Be sure and post some pics of yours.