Shoutout to the old guy at the auction who showed me a trick with a rasp

I was at the horse auction in Lexington trying to fit a shoe on a big, fidgety draft, and my rasp kept clogging up with hoof dust every few strokes. The guy next to me, who looked like he'd been shoeing since before I was born, just said 'spit on it' and went back to watching the sale. I tried it, and the rasp cut clean again for the whole job. Do you all have any other quick fixes for tools that keep gumming up?

2 comments

2 Comments

seanfisher8d ago

Man that's the best kind of tip, the one that sounds gross but works perfectly. It's wild how many old-school fixes are just about adding a little moisture back into the equation, like licking a thread before you try to screw a nut on. Feels like we overcomplicate stuff now when the answer is often stupid simple. That guy probably learned that from his own mentor fifty years ago.

graytorres7d ago

I always thought you needed special sprays or cleaners for that. My old boss in Montana swore by a tiny bit of bar soap rubbed on a saw blade to stop pitch buildup. It works the same way, just adds a bit of slickness so the gunk doesn't stick. Changed how I look at a lot of simple problems now.