Ever since the flip flop made its way from Europe 30 years ago, Versailles, Ky., farrier Steve Stanley has found it to be useful for horses under the right circumstances. He commonly uses flip flops as temporary solutions when managing harness horses that suffer from joint and knee pain.

With racing Standardbreds making up a large portion of his books, Stanley encounters many cases where this option helps horses in his flip flop. He also uses plastic and other pads in ways beyond the flip flop. Cutting through the interior of multiple pads per day can be time consuming cumulatively, so Stanley made a jig to quicken this process and limit strain. He shared this power tool modification during a demonstration in which he made a flip flop during the 2019 Forge of July in Shelbyville, Ky.

A Jig and Router

Other than farriery, Stanley has a passion for woodworking. He says by keeping an open mind he recognized another use of the router used in his hobby.

“I’m always looking for new ideas that make my work easier and take the stress off my body,” he says.

This demonstration shows how he makes the anvil jig and mounts a router…