Although most farriers don’t keep a coke-fueled forge in their rigs, often they are still found in a farrier shop — and it needs to be cleaned from time to time.

During work, ash from the fuel must be dumped so that it does not block the air source. One way of removing the ash is emptying the forge and using a whisk broom — but this can often result in dust being spread around the shop. Woodstock, Ill., farrier Joel Nielsen has another approach.

He uses a shop vac fitted with a ½ inch square wire mesh filter to clean the forge. Not only does this result in less debris being spread around the shop, it enables him to leave behind the big pieces of good coke and clean out the dust without having to completely empty to forge.

Gain more insight from Joel Nielson in the article "Tips for Working with Draft Horses."