Adam Fahr’s article on tuning a punch (Page 28) is a reminder of how tough farriers are on their tools, as well as the need for maintaining them. A well-crafted and maintained tool repays your investment many times over.    

Farriers are tool collectors just as anyone who plies their trade through their hands. And as the collection grows, why rid yourself of a tool that is just as useful as the day it was first used? Even a broken tool may find a second life as a different instrument through creative modifications. But even as tools are collected and rotated in and out of service, some hold greater significance than others.

Classic Ad Leads to Tool Talk

A few months ago, I read through old issues of American Farriers Journal. Many of these pages remain relevant or applicable decades later — and not only the articles. An ad in the May/June 1985 issue of AFJ showed Hall of Fame farrier Bruce Daniels in his supply shop, South Jersey Horseshoe Supply. The ad read,  “Bruce Daniels Doesn’t Sell Anything He Wouldn’t Buy Himself.” 

What a great ad. Today, we have social media “influencers” who lack authenticity, as their endorsements can be forgotten as soon as swiping to the next fleeting curiosity. When this ad ran, words had depth, and Daniels was one of the foremost names among United States…