MakerGear Forum

So I've been working on this for awhile now and am happy to say that the first synthetic horse shoes in the world were printed on the m2 this shoe is drawn to the shape of the horses hoof so it is a perfect fit. I'm working with a vet and we are just starting our hoof study's and research project on printed shoes and there effect on the hoof so please don't share these publicly till our article comes out.
I am printing in nylon and simiflex this is the simiflex. Still dealing with nylon warping and need to get that dialed in before I have shoes to test with that material. I will also be printing and leaving voids to put metal stiffners in the shoes! they will go where the nail holes are to keep the nails from pulling through

That's very cool!

However, don't forget the forum is world readable -- I actually use Google to search it sometimes instead of the 'search' on the top right. So even if people don't actively tell others about it, it's out there...

Vprints wrote:That's very cool!

However, don't forget the forum is world readable -- I actually use Google to search it sometimes instead of the 'search' on the top right. So even if people don't actively tell others about it, it's out there...

Yep, I agree - it is very cool, and you need to take most of the pictures out of your original post if you don't want it discovered and the idea lifted.

Nothing is ever safe again when it's posted online. Just remove all but one of the photos - we can get the idea from that.

Thanks for the advice!
I made sure not to mention 3d and the object I printed because that is what people will be searching for.
Not many farriers have the skill to draw them in cad for each horse so I am not super concerned I'm sure someone will steel my idea and that's fine I just want to be the first and also have a few other idea that I can patent. My main goal is to help as many horses as possible and to get a 3d printer in every vet clinic in the usa

I'm not sure that I would be too concerned about having this idea "stolen" as my sister rides horses and asked me if I could produce Polymer horseshoes because the ones her farrier sells are too expensive (also polymer). But to be fair these ones are specifically for winter riding and they eject snow buildup.

The difference here is these will be used for medical reasons so people can spend a lot more.

There are several synthetic shoes that I use and they are about $30 to $50 a pair then they get glued on so $15 for the glue then packing under the shoe so $15 for that so now just in supplies we are up around $80 for two shoes. Then labor is another $80 so $160 for just the fronts and steel hind shoes. And I'm actually one of the cheap guys for this.

The problem is all the shoes made are shaped for front feet so they don't fit the horses correctly. I end up making modifications to them to try and make them work but some times they still won't work.

I'm working with people who pay to have there horses hooves checked with an MRI machine for lameness issues so cost is not a problem.

Interesting. So are you planning to scan each individual hoof for a perfect fit on each one? I'm assuming that you're a vet or a farrier yourself?

Weird coincidence- A horse enthusiast posted this link to my Facebook timeline this week. These are printed in titanium and are focused on racehorses. Sounds like you have found a wonderful and exciting niche market. I look forward to reading your article!

http://www.sporttechie.com/2014/06/05/3-d-printed-
horseshoes-are-the-future-of-horse-racing/

Yes I am a farrier and work closely with a high end vet that was one of the vets for the USA Olympic equestrian team.

Right now I am measuring each foot then drawing the shoes ideally I will scan the feet to get a perfect fit quickly. Right now it takes me 30 minutes to measure and draw up each shoe so that's a bit time consuming however I am working on software that will make this much faster.

Using a parametric modeler, such as Fusion 360 or OnShape, or a parametric language such as OpenSCAD, could save you some time by allowing you to automatically redraw each shoe based on altering a few key dimensions. Assuming that's not what you're already doing.