Punching a horseshoe nail hole that is clean so the nail fits tight and is safe for the horse is an art that must be perfected to be useful and practical. The hole must be positioned over the outside of the white line to be safe. The hole should have pitch to match the angle of the hoof wall. The nail must fit tightly. The hole should be punched parallel to the inner edge of the shoe.

 The stamp should be made of hot work steel such as H13 or S7. It can have a welded handle or a wood handle. After welding with a multi-purpose rod designed for joining dissimilar metals, the weld should be heated in the forge and allowed to cool slowly in the air with nothing touching it. The head should be the shape of the nail head. The pritchel and fuller should be made of similar material as the stamp.

 The shoe must be properly positioned on the anvil when stamping. The line of sight is most important. The shoe and stamp should be positioned so you can see down the inside of the tool and form the nail hole parallel to the inside edge at the distance desired. For a normal fit on an average wall width this should be near the middle of the stock. The stamp should be held perpendicular to the shoe. Only the pritchel should have pitch the same as the angle of the hoof wall.

 A good exercise to develop speed (Remember – skill equals accuracy plus speed) is to turn a piece of stock into a circle. Punch nail holes all around it about ¾ of an inch apart. Stamp 1/3 of the holes in the center of the web, 1/3 close to the inside edge, and 1/3 of the holes close to the outside edge. Start by punching one hole in one heat. Progress to where you can punch at least three holes in one heat with out damaging your punches. The steel should be at an orange color for stamping and a dull red or black for pritcheling.

 The stamp should be driven in about ¾ of the way through the stock. You should feel the stamp bottom out and stop before you rivet it into the shoe. After you hit the stamp you should remove it each time to prevent the tip from becoming soft. The shape of the top of the holes should be uniform. Eventually, you should be able to hit the stamp with a few quick blows before you remove it and are ready for pritcheling.

 The stamp is shaped differently depending on the thickness of the stock. The goal is a perfect nail head fit. The nail head should fit tight with about a 1/16 projecting from the ground surface of the shoe. The nail should have pitch and should have a push tight fit in the hole so that when the shoe is turned over the nail won’t fall out.

 The pritchel should be tapered to its end where it is slightly larger than a cross-section of the shank of the nail. The end of the pritchel should be slightly larger than the point of the stamp. The end of the pritchel should be upset slightly or mushroomed. The mushroom tip will punch or shear the burr or chad from the bottom of the nail hole. This will form a cleaner hole that won’t close when the shoe is turned over and hammered flat.

 A pritchel that is too pointed will push through the hole making it necessary to back punch the hole before a nail will fit in it properly. The shoe making pritchel should be driven in with pitch meaning it is held at the same angle as the hoof wall at that point.

A cold pritchel made from spring steel, such as is found in car springs and dump rake teeth, should be used to clean out nail holes after they are punched or after cold shoe shaping distorts the nail holes. This pritchel should be pointed and not mushroomed. Only use the shoemaking pritchel for hot work as it may break if used in a cold shoe.

 Punching uniform nail holes that fit horseshoe nails snugly and are safe for the horse is a skill all farriers should endeavor to master.