[TheForge] Making letters from wire/new-old equivilent tools

[David Childress]

I am working this summer in a historic village doing blacksmith demos.
 They sell "horseshoes" that someone, maybe me, stamps kid's manes
into.  They are really ugly and seven smiths have quit in the last few
years because the "horse shoes" are not much fun to stamp and any
smith would be a embaressed to be associated with them.  The
"horseshoes" are 1/8" X 3/4" bar just bent into a "U", no other
features, not even the name of the village.

You can buy pony shoes for what the village is paying for blanks, but
putting names on becomes problematic.  I would like to bend names up
out of wire and string the name between nail holes.  But I am not real
good at shaping some letters and would like all letters to be in the
same "font".  I have seen something for doing this but can not
remember where, might even have been an ad in the back of a comic
book.

2nd item: A couple of years ago I helped teach boyscouts how to forge
"S" hooks.  As part of the intro there was a display of new and old
tools ie.- a tape measure and a traveler, a cordless drill and a brace
and bit, etc.  I can not remember all of the sets but am looking for
suggestions of additional things.

David Childress