DIY Welding Project: Horseshoe Holiday Tree | MillerWelds

DIY Welding Project: Horseshoe Holiday Tree [Guide]

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Upcycle horseshoes with a MIG welder, spray paint and a little elbow grease. Follow these step-by-step instructions for this holiday project.
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SKILL LEVEL: Beginner

TIME COMMITMENT: 2–3 hours

Here's what you'll need to get started.

TOOLS AND MATERIALS

MIG welder
Drill and 7/64" or other small drill bit
Wire brush
Metal cutting tool (band saw, reciprocating saw, abrasive cutoff wheel or hacksaw)

Grinder, disk or belt sander 
Marker
Tape measure
6 used or new horseshoes (5 of one size and 1 larger for base)
.030" ER70S-6 MIG wire
Rust remover or white cleaning vinegar
Bucket to soak horseshoes in
Green spray paint and white textured spray paint
Assorted small ornaments
 

WARNING: READ AND FOLLOW ALL LABELS AND THE OWNER'S MANUAL.

STEP BY STEP

Andy cleaning a horseshoe

STEP ONE:

Lay out your horseshoes. Use a wire brush to remove any rust and dirt. Put them in a bucket with white vinegar and soak overnight to clean them. After soaking the horseshoes overnight, rinse them with water.

Andy cutting the horseshoe in half

STEP TWO:

Take four or five horseshoes and cut them in half with a plasma cutter, bandsaw, reciprocating saw or air cut-off wheel. This provides the shapes for your pattern. You may need to make additional trim cuts to smooth them out.

Andy grinding down a sharp edge

STEP THREE:

Make sure to grind and debur the sharp edges on the horseshoe pieces you’ve cut.

Andy laying out the horseshoes in the shape of the tree

STEP FOUR:

Lay out your cut pieces in the shape of a tree. Make your marks for any necessary trim cuts and then make those cuts.

Andy drilling a hole to be able to hang ornaments later

STEP FIVE:

Before you weld the pieces together, drill a small hole on the end of each piece, which will allow you to hang ornaments on them. Be sure to debur the back of each drilled hole.

Lay out your pieces and tack weld them together

STEP SIX:

Lay out your pieces in a tree shape and tack weld them together. I used Auto-Set for the 1/8-inch setting on my machine. To produce the best welds on horseshoes, be sure to grind the mill scale off the metal.

Andy laying out his base of the tree

STEP SEVEN:

Decide what you want to use for the tree base. I used two of the half horseshoes and welded them together as legs to the bottom of the tree. Then I welded that to the larger horseshoe as the base.

Final picture of the Ho-Ho-Horseshoe Holiday Tree

STEP EIGHT:

As a last step, spray paint the tree green (or any festive color of your choosing), add some textured white spray paint to simulate snow and hang the ornaments!

About Andy Weyenberg

Andy Weyenberg headshot
Andy Weyenberg began welding at his father’s business a few years before joining the Army. After going to school for Electro-Mechanical, he started working for Miller Electric Mfg. LLC as a technical service rep and training instructor. Andy has built and raced stock cars since he was a teenager — and now builds high-performance street vehicles while also managing the Miller motorsports program.

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