Our very own Joe Welder can boast one very unique claim to fame. He grew up down the street from Eddie Lawson! They raced motorcycles together in AMA district 37 when they were little! (Okay, perhaps not so little…)
And now, they still remain connected, although in a different way: they help to keep each other in business.
In dirt-track racing (how Eddie got started in his career), you need something called a “hot shoe”. No, they’re not hot. And no, they’re not really shoes. They are actually the antithesis of their name – they keep your shoes from getting hot.
On a dirt racetrack, as the rider leans the bike into the turns, he has to stick out his left foot to keep balance and direct the bike through the corner. And, as you can imagine, direct contact with hard-packed dirt going over a hundred miles an hour might hurt your foot just a little bit.
That’s where the hot shoes come in. Hot shoes are metal casings that are formed around the bottom of your riding boot. They are perfectly shaped so that they don’t fall off or let dirt in when you use them to turn that corner at speed.
Iron Cobbler Hot Shoes is a company out of Salinas, Ca that custom makes hot shoes for riders in AMA district 36. They use the best tungsten carbide hardfacing available to make them and let me tell you, this material is not for the faint of heart. It’s the same stuff used for mining equipment. If it can dig into rocks, it can certainly protect your feet from a little wear and tear.
So where do Joe Welder and Arc-Zone.com come into this? Well, in order to create great hot shoes, you need the proper welding equipment by your side. And what better place to find it at than Arc-Zone.com? If you’re interested in welding hot shoes, check out our TIG section, especially the Tungsten Grinders…
