ThomasPowers

I suggest people "practice" with a good steel in case they get lucky and everything works out---then they have a good/great knife. Practicing on a poor steel means that 1 they are not learning exactly how to work a better steel and 2 if they get lucky they still have a blade made from a poorer steel. May I point out that the clips used by RR can be almost double the carbon content of a spike---depending on maker and use.

I would think that it would be a great material to stabilize and then use.

Actually in Scotland anyone could marry by the simple method of proclaiming it in public before witnesses; rather than the more involved english method involving a license, banns, *time*, etc. The Blacksmith's shop was a public place in the first town over the border---Gretna Green and thus became the proverbial place for elopements to be solemnized...

American Railway Engineering Association's Specifications for Soft-Steel Track Spikes. Original document, 1926, revised last in 1968 Two classes of track spikes are given specifications, both low carbon and high carbon. Two sizes of track spike are identified, one of 5/8 inch square shaft a nd one of 9/16 inch. Page 5-2-1. "A low carbon track spike will not contain greater than 0.12% carbo n nor greater than 0.20% copper. Page 5-2-2. Section 6a. Bending properties: The body of a full size finished spike shall stand being be nt cold through 180 degrees flat on itself without cracking on the outside port ion of the bent portion. Page 5-2-2 Section 11. Marking. A letter or brand indicating the manufacturer s hall be pressed on the head of each spike while it is being formed. When copper is specified, the letters "CU" shall be added. Page 5-2-3: Specifications for high carbon steel track spikes 1968. Carbon not greater than 0.30%, nor greater than 0.20% copper. Page 5-2-4. Section 6a. Bend ing properties: The body of a full size finished spike shall stand being bent c old through 120 degrees around a pin, the diameter of which is not greater than the thickness of the spike without cracking on the outside portion of the bent portion. Page 5-2-5 Section 11. Marking: A letter or brand indicating manufacturer and a lso the letters "HC" indicating high carbon, shall be pressed on the head of ea ch spike while it is being formed. When copper is specified, the letters "CU" s hall be added." Additionally included in a fax to Mike Blue by the gentleman at Wellington indu stries, a division of Sheffield Steel: "Because of the bending tests required, the carbon content will not be greater than 0.30%. After all, brittle spikes would not be desirable as a track spike. A bent spike still holds the rail while a fractured spike would not. The conseq uences for the industry would be too great to consider. However, we refer to th em as high carbon, they are not within the range of steels known as high carbon or hypereutectoid according to the steel industry standards, and have not been since at least 1926, when most track spikes were previously manufactured from wrought iron."

Files are generally designed for little if any lateral forces being used on them. Knives often have to deal with such forces. Yes it can be done but it will make an inferior knife.

100 year old tools are fairly common in a blacksmith shop. Well made and well maintained some of them will reach 200 or more years with ease! The threads on that vise screw look in great condition and so it probably has another generation or two of life left in it. Nice score.

Heat treatment does not mean harden. Heat treatment can make something harder, softer, no change or even just not as brittle. Now SOME rr spikes will have enough carbon to be able to harden them some using superquench, they will never get as hard as a good knife steel will. Many rr spikes do not have enough carbon to harden appreciably. Which type did you use? So if you are afraid of messing up the heat treat of a knife, keep the blade cool as you buff it---dip it in water regularly or only buff for short periods at the time. Wasting 1200 grit paper on a RR spike knife is not a good return on your investment IMNSHO! I would buff with a sisal wheel and black compound after 400 grit.

I had several light duty ones and one that was too heavy to use! Traded off the really heavy one to a fellow and have never missed it!

Fisher's are great anvils! My favorite shop anvil is a Fisher as they are QUIET but that steel face has lots of rebound. I think you got a great deal. I often suggest to my students that they look for "damaged" anvils as you can get a great anvil at a great price that way and typical "damages" like missing horn or heel are fairly easy to work around. DickyPitts, HB's are marked in pounds so that should be an appx 200# anvil. You may want to look into making an anvil stand where the wood goes vertically rather than horizontally as it will have less "bounce" but a 200# anvil is big enough that you won't notice it much. Looks to be in very nice shape too!

A lot of the old anvils were not made of high quality wrought iron---william foster anvils for instance. Low quality wrought is one reason they may have shed horn or heal or face plate... But it can be a cheap way to buy wrought iron! My abused anvil cost me $5 and is probably 80# or so of wrought iron!

WARNING; if you heat above your tempering temp you will soften the blade!

The Friday night demo at Quad-State this year is refacing an old anvil by forge welding a new face on. I don't know if SOFA has procured their demo anvil yet you might check with them to see if they are in the market for a seriously abused oldstyle anvil. I decided not to let mine go as I may want to try to repeat that demo out here at one of our conferences.

Closest I have come to mind altering substances at Quad-State was Blackstrap Rum and toll house cookies consumed in camp. Just waiting for the call from my wife on when her surgery is going to be...

I'd guess cast iron myself and so not an anvil

I can buy smithing coal here in NM for $12 per 55 pound sack. $10 for 60# of cherry pits doesn't seem like much of a bargain!

wasn't that supposed to be mIm ?

It is an old (but not *real* old) english anvil. It is marked in hundred weight system (CWT) and the face was several forge welded on high carbon pieces; the body is real wrought iron. It is in poor repair as noted. You can of course start forging using it! I sometimes use one in worse condition, 90+% of the face completely missing, just to show folks that they don't have to be so prissy about anvils. As such you have little to lose working it over. I would build up the face that is left first and flatten the area around the hardy by grinding so you can use hardy tools. Note that welding on the *wrought* iron will be a bit more difficult than welding on the steel face. Keep it in case you ever get a chance to swap it for one that someone is using as a garden ornament or fireplace piece---sometimes they won't turn loose of an anvil but will trade with some boot thrown in.

I always just set out a money jar when I sold at Quad-State. I did check it at lunch and dinner as the site is not completely closed---fair grounds is fenced but people do have access to it for other things going on. I don't recall ever coming up "shy".

Double horned Swedish pattern where both horns are stepped down from the face.

"Fortunately I haven't discovered any Alaskan wildlife that likes propane." Try looking in a mirror! (grin)

I think the Al issues has been shown to be in error; lucky for us as AL is one of the most common elements in the crust so it's all around us every day!

I assume it was a water well drilling rig...does it have a center hole through it? If so you may need to forge weld faces on it.

"Tanker's Bar" = anyone they serve beer at? We have rock breakers out there that sound a lot like that; generally a medium carbon steel as toughness is preferred over possibility of catastrophic failure...

I have seen one version of the downdraft forge where the hand crank ran both a blower *and* the extraction fan. Very odd but was all original and un-modified and the owner wouldn't turn loose of it---liked watching it rust I guess.

And here I was thinking about forge welding a bit of High C along the striking edge just like they used to do in the old days... Thomas