Forging Carver

Made a railroad spike opener today. The opener was brushed then finished with Trewax. I wish I had a vise to make a twist in the handle, but I'm sure there's a way I can make a little jig to twist spikes. I left some rust and scale on the head to give some character. As much as I love this, I am going to give this as a gift to a carver who is very good to me. I am definetly going to make more so I think I can part with this one. i think openers are going to be my thing, or at least for a while!

This article goes for all you guys with a solid fuel forge without a chimney So today once I was finished forging, I took a shower as usual. Once I got out I then get a face wipe and clean any soot still on my face. I then got a Q-tip and cleaned my ears which is also usual. However, today I have come to notice that the Q-tip was black which shows how much soot from the smoke gets into your ears. I then realized that my noise was a bit black on the inside so I cleaned that out. I now just went to blow my nose, and a black sort of booger type thing came out. This is really scary because if this much coal and soot gets just in your ears and nostrils, I can only imagine how much is in my lungs. This makes me more than ever want to get at least some kind of chimney for my forge. I have been keeping an eye out for some duct work, but at this point I am thinking abut just spending the money on it. I just thought I would share this with you fellows so you are aware of the importance of having a chimney on your forge.

Thanks for the help. I was thinking about buying the a pair from one of those blacksmith sites. A v notch in hoof nippers is an excellent idea. I hope my nippers are big enough!

Alright thanks. I really wanna make some tongs so I can hold railroad spikes and other various sizes of short stock, but they look too complicated and take too much time to do. I have a piece laying around that looks like it could make a good slitter and another that could make a good drift, but they both are too small to hold with your hand. Vise grips could work, but I constantly drop the steel with them. Also, my forge is only a brakedrum so there isn't much room to heat a large section. This should probobly be posted in a different section, so if it is sorry. Thanks for the help

Ok so I will get around to making a legit slitter once I start making some tongs after the holiday. Tommorow I really wanna make a opener from a railroad spike either like a traditional one or a wall hanger one that I saw posted on here. Thanks for the help everyone.

Lol yeah well the only caps I lift are those to my root beer! Can you guys give any tips to forging the curved part at the end of the opener handle. It gave me the most trouble because I can't hit the opener portion or else it would bend. Also, I used a craftsman chisel my dad gave me kind of like a slot punch except it gave me a hard time taking out the piece of steel. I am thinking that all I need to do is grind away the edge to make it work better? Thanks

Hi, I recently made my first bottle opener and lots of people loved it. They are also lots of fun to make! So in the Show Me Your Bottle Opener thread, I see some guys make them out of railroad spikes which is such a great idea because people like to buy merchandise that they can see it used to be something else. So this guy from my carving class absolutely loved the opener and wants me to make him one out of a railroad spike sometime. So Christmas is a couple weeks away and I was thinking about making him one next weekend which is going to be the only time I will have to make it. So I need a pair of tongs to hold a railroad spike fast and I wont be able to forge them and have enough time to make the opener. I saw a guy make a pair of flat jaws by welding reins to some channel locks, but i need a quick and easy way to hold a railroad spike. I suppose flat jaws or video grips could work, but are there any better options? I was thinking about getting some angle iron and making some cheap v bit tongs out of channel locks by bringing them to a local welder. Any ideas? Thanks

I made my first opener today! I found them to be lots of fun to make! My first one I accidently burn the top part which I am guessing was because I made it too thin. I showed a guy from my carving class and he absolutely loved it! For some reason he is infatuated with stuff forged from railroad spikes like knives, so he asked if this was made from a spike. I plan on making some railroad spike tongs and start making openers from spikes becuase as it was mentioned before in this thread, people like to see something they know of forged into something else. Tell me what you think and any ways I can improve the next one and how to forge them cleaner. Thanks

So how do you forge the spike down to be able to punch it? A gradual taper or just start hammering a particular length at the end down until it is the thickness you want? Thanks

Here's the slitter I made from that jack hammer bit. The grind isn't the best but I think it will work just fine for now. I watched the colors and grinder any areas away that got too hot so I got some nice steel with a heat treat which will probably not last very long becuase I am learning. This weekend I plan on making my first opener from a railroad spike after I make myself a drift so I can fit it on the horn. I only have mild around for right now but I know that guys say mild is good for learning with. Just need to figure a quick way to hold the stuff. Maybe I can make a trip to the welder tommorow. Well here's the slitter. Feel free to comment. I haven't posted this comment yet and I would bet that at least one pictured will be turned the wrong way. Ooh yay I jinksed it! I should do that more often and maybe I will get my pictures turned the right way!

My dad gave me an old jack hammer bit the other day that I ground into a v shape for a slitter. All I need is to make a drift and I will be set. I found that I like the openers that start out with a thicker square stock then tapered to a thinner size for the opener better than starting with flat stock. To me it looks much better but is probably much more work. Thanks for the help everyone. Also that video helped me lots BlackFrog.

alright thanks for the help. I would imagine it being a pain to get the spring off a car at the junk yard? Maybe I am better off with some mild for now. Sorry because I know this really isnt about bottle openers. Thanks again

Thanks for the great help. I suppose I will pick up some coil for the slitter and then either use it for the drifts or use mild for them. Do you have to go to the auto body for coil, or do you have to go to the junk yard? Thanks

Ok thanks. So from that I think I can say you don't heat treat?

Ok thanks for the help. As far as your slitting punch and drift goes, what size stock (round or square) do you start with and can you get away with mild as I have seen a video by techinicus joe saying mild is good for begginers? Also, what size stock do you use for the opener and I suppose you use mild? Thanks

Wow that's interesting. Wow that's interesting.

Bit more progress.

Is this your video on YouTube black frog? https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ZvQhusikYxk

Ok thanks

So with the time put into them and the price you sell them at, do they make a good bit of cash for you? To me, it seems that openers would but I am not too sure.

Alright thanks that helps me so much! How much do you guys charge for a simple opener? Thanks

Alright thanks. I will look for a video on forging the opener dsw. If you do find it, let me know. Can you guys post some pictures of the drifts or punches you use made for forging openers? Thanks

Wow two an hour! Do you guys swing your hammer as hard as you can? That might be my issue in that I do not swing the hammer with all my might. Also, do you guys use some sort of a drift to make the oval shape of the opener? Thanks

Thanks for that Thomas powers! In nj, you don't wanna go in the bad parts of town!! Well at least where I am at!

The rebar gives a nice texture. Nice opener!