Thank you all very much for your input. I had to laugh at the last comment about how ugly it is- thank you for that.
I am looking to have a railroad spike knife made so the metal will be iron. I got pointed to the newbie helpful tips just now so I really appreciate your thoughts on this even though I may not have been as specific as I could have been.
Not sure of the metal used on the pic I attached but if it is the paint method, will that hold over time or does it eventually wear off?