a general purpose Sasquash Slayer...

2nd crack at attaching handles (used walnut).
first time messing with bolsters (used 416 stainless).

mistakes aplenty... like trying to forge and grind a flat piece of stock.
still can't get a decent uniform hollow grind, so this failed attempt was converted to convex edge after the initial attempt. will keep trying

thanks for all of your advise and guidance throughout!

wow, killer knife, im jealous

zombie killer!!! nice!

satisfying to forge them from a pice of metal miles away from the finished shape isnt it! I find it a bit dull starting with 1" x 1/4" x 6" long stock!

good work.

Very nice work especially the polishing you did good work

Great work. I have a clip that was dredged up from a near by river. You have inspired me to give mine a go.

That's stunning. I have a bunch of those in the garage and never even saw a knife in them. Inspiring work!

Well done. That looks like a hand full of knife'

i just started one of those the other day, i got it cut and beat a piece straight, i drew it out a little bit, its some tough metal to move.
awsome knife!

awesome knife i want one now. does anyone know the carbon content of those clips?

Tx for the compliments. If I recall correctly, Nitewatchman put it in the 1045 - 1060 vicinity, so it's just bordering the "high-carbon" category. Personally I'd like it to have a little more carbon or other hardening alloy.

Quenched it in peanut oil and the edge didn't work out to be as hard as blades I made from 1090 or 5160. Should a large heavy beast have a little more give?

Very cool! How does one come across these? What was it's origional purpose? :confused:

Jim L.

Hi. These clips go underneath the railroad tracks, up against the RR ties, to keep the track from sliding longitudinally over time. You can find them along abandoned tracks, although they're not as common as loose spikes.

heed all the warnings that people are about to lay on you about trespassing train tracks ...

SWEET!!! Would it work on zombies?

very nice i have made a few blades out of them (and i simply edge hardened them in water) they are very tough. i have about a dozen + of them in my shop. they make very good rodded punches, or chisels, or machetes, or hardy tools, or even my... i mean A shear for barstock like that of francis whittaker. but i havn't enough patient..or is it pacients?.. umm.. PAA-SHUNTS! ugh. to draw them blade thin as i did when i started at 13 years old. it isn't fun. only a few years later and i wonder why i spent my time doing that. Oh well i learned much. anyway very nice sasquatch squasher you have there

youngsmith: what's your impression about the edge hardness you achieved with this material when quenched in water?

I thought I could do better than what I achieved using peanut oil as the quechant. As a guage of hardness, in addition to the obvious file checks, I look at how easily the blade can be scratched superficially. It left more to be desired. But I can't tell if it's a limitation of the steel, or my method. Am considering using water next time.

Please give me your opinion about the hardness/edge holding ability you achieved. Thanks!

I had one of these tested a while back. It was 0.51% carbon and 0.80% manganese, and not much else. 1050, in other words. Which is about the same as what the old-time Japanese swordsmiths were working with, except their steel had little or no manganese. You ought to be able to get it to 60 RC or better as-quenched, but you'll need water or a very fast oil. (Canola is fairly fast if it's hot -- say 130 F or so. I doubt you'll get 100% full hardness in canola, but then you're a lot less likely to wreck the blade, too.) Wear resistance probably won't be outstanding at any hardness.

It'll should give you a really nice hamon if you clay quench it, especially in water. That's if it survives. :)

it gives a nice quench line in warm water or fast oil. i etched in muriatic acid and hydrogen peroxide gives nice def but must be neutralized and oiled quickly or it rusts. i have had good results by quenching blades by pouring water on the edge or heating just the edge and quenching in oil then water... hard to tell, easy to show. but touchy,very touchy. i usually edge quench in cool motor oil and it gets too hard to file. usually no temper. tools i quench in oil, dont need to be hard just tough for a punch or chisel. hope this helped