Jump to content
I Forge Iron

Recommended Posts

Posted

Like what Grant Sarver said a while back: the only difference in a hot cut or cold cut is whether you are cutting hot or cold material. I do not harden my hot cuts, but I do harden and temper my cold cuts.
The one on the right looks as though it was used as a cold cut from the damage to the struck end. Dress that before using. A hot cut does not get damaged on the struck end so much unless it is struck improperly.

A properly used and maintained top hot cut or hardy hot cut can last several life times.

Posted

RR tools for sure.....I can't imagine how you could cut a rail with one. I made a nice straight peen out of one of mine and kept one as is. Using one at the anvil is difficult cause they're too tall......I use it for shearing bolts mostly......

Posted

Cold cuts tend to have a broader angle to the cutting edge---like 60 deg compated to 30 deg for a hot cut.

With the better modern alloys many of use tend to go with quite sharp angles for our hotcuts compared to what the books 100 years ago suggest.

Those do indeed look like RR rail cutters. How they were used on older softer rails was to nick the face and trace the line around the rail and then *break them*. This methodology has fallen out of favour with modern larger and stronger rail and the ability to use modern cutting methods.

They indeed could be forged to a nice slit/drift for hammer heads!

Posted

It looks like both are a same thing. I would guess they were made in the same shop. One looks about brand new and the other looks like it saw 10 years of hard use, but never the less they look about the same make to me.

Posted

Thanks for the info everyone, These were not made in the same shop unless they were made a long time apart. The one marked Hubbard special alloy (on the left) was machine made or drop forged and has grinding marks on the sides like many drop forged sledge hammers. It is very symmetrical The other one is not quite symmetrical, the bevels on the sides of the hammer face aren't even
and the sides of the tapers have a ripple look to them. I will post some close ups tomorrow eve.

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...