joelon Posted July 15, 2005 Share Posted July 15, 2005 Hey all! I'm new to both this site and to blacksmithing, but i wanted to show some of my stuff for maybe some feed-back. This is a knife I made from a railroad spike....I thought it turned out alright but I was not sure how to harden it. Some one told me to try oil, so I got some used moter oil and queched it yellow hot, but it didnt seem to do much. (I eventually just work hardened it to death!) Anyway, any suggestions would be great...edit photo link fixed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strine Posted July 15, 2005 Share Posted July 15, 2005 I can't see the photos, don't know why, but I bet they are the bees knees. Word of warning. Used motor oil is carcenogenic. So I'm told by an oil company rep who trained as a smith. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Archie Zietman Posted July 15, 2005 Share Posted July 15, 2005 What you could do, is heat it up to a very high temp. and then stick it in a pile of wood ashes or sand, and let it cooloff completely, which will soften it, and take all the work hardness out. Then what you do, is to make sure it's soft all the way around, heat it up to red hot, and let it cool in the air three times. Then heat it up to red hot, and quench it vertically (point first) in plain vegetable oil. It works really well IMHO. I'm a beginner too by the way. Welcome to the forum(s?) and I hope your stay is as fruitfull knowledgewise, as an army of humonga cherry trees. P.S. I really like the knife! The lines are really clean and I likes dat! Have ypou sharpened it yet? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don A Posted July 15, 2005 Share Posted July 15, 2005 Unless your spike is marked "HC" on the head, it is most likely mild steel and will not harden. If it is marked "HC" on the head, it has a little carbon in it an you might get it to harden to some degree. A spike will not, in my experience, get "file skating hard" like a piece of 1095, O1, or other high carbon steels. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sandpile Posted July 15, 2005 Share Posted July 15, 2005 Joelon---Every thing in the above is correct with one exception. The quenching fluid has to be water, or something quicker. You just have a about two seconds to get this metal cooled down. Nice job on the spike knife. If the spike had an HC on the head. You will be able to harden it enough to make it fun to play with. The best hardening procedure that I have found for this spike is Heat to a good Red--Non-Mag. Quench in cool water(70 degrees or so) after the third or fourth heat/quench sequence, the blade should be as hard as your going to able to get it. I don't temper them . They will just barely be hard enough without drawing them back. My Grandsons and I have been playing with these spikes for quite a while. Good Luck and welcome aboard. Chuck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bruce wilcock Posted July 15, 2005 Share Posted July 15, 2005 if the knife will not harden case harden it ,use casenit ,its the easiest to use Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joelon Posted July 16, 2005 Author Share Posted July 16, 2005 Hey thanks for the advice! yah...I'm totally self trained so far and its REALLY NICE to hear from people who actually know what the deal is! I did sharpen it some but I think it is too soft to get it real-real sharp. I've never heard of case-hardening before though... :? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich Hale Posted July 16, 2005 Share Posted July 16, 2005 If I had the time and money I would come to your shop and see if we could get a nice working edge on that really nicely done knife,,,then we could field test it on a small herd of caribou Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joelon Posted July 17, 2005 Author Share Posted July 17, 2005 That would be great to actually meet someone who does this! ...so yah you are welcome to come to my "shop", -though it barely qualifys as that, :oops: mostly its just my forge,a hammer, a hunk of railroad rail for an anvil and a small gathering of goats, (it's in our barn). :? By the way, I just made another railroad knife , only its straight and double-edged. It turned out better because I think it had some carbon in it and after quenching it in water it hardened up pretty nicely :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sandpile Posted July 17, 2005 Share Posted July 17, 2005 JOELON; Over in the blueprint part of this site. There is an essay on heat-treating. It was written by RF Nichols.--BP0078?? It gives a very nice insight to the whys and whatfors of how to heat/treat your metal. It is not over long and is easily read in fifteen minutes or so(first time, grin). It is eye opening for a beginning bladesmith. Good luck NEVER overheat your metal--don't beat on cold steel. :wink: Chuck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woody Posted July 17, 2005 Share Posted July 17, 2005 Joelon: While Railroad spikes make an interesting looking knife, even the ones tat are stamped HC (higher carbon not High Carbon) do not contain enough carbon to be fully hardenable. the HC spikes contain approximately 30 points, or 30/100 of one percent carbon. To be fully hardenable, the steel must contain at least 60 to 65 points carbon or have some other alloys in it that contribute to the hardness. More suitable material for knives includes car springs, both coil and leaf, torsion bars, and pieces of plow disk. If you will email me, I have about 20 or so pages of material on the properties of various "junk yard steels", materials that are suitable for blades and heat treating information. All of it is in MS Word so you can easily pirnt it off if you want. By the way, your first blade looks good, Happy Forging Woody Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JPH Posted July 17, 2005 Share Posted July 17, 2005 Howdy: As was mentyioned before, the quench needs to be very quick on these spike knives. I use caustic soda brine and I get them hard engough to take and hold a decent enough edge but no where near as long as even a piece of 1060. You do get some 'wow" factor here from the fact that it was once a rr spike... As far as staring out...everyone starts out the same...I had pretty much the same set up you have now when I first started out except for the goats...I woulda eaten them!! Good luck..you will find the folks here are usually alot of help..we do have a sense of humor so..be forewarned!!! JPH ( I gotta get that RR spike article posted where folks can read it on my site...) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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