windancer Posted August 21, 2013 Share Posted August 21, 2013 Made many 'regular' spike knives, won't bore you with them. This one is a little different: Seen the garden tools and the openers... anything else out there? Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted August 21, 2013 Share Posted August 21, 2013 I made this for a friend who owns a remote cabin. He wanted someone to forge nails for him but choked at the prices guys asked. No surprise there. I forged this out of a RR spike, drew the point square, longer and sharp enough to drive into a block without a sledge hammer. Punched and drifted the header hole square and forge welded the cutoff blade on. I used it to make the nails laying on the anvil, mounted in the wood block, it as seen in pic 2. Unfortunately my buddy isn't really a tool using guy so he twisted and broke the cut off right off trying to hammer and pry it out of a wood block. Now he has to use a chisel to make the cut while making nails. <sigh> Somewhere I have the RR spike wizard I made at the Gordon Williams clinic this spring but I didn't see pics and don't know where they might be in this new stupid thinky machine. <sigh> Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Posted August 21, 2013 Share Posted August 21, 2013 Made a steak turner a while back out of a spike. Doesn't seem to get a lot of use, all the serious grillers I know use tongs <_<. I've seen this Kootenay Railroad Spike Contest pic on the web and saved it for inspiration. Honestly the knots in the forks and spoons seem the most challenging Appropriate credits to the original photographer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chinobi Posted August 21, 2013 Share Posted August 21, 2013 stroke of genius frosty, especially with so much vertical clearance you dont need to worry about clipping knuckles on the hot cut! it might be fun to forge a spike into a miniature putter for an office miniput set :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan C Posted August 21, 2013 Share Posted August 21, 2013 Various types of coat hooks, lots of different types of bottle openers, gardening tools, oyster knives, spike hawks (last one I welded 1095 for the bit), still get a lot of requests for the knives. Seen a cross done like this, but I haven't tried that yet. It's on my to-do list for my mom as a Christmas gift. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timothy Miller Posted August 21, 2013 Share Posted August 21, 2013 A length of 5/8" square costs me about $17 with a spike being about 6" of material I can get 40 pieces. That's 43 cents a piece I don't know why people bother with them. I have RR tracks behind my shop its not even worth the trip out the back door. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted August 21, 2013 Share Posted August 21, 2013 Tentstakes, However I will be building a header for them as my pastor wants to forge some LARGE nails Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan C Posted August 21, 2013 Share Posted August 21, 2013 To each his own, I get them for free from a railyard and people recognize what they were in a former life and buy what I make. It's helped finance my other hobbies and I enjoy doing it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank Turley Posted August 21, 2013 Share Posted August 21, 2013 If I had some railroad spikes, I'd take them to the flea and sell them as is. Sayings and Cornpone Shop doorway lollygagger: "I thought you were a blacksmith. What's that buzz box doing in the corner of your shop?" Tom Bredlow: "I am a blacksmith; I'm just not a stupid blacksmith." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nuge Posted August 21, 2013 Share Posted August 21, 2013 Hooks. Like others I am infatuated with remnants of industry and transforming these things. Taking a bit of the old life and giving something new, for better or worse. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bigred1o1 Posted August 21, 2013 Share Posted August 21, 2013 i enjoy using RR spikes not bc they are a cost effective means of acquiring steel stock but because they are a recognizable item and to me one of the big things that blacksmiths can do is transform a material that it generally seen as being locked into a static shape so being able to take a rr spike and reforge part of it into another shape seams to be something that people really enjoy and to a section of the populate this makes them happier and willing to spend more money on a steak turner made in this manner than a simpler one forged out of a piece of simple stock i cant find any photos of the more interesting rr spike bottle openers that i have made but here is in my op about as simple a one as you can make as well as a knife and some steak turners the other knife is forged from a allen wrench as a side note i tend to give people that want one a regular spike as well as the reforged one sorry that was kind of a long winded 2 cents (there is a small chance i was channeling Frosty) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan C Posted August 21, 2013 Share Posted August 21, 2013 Here's an assortment of the openers I've made. Living in a college town they sell pretty well, especially around football season. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DSW Posted August 21, 2013 Share Posted August 21, 2013 ac39b2dcd6a01a104c27da11c1071927 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VaughnT Posted August 23, 2013 Share Posted August 23, 2013 " I don't know why people bother with them" I used the think exactly the same way, hoss. Then I started thinking about them not as spikes or 6" pieces of 5/8" stock, but as preforms. Like the hooks in Nuge's example, or Red's flippers, the main part could be made out of new stock, but then I'd have to upset the head or fab a head from plate and weld it on to the shaft. With a spike, I have the head already upset and all I have to do is draw out the body. It's a tremendous time saver for a small shop and allows a hobbyist an opportunity to create something they might not have been able to otherwise. That's not to say, however, that you'll ever see me forge a railroad spike knife! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timothy Miller Posted August 23, 2013 Share Posted August 23, 2013 " I don't know why people bother with them" I used the think exactly the same way, hoss. Then I started thinking about them not as spikes or 6" pieces of 5/8" stock, but as preforms. Like the hooks in Nuge's example, or Red's flippers, the main part could be made out of new stock, but then I'd have to upset the head or fab a head from plate and weld it on to the shaft. With a spike, I have the head already upset and all I have to do is draw out the body. It's a tremendous time saver for a small shop and allows a hobbyist an opportunity to create something they might not have been able to otherwise. That's not to say, however, that you'll ever see me forge a railroad spike knife! I basically feel the same way. I just wanted to present a contrary opinion to induce thought. Perhaps get some of the guys to move out of the comfort zone. I like Nuge's hooks They no linger look like spikes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nuge Posted August 23, 2013 Share Posted August 23, 2013 Definitely I've been thinking about this one and why I love to work old rusty stuff. Am i that cheap? A bit but the deeper truth is I try to make the act of buying, at least buying a new product or material, way down on the list of solutions to a problem. I have this dream that the next U.S. president would put a one year moratorium on anyone buying anymore new crap so we would use all the old stuff that litters our world and learn to fix stuff and make do.... Seriously, in this country we have all the stuff and its way too easy to buy. Travel to any third world place and these rr spikes would be used for a purpose. In business this isn't so easy. The cost of time you take to acquire any type of reclaimed material is a killer and can you keep up with demand if your product gets hot? As for no longer looking like spikes, that the deal with anything good, isn't it? Would you rather see a deck post made from a 4x4 from home depot or a custom milled 5x5 from somebody's back woods? The 4x4 is common, uninspiring, and your eye passes over it without a thought. The comment someone made above about just leaving a whiff of the previous life of a re purposed material is a powerful move. And I do believe there is old power, life force whatever you want to call it, in some old stuff. When you get hold of an ancient spike with the waffle marks from the hammer of some old boy who had to whack them in all day you can't help but to think about that story. Awhile back I saw somebody was selling some very old wrought spikes and their marketing ploy was all about the two known times Lincoln had passed over them, once he was in a casket. So cool. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maillemaker Posted August 23, 2013 Share Posted August 23, 2013 I made a pretty awesome coat rack last summer.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DSW Posted August 23, 2013 Share Posted August 23, 2013 Maillemaker I really like that one. I've got a good friend whose son is big into trains and his wife is big into "country folk art" type stuff. I think I may have just found his Christmas present for this year. I'm adding that pict to my projects folder. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigfootnampa Posted August 23, 2013 Share Posted August 23, 2013 One thing that I like about RR spikes is that they forge out softer for me than mild steel... or anything that I have! I was a bit puzzled by this for a long time but now I think it is due to the slight copper content in the alloys. The copper content also makes them more stretchy (less brittle) and more resistant to rusting (at least those are my theories). This suggests that they would be good stock for projects that will be exposed to weathering. I like them for forging handles and outdoor hooks. I also just enjoy the buttery feel of shaping these chunky softies into forms that only remotely hint at their origins! I don't use a lot of them but I like having a handy supply! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timothy Miller Posted August 23, 2013 Share Posted August 23, 2013 Definitely I've been thinking about this one and why I love to work old rusty stuff. Am i that cheap? A bit but the deeper truth is I try to make the act of buying, at least buying a new product or material, way down on the list of solutions to a problem. I have this dream that the next U.S. president would put a one year moratorium on anyone buying anymore new crap so we would use all the old stuff that litters our world and learn to fix stuff and make do.... Seriously, in this country we have all the stuff and its way too easy to buy. Travel to any third world place and these rr spikes would be used for a purpose. In business this isn't so easy. The cost of time you take to acquire any type of reclaimed material is a killer and can you keep up with demand if your product gets hot? As for no longer looking like spikes, that the deal with anything good, isn't it? Would you rather see a deck post made from a 4x4 from home depot or a custom milled 5x5 from somebody's back woods? The 4x4 is common, uninspiring, and your eye passes over it without a thought. The comment someone made above about just leaving a whiff of the previous life of a re purposed material is a powerful move. And I do believe there is old power, life force whatever you want to call it, in some old stuff. When you get hold of an ancient spike with the waffle marks from the hammer of some old boy who had to whack them in all day you can't help but to think about that story. Awhile back I saw somebody was selling some very old wrought spikes and their marketing ploy was all about the two known times Lincoln had passed over them, once he was in a casket. So cool. Modern steel is made in large part from recycled steel 60% to 70% In most cases. Industry does it on a larger scale and more efficiently and using less engery than a smith burning coal can. I enjoy hand made things and things forged from repurposed materials but the RR spike has become a cliché in the blacksmith world. Now if you could forge a Knife into a RR spike I would be impressed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles R. Stevens Posted August 23, 2013 Share Posted August 23, 2013 It's certainly not about the quality of the stock, the economy of recycling or such, it's the smile on a persons face when they recognize it was a rr spike, or an old horse shoe or rasp or... Things become cliche for a reason. Just because 100,000,000 hoof picks have been made out of 1/2 a horseshoe dos t mean I'll stop making them. As long as people appreciate then. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ridgewayforge Posted August 23, 2013 Share Posted August 23, 2013 Fads generally leave a bad taste in some mouths, and RR spikes are just that: sort of a fad. (although, not strictly true.) Some people get into repurposing them, some people don't like them. It all depends on personal preference. I think they're cool. I also don't use many. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nuge Posted August 24, 2013 Share Posted August 24, 2013 Modern steel is made in large part from recycled steel 60% to 70% In most cases. Industry does it on a larger scale and more efficiently and using less engery than a smith burning coal can. I enjoy hand made things and things forged from repurposed materials but the RR spike has become a cliché in the blacksmith world. Now if you could forge a Knife into a RR spike I would be impressed. Yes, there's a lot of recycled content is steel but it still has to be transported, recycled, transported, re milled, transported, sold etc. I think the rr spike is less of a cliche and more a classic test-piece for the post industrial modern day smith. "what can you make with this?" hunk of metal that's been laying around since the coming of the interstate. Sure a lot of dudes make the same stuff but that's just a part of learning, we all want to make something cool and the improving in the craft is all about process and repetition so by all means crank out some beer openers and meat flippers. If you can get someone to buy it, yay, they got something handmade, that is a big deal. For me i always have a few laying around and toss them in whenever there's a lull or I am just messing around. I almost always make the same form, a hook, but never really try to duplicate. Just a fun little project journey I have been doing for years and every now and then something pleasing happens and I roll that way for awhile. The photo is a few new ones from this spring. Have fun with it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mad Rabbit Posted August 24, 2013 Share Posted August 24, 2013 Those are some seriojsly cool wall hooks. They show both skill and effort put in on your part to make something both recognisable and unique. Keep up the excellent work. The Mad Rabbit Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timothy Miller Posted August 24, 2013 Share Posted August 24, 2013 Yes, there's a lot of recycled content is steel but it still has to be transported, recycled, transported, re milled, transported, sold etc. And modern industry does all of that more efficiently than you or I can using less energy. But I like your hooks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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