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I Forge Iron

My first successful RR spike knife.


Expyker

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I'm warning you now, I'm about to go into grump mode, it's not you, per say, but if you're sensitive about your work (and who isn't) don't read any farther.

 

 

Engage Grump Mode

 

You just took however long that took you, to make a thing which looks like a knife, but won't work as one.  I understand working in found steel, it's what one of my first teachers called turning a piece of scrap into a $50 bill.  But with just a little more thought and the same amount of work you could have made an actual working tool.  EVERYONE, STOP MAKING RR SPIKE KNIVES.  Use an old crowbar, or a tire iron, or a file (even though I hate file knives almost as much), but use SOMETHING that will harden.  And before you say that you used one marked HC, HC means that it's about .3 % carbon, too little to get hard.  Plus they are full of copper and other stuff you don't want.  If you must use RR spikes, make war hammers or tomahawks, something where tough is more important than hard.

 

If you want a challenge, make an integral bolster knife out of a crowbar and leave the hex shape as the bolster.  For an even bigger challenge, forge down the handle and leave a hex bolster on each end.

 

Say it with me "I WILL NEVER MAKE A SPIKE KNIFE AGAIN".

 

Exit Grump Mode

 

Wheew, I never know when HE's going to show up,

 

Geoff

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I understand that it will not function well as a knife. I understand that it will not harden. These are things that I was aware of before it was ever introduced to fire. This is a novelty item. My doctor gave me the spike and in turn I forged a novelty knife for him.

I will continue to make RR spike knives, simply due to the fact that is what is available to me.

I also cut myself with it, therefore I reject your suggestion that it is merely knife looking. :)

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It reminds me of my first knife, made of mild steel and banana shaped. (Its the bottom one in my profile pic) While this "knife" could cut you, only a few times before dulling. You can make anything sharp for a little while.

 

But that "knife" was fun enough to make that it encouraged me to do better. If you enjoy it keep making them, but better steel will make a better knife. I would try another with a straight blade for practice.

 

Thanks for sharing, and lets see the next one.

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I make them, sell them and have fun doing so.  They don't hold the best edge, but then quenched in ice water and then baked in the oven at 325' for an hour to relieve forging stresses I've had the HC ones I've made stand up to gutting a hog.  Anyone that hunts hogs can tell you they have an extremely tough skin.  Is it the best of steel no, do I prefer making knives from old files or better steel yes and I'd also recommend forge welding in a piece of old file so that becomes the cutting edge.  That said people ask for them because they recognize it as a railroad spike and I get many requests for these.  For those of you that don't want to make them, good DON'T!

 

Here's a picture of the last one I made for someone that has an old file forge welded in.  I only slightly used the grinder to clean up the profile and sharpen the edge, much faster & fun to hammer in the profile and bevels.

 

post-34362-0-28116500-1390315043_thumb.j

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I had a friend make a "knife" out of the top of a #10 can of beans.  He used it for a whole trapping season.  It was expedient, and he didn't want to schlep all of the way back to town to buy the knife he'd forgotten.  It doesn't mean it was a good knife, it just did the job.  And the fact that you cut yourself with it means nothing either, I've gotten cut on all kinds of things, glass, mild steel, copper, plastic, even grinding belts.  Most of them make bad knives as well.

 

I hates 'em, I does.  I think they are a waste of effort and a waste of gas.  Aside from the one I made from a spike from the road where the gent had worked for 50 years, I won't make them.  This is my last word on the subject.

 

Geoff

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Xpyker it is your shop....your rules..make wotever you wish! Spend whatever amount of time as you want or need.
In the past, and likely near future I have made gunstocks for my self. I could have made them from pine or balsa...But just incase  I really liked it when finished I used the fanciest figured walnut I could afford. My thought was I would take extra care in the crafting and fit.
Im so glad I followed  that plan. When I hunt now I enjoy the pleasure of carrying my work with me. The same with knives: I will not sell wot I will not carry. And I hunt with whichever one captures my fancy when I  pack.
You have some room to grow in knife making. Keep in mind that steel suitable for knives does notwork like poor steel. You will have to relearn skills when you step up to a better steel.
The knife making lessons on this site may be of value.

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Along the RR tracks one can also find track clips that are generally 1050 to 1060 steel and have a rectangular cross section and are very tough under the hammer.  They will make a decent knife if one needed "found stock" to practice with.

 

I'm with Geoff on RR spike one trick ponies; however do as you will; just remember it can be hard to break a habit once you start making money with it and may slow down your travels towards blade greatness!

 

 

Beware picking up  metals and things from the Rail road property/right of way is a felony in the states.

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I've got some of those clips, haven't played with them yet though.  I haven't had a hard time transitioning from spikes to files or better steel.  Time spent on IFI was well worth it as I've had a good idea of what to expect.  See if you can get your hands on some old rasp files as the teeth when partially ground down leave a striking pattern on both sides.  These two knives were cut from the same file.

 

post-34362-0-01994100-1390335304_thumb.j

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Check with a local farrier for used up horse shoer's rasps.  They are a consumable with them and you might be able to work out a trade for twenty of them for a rasp knife...  You will need to test the rasps for carbon content as they do vary;  the "soft" ones make rasptle snakes the hard ones make knives, hawks, etc.

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I have posted this a time or two for some folks that wanted to know just what a R & R Spike had in its composition/ ingredients  so here it goes yet again . Note: as per the manufacture the Carbon Dioxide / is the carbon content @ 0.30 to 0.34 and a tone of other trash. NO I am Not encouraging the use of R & R spikes for blades just posting the information for folks to see . Yes ! I know it is a MSDS the content/ composition/ ingredients is in percentage as to the amount of material that makes up a R & R Spike.

 

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I understand that it will not function well as a knife. I understand that it will not harden. These are things that I was aware of before it was ever introduced to fire. This is a novelty item. My doctor gave me the spike and in turn I forged a novelty knife for him.

I will continue to make RR spike knives, simply due to the fact that is what is available to me.

I also cut myself with it, therefore I reject your suggestion that it is merely knife looking. :)

I cut myself on a piece of paper this morning, that doesn't mean paper is suitable for making a knife out of.  

 

I have a buddy who makes rr spike knives as well as a host of other things from rr spikes.  I don't really get the appeal, but the general public, which also tends to be generally ignorant about metal work, seems to like them.  My friend makes some of the nicest rr spike knives out there.  He sometimes laminates carbon steel inside so they actually work as knives, but the generally ignorant public doesn't seem to care one way or the other whether or not the knives actually function as knives, and they DON'T want to pay the extra money required to add that carbon steel in for the cutting edge.  This is one of the reasons that I decided a long time ago to stop making what the public wants, and only make things that I want to make.  If they sell, fine, if not I just give things away when they start to get underfoot.   

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I started with rr spikes for knife making. it taught me a lot about how to work the steel. I would say continue what makes YOU happy and will continue to further your skills. I dont care how long you have been smithing, there's always something new to learn.

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Note that MSDS is NOT the composition of a RR Spike!    Iron Oxide 97%  Carbon Dioxide 0.3-0.34 %  Now if that was Iron 97% and Carbon 0.3 percent I would believe it; but I don't know what the heck that is supposed to be!

 

Saying that a spike is made of rust and gas NOT TRUE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Off a previous post on this site:

"American Railway Engineering Association's Specifications for Soft-Steel Track Spikes. Original document, 1926, revised last in 1968

Two classes of track spikes are given specifications, both low carbon and high c
arbon. Two sizes of track spike are identified, one of 5/8 inch square shaft and
one of 9/16 inch.

Page 5-2-1. "A low carbon track spike will not contain greater than 0.12% carbon
nor greater than 0.20% copper.

Page 5-2-2. Section 6a.
Bending properties: The body of a full size finished spike shall stand being ben
t cold through 180 degrees flat on itself without cracking on the outside portio
n of the bent portion.

Page 5-2-2 Section 11. Marking. A letter or brand indicating the manufacturer sh
all be pressed on the head of each spike while it is being formed. When copper i
s specified, the letters "CU" shall be added.

Page 5-2-3: Specifications for high carbon steel track spikes 1968. Carbon not g
reater than 0.30%, nor greater than 0.20% copper. Page 5-2-4. Section 6a. Bendin
g properties: The body of a full size finished spike shall stand being bent cold
through 120 degrees around a pin, the diameter of which is not greater than the
thickness of the spike without cracking on the outside portion of the bent port
ion.

Page 5-2-5 Section 11. Marking: A letter or brand indicating manufacturer and also the letters "HC" indicating high carbon, shall be pressed on the head of each spike while it is being formed. When copper is specified, the letters "CU" shall be added."

Additionally included in a fax to Mike Blue by the gentleman at Wellington industries, a division of Sheffield Steel:
"Because of the bending tests required, the carbon content will not be greater than 0.30%. After all, brittle spikes would not be desirable as a track spike. Abent spike still holds the rail while a fractured spike would not. The consequences for the industry would be too great to consider. However, we refer to them as high carbon, they are not within the range of steels known as high carbon or hypereutectoid according to the steel industry standards, and have not been since at least 1926, when most track spikes were previously manufactured from wrought iron.""

Note: I'm getting all my RR steel from a scrapyard these days; the RR Police are a bit twitchy nowadays with the possibility of terrorist operations alongs the rails that often go right through the middle of cities with quite hazardous cargos!

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  • 3 weeks later...

say what you like about rr spikes as knives, but there's no denying their popularity as novelties.  I've sold two very recently and had no issues in turning a couple of free spikes into a pair of eighty dollar bills.  Now, i did tell the guy i sold them to that they wouldn't be great knives, but he was just looking for the novelty aspect, and for light duty skinning knives down at the camp. 

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