December 6, 200718 yr Ok all, I am the frugal type, my wife would even say miserly and at times cheap I have been through the blueprints several times and have found many great ideas. I have an abundant supply of RR spikes and I am fishing for ideas and also would like to see what kind of imaginative things others make with this simple, economical (cheap as in FREE!) resource. Thanks Steve
December 6, 200718 yr like that word frugal , thats what i am frugal. i will search around but somewhere in my travels last year there was a site with a whole slew of ideas me myself i can only think of a tomahawk , some sort of handles one i did and liked was i cut the point off did a pinnaple twist, drilled 5/16 dia cross hole where the point was and drilled another hole perpendicular to the cross hole but about a half inch back fed a piece of 5/16 round thru the cross hole to egual lengths sticking out stuck a piece of 5/16 thru top hole only half length forge welded rods in after welding and still hot i bent to a garden tool , you know little fork tool . i forget what they are called chuck them dern railroad spikes always migrate from he railroad to my shop, how do you suppose that happens
December 6, 200718 yr You can make Trolls, Door Knockers, Knives, and one thing made at most Virginia Hammer Ins Canna Lilys on the air hammer as a sales demo. For a few Ideas check out Tidewater Blacksmiths Members Gallery Hope this helps Travis
December 6, 200718 yr Hooks for log/towing chain..........small claw hammers for use around the house
December 6, 200718 yr I live next to a railroad, so strangely enough most of my stock is 3/4 x 3/4 x 6" ... I made these candle holders from spikes. Trying to forge the flanges of the head down without making cold shuts is a challenge. Plus a lot of drawing out - hammer practice for a noob. Glass doodads can be found at Goodwill for next to nothing. Good Luck!
December 22, 200817 yr lol sry i know old thread but i just found out the other day that if you hammer straight down on the head it forms a thick mass of metal that when forged right looks like a pommel on a european style sword, i'm working on some double edged designs for these now :cool:
December 22, 200817 yr you can make lillies,knives,daggers,you can really make anything you want!! heres a vid of making the lillie YouTube - Forging lilies from railroad spikes
December 22, 200817 yr The best use I've made of them so far is as nail headers. Chop them off about an inch and a quarter below the head with a cut-off wheel in a grinder and then wrap a rod just below the head... heat to bright red and flip the cut end up on the anvil (kinda roll it so the rod stays in place) then pound with a big hammer to upset the shaft and trap the rod. Voila! You have a nail header ready to drill and drift. I like to weld my rod tight with the mig so that it doesn't rattle in use at this point too. The crown of the spike head makes a good surface for the top of the header but it flattens a bit from the vigorous upsetting, so I reshape it a bit with a 36 grit flap disc. PS: Once you get a header or two made you can start on the nails... and use those to make lotsa stuff. I just made a nice key rack with nails as pegs for the key rings. I like the heads kinda biggish for these so take a heat after tapering and notching so that you can get a nice big head flattened and shaped. I'd take a pic but it's already wrapped... so after christmas. Edited December 22, 200817 yr by bigfootnampa PS added
December 22, 200817 yr Steak turners, knife & fork BBQ sets, chisels, drifts, just to name a few ideas.
December 22, 200817 yr One thing I have made that most of my family and friends really like are over the door hooks and wall hooks from them. I am planning on posting some pics of some later this week.
December 23, 200817 yr RR spikes are some of the most fun. I make letter openers,,handles for coal forge fire tools, meat turners, bottle openers, chesse cutters, wizards, and my favorite a cross without cutting it into two pieces. I like old worn, rusted, bent spikes best, leave some of the old surface looks pretty cool.
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