Daswulf Posted December 21, 2015 Share Posted December 21, 2015 Ok ok. So RR spike knives are not high carbon and basically knife shaped objects. A knife is a knife when it comes to cutting some things but when it comes to durability the rr spike knife can fall quite short. ( that's my understanding from all I've read) so what. I wanted to try to make a pair for my brothers for Christmas. Unfortunately I wasn't in a focused state of mind and burned one after the pineapple twist and I'll say my pineapple twists need a bit of work. So.... All in all for practice I forced out my first rr spike knife. Can't say it's good but it was good practice. Regardless of what they are, people like em. I do plan to eventually make some real knives, this was just in practice of hammering. I'll be making two more for my brothers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted December 21, 2015 Share Posted December 21, 2015 That's actually an attractive twist you just need to get a little better at it. Twist first then forge the bade. 2 reasons: 1, Work thick to thin so you are less likely to burn up the thin sections. A section of 5/8" sq can take a lot more trips to the fire than a piece less than 1/4" thick with a wide surface. 2, it's much easier to transition from a twist than it is to try getting a good transition after forging. You can forge the twist till it's a blade and smooth transition but it's darned near a head splitting PITA getting a twist to a thin transition without warping the B'jeebers out of the blade. A last note on twists, I discovered the ladies don't much like pineapple twists they have all these sharp little points and are too rough on their hands. Guys like the feel but we are calloused louts. The ladies seem to like cable twists, they're easy to grip and are smooth. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T.J.watts Posted December 21, 2015 Share Posted December 21, 2015 spike or not, it still looks nice and practice is practice. looks like your on the right track to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HEAP of JEEP Posted December 21, 2015 Share Posted December 21, 2015 I'm not in any position to offer advice, but I will give a hearty thumbs up. I didn't even know what a pineapple twist was until I read your post and then had to go look it up. LOL. I will say, I dig the shape of the blade. I've only just started my third knife and I still can't seem to get a blade shape that I really like. I think you nailed it (pun intended... RR spike... nailed it... oh come on... that was funny... or at least punny). Anyways, I'd be XXXXXX proud of that slicer! Watch the language Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daswulf Posted December 21, 2015 Author Share Posted December 21, 2015 Frosty, thanks for the advice, it is always much appreciated. i will work on it. Think between a lil bit of an uneven heat and losing twist count is where I went wrong. Also need to work on getting the chisel marks better and straighter. This was my first almost successful pineapple twist. I'll keep your info in mind on what twist I make for who. T.J. Thanks. I don't plan on making too many spike knives but even the hammering technique on the blade part is a learning experience. Heap, lol. Thanks. Blade shape sits well with me. If you keep at it you'll get where you want to be. It's all in practice. I need a lot your way ahead of me making Damascus . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted December 22, 2015 Share Posted December 22, 2015 So weld in a HC bit for an edge and have a real knife. Keeping count on pineapple twists can be a problem and at my age forgetting how to count to 3 is a little. . . Nevermind. Uh, Heap O. Explaining puns is a waste around here, it'll get you belted one. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daswulf Posted December 22, 2015 Author Share Posted December 22, 2015 58 minutes ago, Frosty said: So weld in a HC bit for an edge and have a real knife. Keeping count on pineapple twists can be a problem and at my age forgetting how to count to 3 is a little. . . Nevermind. Uh, Heap O. Explaining puns is a waste around here, it'll get you belted one. Frosty The Lucky. I had thought of splitting it and welding in a HC bit but I figured they would just be what they are. I'll worry about beefing stuff up once I have a clue what I'm doing I'll keep better count next time lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glenn Posted December 22, 2015 Share Posted December 22, 2015 Das, why take a piece of mild steel rr spike and spend all that time making a knife or KSO knife shaped object ? Instead why not take a piece of tool steel, or knife quality steel, and make a rr spike? THWACK the sound of the hand hitting the forehead followed by Why didn't I think of that? End results are the same except you now have a good quality and serviceable knife. Your a blacksmith, you CAN do that (grin). Time invested is the same, except add a small bit for forming the head of the rr spike. Then someone will read this and make Damascus bar stock and turn it into a rr spike and then into a good quality and serviceable knife. (let the fun begin, bigger grin). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NickOHH Posted December 22, 2015 Share Posted December 22, 2015 41 minutes ago, Glenn said: Das, why take a piece of mild steel rr spike and spend all that time making a knife or KSO knife shaped object ? Instead why not take a piece of tool steel, or knife quality steel, and make a rr spike? THWACK the sound of the hand hitting the forehead followed by Why didn't I think of that? End results are the same except you now have a good quality and serviceable knife. Your a blacksmith, you CAN do that (grin). Time invested is the same, except add a small bit for forming the head of the rr spike. Then someone will read this and make Damascus bar stock and turn it into a rr spike and then into a good quality and serviceable knife. (let the fun begin, bigger grin). Hmmmmmm..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daswulf Posted December 22, 2015 Author Share Posted December 22, 2015 Glenn, a Damascus rr spike knife would be awesome! Actually a pineapple twist handle one would be awesome to see. Honestly I find rr spike knives of any make inefficient for carrying or practical use. They are heavy and bulky. Let alone other problems. You are right all in all. I guess because I'm bombarded with seeing them and think " hmm. That would be a good quick gift for my brothers. " but you are right. Maybe not so quick or good in the long run. As soon as I can make a decient knife the first one " at least" is mine for testing then they will get one. All in all, I wanted to experiment with shape, but if I learned anything, a rr spike is hard to clamp in the jig I have to grind it without a belt sander awesome idea tho. That would put that argument to rest in a functional sense. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted December 22, 2015 Share Posted December 22, 2015 So what makes it a spike knife after all the forging, grinding, etc. is done? It's not the blade nor heavy duty steel handle, its the head. Almost everybody recognizes a spike head. Sooooo, forge a knife from quality steel with a proper tang, wood leaves and a spike pommel. Hmmmm? Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glenn Posted December 22, 2015 Share Posted December 22, 2015 As long as we are discussing *functional knives* that only look like rr spikes, why stop there. It may take some thought on how to accomplish the *look* but why not take a piece of tool steel, or knife quality steel, and make a piece of rebar, and then shape it into a knife. If the look of rebar is convincing then the actual knife would be a real hoot when put to the tests similar to the Blade societies testing for a god knife. After all it IS good steel same as you use when making a good knife. To get the brain in gear, think of making a set of power hammer dies to produce the rebar look. There are dies to make all types of looks now (tree bark, rope etc), so one more should be no problem. You would only need to make the handle *look* like rebar. The rest is a standard knife shape. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted December 22, 2015 Share Posted December 22, 2015 Sure, make a spring die by driving it yellow hot over rebar. That'd probably be easier than making a proper spike header. Oh heck make it both! Pseudo rebar with a spike head pommel. Spectacularly vivid pattern weld billet of course. Ooh but WAIT there's MORE! Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frozenthunderbolt Posted December 25, 2015 Share Posted December 25, 2015 Oh dear Frosty, this line of thinking brings to mind Monty Python's fish-slapping dance for some reason . . . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neg Posted December 25, 2015 Share Posted December 25, 2015 Don't listen to people telling you not to waste your time on spike knives. They may not make a high quality knife, but they sure do sell well. Just don't promote them as high quality knives. People want them for gifts and showpieces. You can make a spike knife a heck of a lot faster than a "real" knife, and use the money for coal and tools. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daswulf Posted December 25, 2015 Author Share Posted December 25, 2015 A high carbon rr spike head pommel, rebar handled knife. Interesting idea been meaning to make some top and bottom tools. no power hammer yet. Neg, people like them and they are what they are. you are right. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shamus Blargostadt Posted December 25, 2015 Share Posted December 25, 2015 functionality aside, what is cool about RR spike knives is that it demonstrates the lingering ability to transform something that appears to be immutable, like a rail road spike, into a knife shaped object. Especially in our world of china-based automated massed produced crap, seeing the power of hand blacksmithing is impressive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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