omegabrock Posted November 29, 2016 Share Posted November 29, 2016 So my current project is basically learning some hammer techniques. Waiting for everything to heat up, I scrolled some posts and learned a good bit about *how* to swing the hammer. That really helped the fatigued aspect. Anyways, this is what I started with. Just some old scrap hook I found. Maybe 3/8" thick... first, straightened it out. Then I practiced drawing out, tapering and rounding. Last, I squared off part of it before the rounding and finished with a little grinding just to clean it up. Im happy considering I'm a complete newbie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted November 29, 2016 Share Posted November 29, 2016 Rail anchor; generally around 1050 steel and very tough under the hammer. Fatigue would be a given compared to working the same size mild steel piece! (and note that it's nearly double the carbon of a RR spike!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
omegabrock Posted November 29, 2016 Author Share Posted November 29, 2016 Oh wow, that's good to know. I'm really glad I found that thread earlier then haha. I'm not sure exactly what 1050 means but I'll check into that. It seemed like it hit a breaking point around half thickness where it was a lot easier to form under the hammer. Then again, it could have just been that it was fully heated throughout the middle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
omegabrock Posted November 29, 2016 Author Share Posted November 29, 2016 Haha ok, I just came across another post about railroad steel. I didn't even think to search for that earlier Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted November 29, 2016 Share Posted November 29, 2016 OK that's the basics: 1050 is a steel designation in the AISI/SAE system; the 10 refers to an alloy with just iron, carbon and a touch of Manganese from the smelting; the 50 refers to the carbon content in points with 100 points being 1% Carbon. From the wikipedia entry for Carbon Steel: (as I am too lazy to type this out.) Carbon steel is broken down into four classes based on carbon content: Low-carbon steel: Up to 0.212% carbon content. Medium-carbon steel: Approximately 0.3–0.6% carbon content. Balances ductility and strength and has good wear resistance; used for large parts, forging and automotive components. (30 to 60 points) High-carbon steel: Approximately 0.6–1.0% carbon content. Very strong, used for springs, swords, and high-strength wires. (60 to 100 points) Ultra-high-carbon steel: Approximately 1.25–2.0% carbon content. Steels that can be tempered to great hardness. Used for special purposes like (non-industrial-purpose) knives, axles or punches. Most steels with more than 2.5% carbon content are made using powder metallurgy. (125 to 200 points---note that these are approaching the carbon content of cast iron at the upper end of the range) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ausfire Posted November 29, 2016 Share Posted November 29, 2016 That's hard steel to start with! Chuck that stuff out and hammer some mild steel. Give yourself a break! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
omegabrock Posted November 29, 2016 Author Share Posted November 29, 2016 Oh wow. I wouldn't have thought knives would take a harder steel than swords...but then again, I guess swords would need a bit more spring/flex to them so they wouldn't break on impact. And I think it might be better to keep practicing my technique with a milder steel haha. I have a xxxx ton of rail spikes I can use. I think what I would like to do is make a set of tongs. I just have a $6 pair of vise grips from harbor freight haha Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted November 29, 2016 Share Posted November 29, 2016 Practice on the mild steel, but hang onto that rail anchor. You can use it for chisels, punches, all manner of tooling, once you get to that point. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlasterJoe Posted November 30, 2016 Share Posted November 30, 2016 That just have taken some serious time to draw that out. Like these guys were saying get some mild steel from the hardware store"not galvanized" and keep on hammering. Railroad spikes are good for a lot of different projects. Check for HC high carbon or MC mild carbon stamped on them. Do a search for rail road spike on this forum for ideas. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted November 30, 2016 Share Posted November 30, 2016 37 minutes ago, BlasterJoe said: Check for HC high carbon or MC mild carbon stamped on them. But keep in mind that a "high carbon" railroad spike is still medium carbon; it's just higher carbon than most RR spikes. (It will still harden to a certain extent, as IFI member Lou L and I can attest -- a nail header we made snapped after quenching, to our great surprise!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
omegabrock Posted November 30, 2016 Author Share Posted November 30, 2016 Oh yeah, definitely. Going to YouTube, almost every "beginner project" you find is about making knives from rr spikes. I learned very quickly here that, while they may be fun to make, they aren't something that is really made for practicality. i definitely can't wait to start making tools. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted November 30, 2016 Share Posted November 30, 2016 Also remember that in the USA picking up RR spikes along side the railroad right away is quite illegal and many of us will NOT suggest it as we don't want to share your legal bills...The ones I use from time to time come from the scrap yard and a friend of mine buys his new from the same company the railroads buy theirs from. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
omegabrock Posted November 30, 2016 Author Share Posted November 30, 2016 That's definitely good to know! Thank you. Luckily, the spikes I have were left in the house I bought haha Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CTBlades Posted December 8, 2016 Share Posted December 8, 2016 On 11/29/2016 at 6:00 PM, ausfire said: That's hard steel to start with! Chuck that stuff out and hammer some mild steel. Give yourself a break! What Aus said, simple as that! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
omegabrock Posted December 8, 2016 Author Share Posted December 8, 2016 I've been working on my anvil the past few days. It's been a bigger task than I expected because my grinder is small lol. Hopefully by this weekend I'll be hammering some more. That said, blades are probably going to be my main focus, but not my sole practice, so would it still be better to go with mild steel? I know all practice is beneficial, but would it be optimal to go that route now, opposed to learning how higher carbon steel moves and forms? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted December 8, 2016 Share Posted December 8, 2016 4 minutes ago, omegabrock said: I've been working on my anvil the past few days. It's been a bigger task than I expected because my grinder is small lol. Please clarify: is this a chunk of steel that you're grinding to use as an anvil (good) or an existing anvil that you're grinding on (not so good)? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glenn Posted December 8, 2016 Share Posted December 8, 2016 6 minutes ago, omegabrock said: I've been working on my anvil the past few days. It's been a bigger task than I expected because my grinder is small. Why are you using a grinder on an anvil? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
omegabrock Posted December 8, 2016 Author Share Posted December 8, 2016 Just now, JHCC said: Please clarify: is this a chunk of steel that you're grinding to use as an anvil (good) or an existing anvil that you're grinding on (not so good)? It's an old fork lift tine I got from a scrap yard. The way it was set up, I had it leaning on a small table I built. I only had a small area with good rebound to work on, so I decided to cut it off a little past the sweet spot and form a horn. Where I'm at now, I have the basic triangle shape but I haven't started forming it into Ann actual horn yet. My grinder is only a 4.5", but the tine is a good 5 inches thick so even cutting one side and flipping over and cutting through, there is still a little meat left. I've had to resort to a hacksaw to finish the cuts Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted December 8, 2016 Share Posted December 8, 2016 Okay, so you're modifying an existing chunk to make a better improvised anvil. Good. Stand down, men! Omegabrock was NOT abusing an existing anvil! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
omegabrock Posted December 8, 2016 Author Share Posted December 8, 2016 HA! No, I have read enough to know to not do that Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
omegabrock Posted December 8, 2016 Author Share Posted December 8, 2016 3 hours ago, omegabrock said: My grinder is only a 4.5", but the tine is a good 1/4 inch too thick I have no idea what I was thinking when I first typed that Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Kailey Posted December 16, 2016 Share Posted December 16, 2016 Man those RR clips are burly........ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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