When it was 24 degrees Saturday and the slack tub had an inch of ice to break before lighting the forge it was just too cold to plan and complete a new fabrication project, I decided to refresh my skills with a variant of the ubiquitous railroad spike knife. Nothing too intricate; segment off an inch or so at the point for the blade mass using the Smithin Magician with fuller dies and then a long square taper to the spike head increasing the handle size to about twice the original length of the spike. A hot cut inscribed lines on each face of the handle and then a standard twist was completed (necessitating three heats to even up the final twist). The blade mass was then forged leaving a slight curve to the final blade shape. The handle was then re-heated and bent through a reverse curve for final shaping. The grinder and belt sander then shaped the edge and polished off the blade. No need to harden this low carbon steel so my re-heat was just to brass the handle. After cool down the piece was sprayed with a clear acrylic to protect against rust.

I like those. A lot.

The curve on the handle looks right and I like the tight twist which would sit in the hand well. And it's good that you left the head alone - no doubt about it being a railway spike.

Nice twist, and good work curving it without spoiling its crispness.

I like it...

Looks cool. Nice work.