ripleycopa Posted February 6, 2017 Share Posted February 6, 2017 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ausfire Posted February 7, 2017 Share Posted February 7, 2017 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted February 7, 2017 Share Posted February 7, 2017 Nice twist, and good work curving it without spoiling its crispness. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thats Hot... Posted February 7, 2017 Share Posted February 7, 2017 I like it... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Will W. Posted February 10, 2017 Share Posted February 10, 2017 Looks cool. Nice work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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