steponmebbbboom Posted March 29, 2008 Share Posted March 29, 2008 Now I know this came up a few months ago somewhere but ive searched for 20 mins to no avail. I walked the railroad and picked up a bucketful of spikes and a tie plate i found off to the side, and im wondering what i can use this tie plate for? it's ridged on one side of the rail only with a raised crosshatch on the back and four spike holes. What could i do with this thing? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HWooldridge Posted March 29, 2008 Share Posted March 29, 2008 Makes a good upsetting plate. Put it on the ground and upset large bars. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimbob Posted March 29, 2008 Share Posted March 29, 2008 well I have one welded to the top of a 4x4 steel tube to mount my vice on. I have seen somewhere on the web a work table made from welded tie plates...just a coupe of ideals to get you going! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hammerkid Posted March 29, 2008 Share Posted March 29, 2008 you got a anvil? you could use it for a while i suppose Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JerryCarroll Posted March 30, 2008 Share Posted March 30, 2008 I have a bunch of tie plates--some are twice the size of the regular ones you see. I'm thinking tho welding enough together to make a table would be a chore to keep flat enough to be a decent table--for me anyway I've used one on the edge of my forge for a forge welding plate for light stuff for a long time to save heat losing time-- Got a big block now that's even better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted March 30, 2008 Share Posted March 30, 2008 They make decent chisel plates, especially if you're lucky enough the track keeping lips fit the face of your anvil. They're perfect for holding a RR rail anvil down. They make good stake plates for RR spike stakes. Good ballast. While spikes and track plates are handy the real find steel wise are clips, they're good medium C steel around 45-55pts and make good tough tools. Frosty Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steponmebbbboom Posted March 30, 2008 Author Share Posted March 30, 2008 I did find a clip, i'll put it back on top of the pile. thanks frosty! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rfb343 Posted March 30, 2008 Share Posted March 30, 2008 They make decent chisel plates, especially if you're lucky enough the track keeping lips fit the face of your anvil. They're perfect for holding a RR rail anvil down. They make good stake plates for RR spike stakes. Good ballast. While spikes and track plates are handy the real find steel wise are clips, they're good medium C steel around 45-55pts and make good tough tools. Frosty Clips? From a train/rail road track? Do ya have any pictures? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted March 30, 2008 Share Posted March 30, 2008 These are the thingies.Shanghai Suyu Railway Fasteners Co.,Ltd. Frosty Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jayco Posted March 30, 2008 Share Posted March 30, 2008 Thanks Frosty, that's a great tip about using 'tie plates' to hold down a RR track anvil! I honestly never thought of it even though I've had plates and pieces of track around for years. Gonna slap my forehead a few times over missing that trick! Why didn't I think of that!?! James Flannery Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glenn Posted March 30, 2008 Share Posted March 30, 2008 Why not use the tie plates to hold down your Rail Road track anvil? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted March 30, 2008 Share Posted March 30, 2008 S'okay James. Using something for what it was designed really isn't what we're about. Is it? Frosty Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pete46 Posted March 30, 2008 Share Posted March 30, 2008 That's Like Using A Coaster To Set Your Drink On! Might As Well Wear Ribbons And Be A Welder! :p Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jayco Posted March 30, 2008 Share Posted March 30, 2008 That's what I love about this site........I learn something new everyday! WOW! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rfb343 Posted March 30, 2008 Share Posted March 30, 2008 These are the thingies.Shanghai Suyu Railway Fasteners Co.,Ltd. Frosty Once again, Frosty and Jayco, you tha man, I hope someday to pick up only a small percentage of what yall know... Thanks for sharing, I know I learn something everyday off this site. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted March 31, 2008 Share Posted March 31, 2008 That sounds good till you realize the VAST majority of what I know is useless, made up or wrong all together. I found the pics of the clips by searching the web for "RR track parts" and sifting through the hits till I found a pic. It's not really about knowing very much, it's knowing just enough to know where to look for what you need to know. If you know what I mean, ya know? Frosty Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rfb343 Posted March 31, 2008 Share Posted March 31, 2008 LOL, Frosty, that maybe true, but to quote my math(math for non math major 101) prof, a calculator is the greatest mathmatical adavancement, but it is useless unless you know how to get where yer going(with your calculations) with out it, but I have yet to get *bad* information from anyone here yet although I always try to verify any ideas or at least apply my own "backyard engineer" knowlege of what doesnt work and what wont get me hurt or burn down the ranch... It all goes to the give a man a fish/teach him to fish thing. Besides you got to have somekinda brain, you landed in AK. ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted March 31, 2008 Share Posted March 31, 2008 Besides you got to have somekinda brain, you landed in AK. I'm hiding. Shhhhh. Actually I grew up in the San Fernando Valley, in LA county. Originally I intended to move into the woods once I got here. When I saw the worst traffic jam in Anchorage's history was lighter than lines in my high school cafeteria I decided I didn't need to become a hermit to get out of the crush. Frosty Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keeplokd Posted July 31, 2008 Share Posted July 31, 2008 Having family around both Anchorage and Fairbanks, a "traffic jam" generally involves a snowmobile and a moose... eh, Frosty? Bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted July 31, 2008 Share Posted July 31, 2008 If by "jam" you mean the goo that's between their hooves after the encounter. . . Yeah. Right now it's full blown construction season so you may get caught in traffic for a while. In winter there are the rubber neckers holding things up gawking at the ditch divers. With fuel prices being what they are we're not getting caught behind as many motor homes so that's a bonus. But yeah, compared to L.A. rush hour, even 36 years ago we don't have traffic jams. Where around Anchorage are your kin? I'm about 50 miles north on the Parks Hwy, just past Wasilla. Frosty Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rustyshackleford Posted October 1, 2008 Share Posted October 1, 2008 Not to drudge up a dead topic, but does anyone have a picture of a table made from these plates? I'd like to try it if I can find enough of them, as I just priced a measly sheet of 1/4" steel plate for a welding/fab table, and ....goodness. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted October 1, 2008 Share Posted October 1, 2008 It'd be a lot of work, tie plates aren't that big and you'd have fun keeping it flat while you welded all those pieces together. I'd suggest finding a couple pieces of really heavy "I" beam to help hold them flat while you weld. Then I'd stagger the joins so there aren't any table length welds. maybe I'd put this first on the list. Before starting I'd estimate the cost of the welding rod and grinding disks, even if my time doesn't matter. Believe me I know what it's like to have more time than money and doing it myself rather than having a pro do it instead. Are you going to leave all the holes or fill them and grind smooth? Frosty Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rustyshackleford Posted October 1, 2008 Share Posted October 1, 2008 well, I was thinking of a baby acorn platen affair, so leaving the holes. for the table frame I've got, it might take about 20, maybe less, so that might mean about 2 small spools for my wirefeed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mesquiteforge Posted October 1, 2008 Share Posted October 1, 2008 The tie plates do make good work surfaces, I, like previous others, welded one to a 6" piece of 2_3/8" drill pipe. The 2_3/8" fits inside a 3" pipe that is about 4' tall and is welded to a disc(for a base). The tie plate is then a swivel base for my 8" bench grinder. It swivels, but can be stopped by placing a lynch pin through the two pipes. It gives you plenty of room to maneauver large work pieces around the grinding wheels. The cord can be run through the spike hole and through the base to keep it out of the way. I was lucky enough to find a really large plate for this. I could see that smaller ones would work too. I am always looking for a place to store extra hammers too-so I added on a piece of bar stock to allow for hanging hammers on the plate. Outside of the shop, I keep a tie plate in the bed of my truck for a jacking base. Sometimes I catch myself in areas with soft ground and these plates give your car jack, bottle jack or hi-lift jack more surface area to allow your jacking operation to go as intended. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crij Posted October 1, 2008 Share Posted October 1, 2008 Guys, I would hesitate using a tie plate to hold a rail anvil, for the main reason that the distance between the spike holes or between the shoulders if you find a double shoulder one are such that it is designed to allow the rail to slide on the plate to relieve expansion due to temperature changes. This is to prevent heat kinks in the summer and sheared track bolts in the winter. Also I would hesitate using them for another reason, the surface where the rail sits is tapered to tilt the rail inward when installed (2-5 degrees), so your anvil will no longer sit level, unless of course the stump is not level. In regards to Railroad track as an anvil, I have major qualms about using it because of safety concerns. At the museum we mainly use old rail that has seem many a wheel rolling over them. The ends tend to have many cracks and chips in the running surface. This is mainly due to the fact that it has been work hardened by the 10-15 ton loads (per wheel) that have run over it. Some of the pieces of rail that we have re-used have had chips up 3 inches across by 1 inch wide missing from the edge of the running surface. By the pocket left in the running surface the piece could have been at most 1/32 thick, imagine the damage that could be done if that released under the impact of a hammer at waist level. If you really want to use track for an anvil, please make sure it is a piece from the middle of the rail and not the end, also the whole piece after you are done shaping it needs to be annealed to remove the stresses and work hardening in the metal. Another thing to keep in mind is that due to the changes in metallurgy and quality control over the years, try to only use pieces that were manufactured after the 1950s. Rail older then that have a history of piping due to inclusions and stresses not relieved at the rolling mills. Piping will cause the head of the rail to split off down the length of the head, if your lucky it will either show up in the end of the rail or blow out through the web before the head releases. Piping is when the stresses create an internal crack that over time opens wider, till it finds an edge, in some cases it will actually form a hollow cavity as material moves around the crack. Just some major concerns from someone that sees the problems with used rail every weekend. Rich Cizik MoW Foreman Blacksmith Shop Co-Head Ct Eastern RR Museum Willimantic, Ct 06226Connecticut Eastern Railroad Museum Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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