Lurchwv@BJS Posted July 23, 2008 Share Posted July 23, 2008 Have a friend who was throwing away a small forge,asked him for it went to auction bought small anvil and box of hammers. a couple of years ago there was a train derailment near my home so coal is abundant. A man on a similar forum steered me toward using a ballpein hammer to forge a hawk from.(This is going slow) Decided to make a knife also. Has anyone ever used a railroad spike to forge a blade? So far I love doing this.kinda addicting Rich Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted July 23, 2008 Share Posted July 23, 2008 Thousands have; however those funny clips sort of like part of an ampersand sign are actually much better steel often running to *twice* as much carbon as a HC RR spike. (which actually don't usually make it over the medium carbon lower bound of .3% C topping out at .3% while the rail anchors, what those clips are called, are 1040-1060 depending on manufacturer.) Coil spring from automobiles are generally around a 60 points carbon steel, (100 points = 1%), and make a great starter steel that you can learn on and then use for great knives as well once you get good. American Railway Engineering Association's Specifications for Soft-Steel Track Spikes. Original document, 1926, revised last in 1968 "Page 5-2-3: Specifications for high carbon steel track spikes 1968. Carbon not greater than 0.30%,....Page 5-2-5 Section 11. Marking: A letter or brand indicating manufacturer and also the letters "HC" indicating high carbon, shall be pressed on the head of each spike while it is being formed. When copper is specified, the letters "CU" shall be added." Additionally included in a fax to Mike Blue by the gentleman at Wellington industries, a division of Sheffield Steel: "Because of the bending tests required, the carbon content will not be greater than 0.30%. After all, brittle spikes would not be desirable as a track spike. A bent spike still holds the rail while a fractured spike would not. The consequences for the industry would be too great to consider. However, we refer to them as high carbon, they are not within the range of steels known as high carbon or hypereutectoid according to the steel industry standards, and have not been since at least 1926, when most track spikes were previously manufactured from wrought iron." According to one source: Depending upon manufacturer, rail anchors are made to the current standard from 1040-1060 steel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doug C Posted July 23, 2008 Share Posted July 23, 2008 The have been used to forge lot's of things. Here is a good url that shows examples: How-To Make Things From Railroad Spikes Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coltpax Posted July 24, 2008 Share Posted July 24, 2008 way to go. yea, it is kind of addicting. I agree with the others, you can use railroad spikes for many things. Also, i saw thomas write something abut coil springs, but you can also use the leaf spring of a automobile. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lurchwv@BJS Posted July 24, 2008 Author Share Posted July 24, 2008 Thanx Doug, Found several idea's offf that sight. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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