ILoveSteel Posted December 31, 2022 Share Posted December 31, 2022 Good afternoon! New guy here, hobbyist of 3 years now in welding and fabrication, 1 year in smithing. I purchased this railroad spike labeled "J5LOH" off of eBay under the hope that it was possibly wrought iron, one internet commenter stated that spikes labeled as such are wrought iron. My initial grinder spark test showed sparks more common to mild steel. In the attached pictures, I cut then hammered the spike to break to see if the classic tell-tale grain was present. To me, this looks more like a cast steel, albeit a much finer crystal structure than most. The spike also fully bent over before breaking, something most spikes don't do in my experience. Does anyone have any knowledge on these spikes? Any thoughts on the possible composition of this spike? Thanks in advance- Jason Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George N. M. Posted December 31, 2022 Share Posted December 31, 2022 Welcome aboard from 7500' in SE Wyoming. Glad to have you. If you put your general location in your profile we can give you better answers. Many responses are geography dependent. This is a world wide forum and we don't know if you cast your shadow in Tasmania, Arizona, or Lapland. The markings on RR spikes mean something to the manufacturer and the RR. Often there is a 2 digit date of manufacture stamp. But I have never found a definitive glossary of spike head stamps and I've looked. Raius and spikes were some of the earliest mass produced steel items in the 19th century once steel became commercially available in large quantities. I have never seen a wrought iron spike with headstamps. I would say that you have a 20th century mild but tough steel spike. Probably, at most, 20 points of carbon. It is not uncommon to see used spikes bent at 90 degrees. "By hammer and hand all arts do stand." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ILoveSteel Posted December 31, 2022 Author Share Posted December 31, 2022 Hello! Thank you very much for replying! I'm in Southwest Michigan, and the eBay seller of this spike was located in Elizabeth, Indiana. So I think it's safe to assume the spike came from somewhere here in the Midwest rust belt. I too have looked for definitive headstamping information on spikes, glad to hear I'm not the only one who can't find anything! Again, thank you for the reply! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irondragon Forge ClayWorks Posted December 31, 2022 Share Posted December 31, 2022 Welcome from the Ozark mountains. In the pinned thread just above yours there is a link to Metallurgy made simple, metal identification. It's worth the read and I have it saved as a PDF. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ILoveSteel Posted December 31, 2022 Author Share Posted December 31, 2022 Thank you, I will review! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arkans Posted January 2, 2023 Share Posted January 2, 2023 I have a question related to RR spikes, figure this is as good a place as any to ask, I know that there are case hardening powers and treatments out there was wondering if any as ever tried to case harden a knife made form a RR spike to make it useful? Not something I intend on trying, just one of those thoughts I wonder about when i see something new... off the top of my head I figure the sharpening process would remove the case hardening and would be a waste of time. but honestly was curious... i dont know how deep case hardening goes into the steel. I only bring it up because after making tongs and such, i do plan on using RR spike projects to build skills, making things form them, i should get a lot of practice drawing out material and shaping it. and RR spikes are cheap and easy to get my hands on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ILoveSteel Posted January 2, 2023 Author Share Posted January 2, 2023 Good evening! The carbon content of railroad spikes is akin to mild steel, way too low to harden. "MC" labeled spikes (medium carbon spikes) are mild steel equivalent, and "HC" (high carbon, a confusing name) spikes are equivalent to medium carbon steel. There are other alloying elements as well. Spikes are meant to be pliable, intended to stretch/deform instead of snapping/shearing (can't hold down a rail if snapped!) Spike steel is good for what it's meant for-holding rail down. With carbon content low by design, it will never harden for keeping a good durable knife edge, doesn't matter what type quench you do. RR spike knives are good for novelty only. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irondragon Forge ClayWorks Posted January 2, 2023 Share Posted January 2, 2023 If a RR spike is quenched in Super Quench, it will harden it to some extent. I have made a lot of them (mostly leaf point throwing knives). When we had our business they sold well. I always advised the buyer that they were not the best for holding an edge and they didn't seem to care. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted January 8, 2023 Share Posted January 8, 2023 Case Hardening is a time&temperature thing; but not generally very deep. Now as a historical oddity; many of the trade knives sold/traded to the indigenous peoples here in the Americas were case hardened wrought iron. They learned to do a chisel edge \| so that there was a steel edge left rather than a V edge where the steel would be honed off both sides. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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