rail road spike?

[RichardR]

Has anyone ever made a rail road spike knife? I've seen a couple over the years that just looked kewl as kewl gets, not sure if the steel will be the greatest at holding an edge but the twisted metal handle & wide flat blades just look bad to the bone IMHO.

Anyone done this? Got any photos or experience with them to share?

[Jonnin]

they make a nifty looking knife as the base of the spike can be a handle but the metal is too soft for a great piece and they will rust like pure iron.  A neat novelty but not your best choice ?    I am not a blacksmith so I can't say if a home-smith has what it takes to harden the metal to a usable state or not.  Maybe?

Edited March 29, 2013 by Jonnin

[UncleJak]

I have made a few. I had some high carbon spikes (marked "HC") they still are not as good as other steel, but slightly better than regular spikes.  I have 2 pics to share. The 1st one was made with Spots in his forge.  The 2nd I made at my forge.

[Jonnin]

that top one is very well done.

[RichardR]

Very cool UncleJak, that's exactly what I was talking about!

I'd really like to make one of those someday, don't even care if it's a plain iron spike that won't take a decent edge, they just look wicked!

[Spots]

I've made dozens. They are easy to work and make some cool designs. The only way to make one hold an edge is weld a high carbon piece into it where to edge will be, or you can add carbon to the steel, neither of which is the easiest thing to do and consdiering the cheap cost ofbhigh carbon s5eel nowadays there are much better options. But if its something you just want to show off then you can do no wrong by making one lol.

Heres a couple I've made

This one we rolled the end into a ball and made a face on it





And the two farthest left here are a couple older ones I beat out when I was a kid



Sent from the backwoods of Nowhere

Edited March 29, 2013 by Spots

[gjohnsoniv]

You need to get the ones from the curves on the track. Those are the high carbon ones marked "HC" as said above.  Harrow spikes also make some pretty cool short sword like designs.

[Spots]

You need to get the ones from the curves on the track. Those are the high carbon ones marked "HC" as said above.  Harrow spikes also make some pretty cool short sword like designs.

Yeah harrow spikes are great if you can find the damn things lol. I have a few, but dad might hurt me if I got to forging them. I have some HC spikes somewhere that someone has brought to a class and left if I can find them.

Sent from the backwoods of Nowhere

[RichardR]

Dang Spots! I'm seriously digging the design on the top far right one, that is wicked man, great job!

[TrickyNicky]

If you wanted to would it be possible to take some good steel, turn it into a RR spike then beat it into a knife?

A lot of work I'm sure, but if you really want a nice one...

[Spots]

If you wanted to would it be possible to take some good steel, turn it into a RR spike then beat it into a knife?


A lot of work I'm sure, but if you really want a nice one...

Yeah anything is possible. I know a guy who made a damascus steel railroad spike then beat it into a knife. Just takes time and effort.

Sent from the backwoods of Nowhere

[bigbabysweets]

I've made hundreds of knives from railroad spikes. I think the tomahawks are cooler though! lol For the most part they make better conversational pieces than working knives. They will work as a knive, but if you really get into hard use, they'll fail. The older spikes are low carbon. If you find one that has HC on the head it is a high carbon, for a spike, not a blade. I believe a spike is a 1030 metal. That means its only 30 points carbon. I try to stay closer to 100 points or 1% carbon for knife blades. The newer spikes (i forget which date 70s - 80s) were all made of high carbon, for a spike, metal. You can also add carbon to the metal. There are several ways, if interested I can talk about those, ya'll may already know. Here are a couple I made a couple years ago I think. Its the only picture of my RR spikes I could find..... Check the ones out in the middle! I wanted to make something different than the usual rr spike....

 

[Spots]

I've made hundreds of knives from railroad spikes. I think the tomahawks are cooler though! lol For the most part they make better conversational pieces than working knives. They will work as a knive, but if you really get into hard use, they'll fail. The older spikes are low carbon. If you find one that has HC on the head it is a high carbon, for a spike, not a blade. I believe a spike is a 1030 metal. That means its only 30 points carbon. I try to stay closer to 100 points or 1% carbon for knife blades. The newer spikes (i forget which date 70s - 80s) were all made of high carbon, for a spike, metal. You can also add carbon to the metal. There are several ways, if interested I can talk about those, ya'll may already know. Here are a couple I made a couple years ago I think. Its the only picture of my RR spikes I could find..... Check the ones out in the middle! I wanted to make something different than the usual rr spike....
 

I really like those middle ones. I'm thinking I may be making some spike knives next time we fire the forge. Haven't made any in a bit

Sent from the backwoods of Nowhere

[RichardR]

Wow very sweet spikes Big! Yea the ones in the middle just oooze kewl man!

[bigbabysweets]

Thanks! I had seen a few with the head as a pommel, I wanted to try something a little different. I even went online to fin some fresh ideas-zilch. There were some that were more refined and looked a little more like a higher end knife or a "blued" one or two. I decided to see what would happen if I flipped the whole thing over and hammed the head out into the blade... thats what come of it. It the backwards way of a spike knife. I called them combat spikes, perfect for the upcoming zombie apocalypse!

 

Spots- I enjoyed making the middle ones more than the usual, because they werent usual! I had to make sure the head of the spike didnt fold into the rest of the blade. The first one I had made folded in on itself and made a "crack" in it. I feel you've done a lot more forging than I have, so you may have already been awareto avoid those dirty folds....

Edited March 29, 2013 by bigbabysweets

[Guest Broomhead]

Here's the one Dad and I made the first time we were at Spots' doing some smithing. We balled the head and attempted to make it into skull.

Edited March 30, 2013 by Broomhead

[bigbabysweets]

That would creep me out more than if it were a skull. Looks like a relic from the temple of doom! Lol