How to make a Railroad Spike knife
 

Awesome:

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Re: How to make a Railroad Spike knife
 

No eye protection. Moron.

Re: How to make a Railroad Spike knife
 

Way cool. Wonder how long it takes to make one?

Re: How to make a Railroad Spike knife
 

Professur is right - you should wear eye protection - but other than that, this is awesome.

Re: How to make a Railroad Spike knife
 

I think the music is by Alasdair Fraser

What's so special about RR spike steel? Hardened? Carbon content?

Re: How to make a Railroad Spike knife
 

High iron content.

Re: How to make a Railroad Spike knife
 

Buddy of mine makes them out of rebar.

Re: How to make a Railroad Spike knife
 

Now that's pretty freaking cool!:coolbeer:

Re: How to make a Railroad Spike knife
 

Nothing special, not hardened, usually about ~ 0.50 carbon content, medium alloy content (Cr, Mn, etc). It already is in a convenient form for knifemaking, saves time in forming a bloom.

I melted many 100's of tons of spikes and plates back in the 1980's. Good stuff.

Re: How to make a Railroad Spike knife
 

These guys didn't wear eye protection. I don't think they were morons. (matter of fact I probably wouldn't have dared call 'em one to their face either)


*it's all that namby pamby for the children crap with rules and fines to enforce it that has killed our manufacturing base in the U.S.A.