Quick and dirty, it aint purdy. Made from the cutoff portion from the rail we resurfaced scott's anvil with
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Rairoad RAIL knife
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 Phoenix 1967 |
Rairoad RAIL knife |
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Posts: 824 (06/26/09 11:21 PM) |
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B Finnigan |
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Posts: 1824 (06/27/09 12:27 AM) |
I like it! A hundred years from now it will still look the same if stays dry. Could not say the same for us.
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Thomas Malabar |
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Posts: 95 (06/27/09 2:13 AM) |
It's a purty as some that I have seen selling on ebay for $50
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Phoenix 1967 |
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Posts: 825 (06/27/09 6:32 AM) |
Well at least it is actually high carbon, unlike the supposedly HC spikes. They work well enough for a hawk, but they kinda suck for a using knife
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Radharc 59 |
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Posts: 1054 (06/27/09 7:36 AM) Lord Haggis
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Lawren, that's wild. I've made quite a few RR spike knives, marked HC. The common knowledge is that they're 35 points of carbon. The way I get a
decent hardness on them is to use the supersaturated slippery brine quench. Dissolve as much salt into a bucket of water as it'll take, and then some. Add
some dish soap for the surfactant action, mix, and voila! I can get spike knives into the mid to high 50s HRC using that mix.
Michael
www.radharcknives.com "There is no such thing in nature as staying the same. You're either striving to make yourself better, or allowing yourself to get worse." ~ Unknown |
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Phoenix 1967 |
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Posts: 826 (06/27/09 8:21 AM) |
I use the same sort of brine Micheal, I was justranting a bit. I have had some marked HC that wouldnt harden for anything (There was a LARGE acceptable
deviation allowed in manufacture.) I have even had some Wrought Iron spikes that DID harden! (two outta maybe 20)
Funny thing is that this was supposed to be 1075, but it worked more like S7... pretty hard, even at an orange. Here's the vid of me making it http://www.stickam.com/member/editMediaPlaylist.do?mediaType=video |
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B Finnigan |
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Posts: 1825 (06/27/09 10:23 AM) |
I sold dozens of spike knives years ago and they are all still in action. My neighbor uses his to cut the twine on hay bales and open feed bags. He has not had
to sharpen it in five years. But the spikes were all brand new and came from a railroad supply company. I used super quench and 300 deg temper on them.
Now that I have a known source with a known C level I would never sell one from a mystery spike. I bought my first bandsaw and supplies for a forge just with the profits from them. They are enough of a novelty around here I could be making them full time. They get a bad rap from people that just find them on the tracks or in thier grampa's basement and then oil quench them. |
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Phoenix 1967 |
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Posts: 828 (06/27/09 10:31 AM) |
True Brent, and I actually prefer a softer (mid to high 50's) working knife. My irritation comes fromThe batch that I got, all marked HC, with wildly
varying hardnesses with the same HT. They were obviously not from the same melt, and probably not even from the same decade. I actually like spike knives, and
have nothing against them... It's the unpredictability of the gathered "hither and yon" spikes that is aggravating. With a hawk, I'll chance
it.... With a knife, I'll order the new ones... I believe quality control is a bit better nowadays.
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magman357 |
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Posts: 156 (06/27/09 10:47 AM) |
Thats cool Lawren! Been waiting to see what would come of that piece of rail. I've read that a lot of railroad rails are recycled into angle iron for
bedframes, and used to make fence post, hardens up real nice, although some of the newer bedframe steel I've came across seems to have an even higher C
content. Brent I've heard that some spikes that are used on sections of tracks that have tight turns are made of O-1, have you heard this?
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Thomas Malabar |
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Posts: 99 (06/27/09 11:31 PM) |
magman357 wrote: ahhh so I am not the only one that hunts for old bed frames  ...suddenly I don't feel like such a deviant
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magman357 |
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Posts: 157 (06/28/09 3:18 AM) |
Yes, I'm a deviant....I mean... I love the stuff! Although sometimes you can find some cracks in it, methinks they work it a little to quickly at the mill.
Its handy for all sorts of applications. Got some plans for a san mai blade, bedframe steel sandwiched between two pieces of lower carbon lawn mower blade.
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Phoenix 1967 |
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Posts: 829 (06/28/09 10:44 AM) |
UMM most mower blade is pretty High carbon in my experience (there are cheap low carbon ones out there, but I havent found many)
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magman357 |
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Posts: 158 (06/28/09 11:45 AM) |
I always run into the lower carbon ones. Worked with about 5 of them, I'm guessing their around 1040 or so, they would only get marginally hard with a
brine quench, super tough though, got some test blades from one of them that would hold a little bit of an edge as long as you didn't temper over 325f. The
companies that made them were probably concerned about heat treatment of higher carbon blades, and the lawsuits that might follow if they didn't get one
right. BTW do you know what brands make the higher carbon blades?
Thanks. |
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Phoenix 1967 |
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Posts: 830 (06/28/09 11:50 AM) |
Dunno about brands, but the ones that I have seen with Part numbers stamped on 'em were high carbon. The only one that was Low carbon that I have found had
no part number on it. Even the elcheapo murray lawnmowers come from the factory with a HC blade. I'm thinking most Low carbon blades are el cheapo
replacement blades.
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magman357 |
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Posts: 159 (06/28/09 11:52 AM) |
Thanks I'll have to keep an eye out for them.
Seems like I read somewhere that near the end of WW2 the Japanese were making officers katanas from railroad rail steel.
Last Edited By: magman357
06/28/09 11:54 AM.
Edited 1 times.
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kellerknives.paleoplanet69529 |
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Posts: 15 (06/28/09 4:12 PM) |
where can i order some RR spikes? Id like to get some new spikes,my stash is running low.
I picked up a bunch in Arkansas when i went to the ABS school of knife making that were HC and they all turned out fine. I just Quenched in water, never had a crack and the file wouldnt cut it. 
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Phoenix 1967 |
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Posts: 835 (06/29/09 8:49 AM) |
Mcmaster Carr, and MSC catalogs both have them (at least they did)
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- Newbie Shop - Visit Here First
- Unplugged Bladesmithing
- 50/50 - In Memory of Gib Guignard
- Wootz and Pattern Welding
- Blade Jewelry
- Traditional Blacksmithing and Metalworking
- Off the Grid!
- Survival forum
- Historical Reenactment
- Tutorials Room
- Tool Shed (READ ONLY)
- The Campfire
- events and happenings
- Bartertown
- Unplugged Bladesmithing Archive I
- 50/50 Archive 1
- Unplugged Bladesmithing Archive II
- Primal Craftsman Archives
