rail road spike

[beaver#1]

does anyone know what kind of steel these are made of? and if they woudl make a decent blade.  ive seen aalot of these spikes to make knives but i dont know if they are more of a decretive peice r make a good working blade.

[Lin Rhea]

Dustin,
       I think most are too low in the carbon content to make a good knife. It's true that some are stamped HC for high carbon, but they still run a little low. Some of the blacksmiths still make knives from them and claim to get good results. Lin

[theunluckyhunter]

dont know about their edge but they sure look good with a tightly twisted handle......

[beaver#1]

yah i know they look good. i thinki will try one out to see what kind of results i can get. never know till you try(or fail in my case) right?

[Mechslasher]

i hunt next to a railroad track if you need me to pick you up a couple.

[beaver#1]

i have alot of tracks around my home,. but thanks for the offer.

[LAR43]

Lin's right on with his assessment. Even the HC spikes are a little low. I've had fair results & got workable edges w/HC spikes & the superquench mixture. Never the less, fun to make & usually make a neat conversation piece once people realize what they are.

Larry

[beaver#1]

what is this super quench method? i have been seeing it around a little bit.

[LAR43]

It's basically a tricked up water quench made up of a saturated water/salt mix with some industrial liquid soap (which is powerful stuff, so be careful) & dish soap added to act as  surfactants.
I can't remember the exact proporitons, but it's something like 5lbs. rock salt dissolved in as much hot water as it will hold before settling out, 1 quart of Amway liquid industrial floor soap & 8-10 oz. of Dawn liquid dish detergent.
Warm it before using & keep your safety glasses on in case of a splash. The colder the quench medium, the more violent the quench.
This will shatter or crack most high carbon knife making steel as will most water quenches & should be used accordingly. Most often as a last resort if  you can't get the steel to harden any other way.
Remember, it won't make low carbon steel into anything other than what it is, but it just might help you get a hard enough edge on whatever you're making to call it a knife!

My personal preference is to use steel in the 1080-1095 bracket & quench it according to established methods.

Good luck & be careful!!

Larry