Are HC railroad spikes hard enough or can they be tempered to make a hawk or knife that will hold and edge or not? Thanks, ET &)
I'll be watching this thread for sure, Ed. Never thought of using one of those for a blade! I hope it'll work!
Troy
I have tried to make a knife from RR spike and could not get the temper
hard enough to hold a edge. Have been told there is not enough carbon
in them
Not a real high carbon steel but I have seen several knives made from them.
the ones stamped "HC" on the top are high carbon, ive made strikers out of the for starting fires
The HC spikes were used in the switching yards because they received more abuse from the amount of traffic & needed to hold up better. I, too, have made strikers from them. I have a few for sale, $5 + shipping... Less if you buy more than one...
I have never ran across a HC spike, will have keep my eyes open and try one.
The guy I got them from said they were pulled out of the curves on a mountain track line. &)
Makes sense, another high stress area... Wouldn't recommend pulling them out tho, got a buddy who's an engineer. I think he might object... ROFL
Yes.
I've made a coupla dozen knives from RR spikes over the years...
No problem hardening and tempering...
I have got a little hawk made from a railroad spike. I haven't had any problem sharpening or the temper. Don't know if its high carbon or not. The blacksmith I got it from said he'd made alot of them from RR spikes. I traded him 4 or 5 spikes for it. The only problem I have is it needs a handle right now my brother broke it out for me.
Havent tried em but have seen several and find them interesting, but not my style. If they are high carbon, and can be used for strikers, they should work for a knife. The regular ones are low carbon and wont hold an edge very well from what I have seen. Low carbon just aint worth the time to make a knife in my experience.
Voy
I have a bunch of the "HC" rr spikes. Spose' I should trade them off for something.
I have seen some nice knives and a few spike hawks made out of them.
The hawks were more for show, but pretty just the same!
hey, I would love to see some pics of these projects..........
This is the only one I have a photo of...
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v21/Razor740/knives003.jpg)
Now thats pretty awesome!!!!!
Best lookin' rail spike I ever did see..and I've seen millions. (Santa Fe engineer) BNSF conductor..
Back in 1970's I worked for Pen Central and Conrail.
The HC Spikes had a H or HC stamped on the top of the spike.
If you can find Bridge Spikes they were HC and about 4 inches longer than the regular spikes.
They were all HC as I Recall.
(And were in wooden kegs I wish I had saved) hdslp
Remember the wooden kegs...just trash then..with I had them now, too.