Made a knife tonight out of a railroad spike

[Acmemfg]

Took a basic knife making class tonight in Atlanta. Hands on use of a kiln, forging, grinding...here is the finished product. Rustic by design and most sharp. I now have a great new appreciation of the blade making process. Great fun too.

 

[James Darmody]

Could definitely give someone a decent shiving...

 

[John Rose]

I like it.

By sheer coincidence, I picked up a bent and rusty spike from next to the tracks this evening.
I have this notion of making heavy-duty wind chime out of miscellaneous railroad junk. The rustier the better.
I already have a few spikes, a base plate, something like a rail anchor clip, and a 3/4" slice of rail.

 

[SotaBoy]

Very cool indeed! Out of curiosity, what did you use for an anvil?

 

[simon1]

That looks like a major transformation of the spike. Can you clue us in on the basic process?

I've seen some made from the leaf springs of a car and they looked great.

 

[simon1]

Could definitely give someone a decent shiving...

A shiv is a shiv.

 

[ajkel64]

Interesting knife. How long did the whole process take to complete?

 

[Acmemfg]

Whole process took about 5 hours. Basic forging tools were hammer, tongs, anvil. Also used a belt grinder and an air hammer. Steel is 1045. Very tough and should take a decent edge
Lots of heat and hammer work.
Went through the forging process. Then hammered out the shape. Much heat and reheat until everything was correct, even, and straight.
Next.... Cooled and hardened. Water cooled steel, so it's not too difficult but the cooling has to be deliberate and methodical or the blade will warp.
Set the bevel on the belt grinder. Plan on doing more finishing work on the blade once I get home.
There is a LOT of stuff that goes into the process indeed.

 

[ajkel64]

Very cool. Well very hot but you know what I mean.

 

[naughtilus]

Nice hammer handle!

 

[Claudel Xerxes]

Very cool! It looks great!

 

[Joshua223]

Very nice.
I'm near Atlanta. Where do you sign up for these classes?

 

[Acmemfg]

Goatnhammer.com
Located in west Midtown
You will have a great time

 

[stone and strop]

Very nice.
There is a place about 1hr North of me that offers a "Pattern welding knife making Blacksmith course" with a maximum of two people.
Always thought I would like to go, bet its a lot of fun.

Ontario Blacksmith Courses and Classes

 

[Shave_Rat]

Very cool! I have seen a lot of the spike to knife conversions from beginners, and from the pics, yours is by far one of the better ones. I'd say you picked up well on the intro class and skills needed.

 

[bluesman 7]

Good to see the start of your new hobby Acmemfg.

@Joshua223 and @stone and strop , you guys should definitely take advantage of the resources in your area if you have the interest.

I got back into general blacksmithing a few years ago and this year I won the Rocky Mountain Smith's Conference Forging Compitition, with 24 competitors. Great fun. I'm at about 5 minutes, 8 minutes and the very end wearing the red t- shirt. The whole video is entertaining.

 

[Joshua223]

Goatnhammer.com
Located in west Midtown
You will have a great time

Thanks. First I've heard about their classes.

 

[ackvil]

Nice informational thread.

 

[RandyC]

I stumbled onto 20+ spikes in a state game area parking lot that somebody abandoned there a few years ago. I took them all with a project like that in mind. Yet another thing I've not gotten around to yet.

Yours looks great!

 

[Ad Astra]

Wow! That's a skill we'd all like to have!

Who doesn't watch Forged in Fire? Love it.

Have a spike knife, but I bought it. Ggpa worked on the railroad. It's a great "garage knife," good for boxes, packages, etc.

AA