How to forge a knife from a railroad spike

We will start by firing the coal forge and drawing out the handle with the treadle hammer. Get the tip as long and thin as you like this will require multiple heats in the forge.

A belt sander is used to sharpen the blade and put.

How to forge a knife from a railroad spike. An anvil, hammer, tongs, and some wrenches to twist the spike. The last step is to grind down the blade, and you have a finished railroad spike knife! Come forge your very own railroad spike knife.

While i can’t argue their edge retention or hardness properties when forged into a knife (in this article), we can easily solve some myths about their carbon content and material composition. Railroad spike one of a kind forged and hand made. For this class each student will be forging a completed blade from a railroad spike, heat treating it, sharpening it, and finishing it from beginning to end.

A belt sander is used to sharpen the blade and put. Great for all skill levels. The unique character qualities of this knife are found in the twisting and forging methods making each piece one.

Bring a lunch and bottled water. This is a fantastic class for those interested in blade making but not sure where to start. Once we have a handle and blade formed we will quench the blade to harden it.

Bring your own spike if you’d like. Participants must attend both days to complete a knife. Yes, they are new unused spikes, i managed to snag about a dozen of these from a gentleman at the local knife club in exchange for a railroad spike knife, a great deal!

This is a knife i made recently, a knife out of a railroad spike. Here you�ll want to draw out tip of the spike for your blade do this by heating it and striking all four sides equally to keep it uniform. We will use the grinder to put an edge on your finished railroad spike knife.

In this class you will forge a knife from a railroad spike, putting your own twist on the design. By brandonk42, july 25, 2011 in heat treating knives, blades etc. This will keep it along the center line.

All railroad spike knives are between 8 to 9 overall length handle material: Additional information will be emailed to those who sign up, usually one to two days before the class. Heat the spike and hammer the tapered end of it until flat to create the blade of the knife.

The best way to become good at making a knife, is to start by not making a knife. Just keep looking at it and bringing it back into shape along a center line. After that forge the spike out into a knife and that will give you a blade with a high carbon center for a cutting edge and the mild steel or low carbon steel on the outside for flexibility.

Clean up the edge of the blade with your hammer to refine the shape and create a rounded appearance. I used an old broken weight as an anvil, vice grips, and a small forge made of bricks. We will twist the handle and start drawing out the blade.

Daswolf, i�d rather get both that is, quality and quantity! And you can see how you have to hammer one side of the knife and then flip the knife over and hammer the other side. Railroad spike knife ~ each knife is an outstanding example of craftsmanship, functionality, and art.

This would still preserve the complete style of the spike and give you a knife with superior edge holding qualities after it has been properly heat treated. Forge the blade to a point. Take an ordinary railroad spike and learn how to forge it into a useful, functional knife that will.

Classes will take place at production blacksmithing studio in the north hills of pittsburgh. All tools, raw materials, gloves,. Each attendee needs to register individually and must be at least 18 years old.

Place one end of the heated steel on an anvil while gripping the other end with forging tongs. Keep an eye on the spine of the knife. One of a kind forged and hand made.

Working it will distort it a lot which is ok. We will be forging a handle and blade to shape, along with profiling the blade and refining the shape. The class is free and limited to 6 people.

Then, use a rounding hammer to beat one of the corners on the end of. Come learn how to make a simple knife from a railroad spike! I didn�t have any of the correct tools, except for maybe a hammer, so i�m not going to make a full instructable out of it.

The blacksmithing program is called war horse forge. Tempering a railroad spike tempering a railroad spike. But if you�re going to do the work to forge a spike into a knife, for a few bucks you could use a real high carbon steel, do.

Bring a lunch or check out one of the local places to eat. The class occurs outdoors in a covered area. Get the tip as long and thin as you like this will require multiple heats in the forge.

We will start by firing the coal forge and drawing out the handle with the treadle hammer. This class covers drawing out thicker steel, shaping a blade, the proper way to put a tip on a knife, and hammering in bevels so you don�t need as long on the grinder. To make the knife you need a railroad spike and some standard blacksmithing tools:

All railroad spike knives are between 8″ to 9″ overall length. Students should wear comfortable, natural fiber (cotton) clothes they don�t mind getting messy, work boots or closed toed shoes and safety glasses. There is no such thing as a “high carbon steel” railroad spike, but there is.

As most railroad spikes don�t have enough carbon in them to fully harden, we will not be doing that in class.