How To Forge A Knife From A Railroad Spike

Daswolf, i'd rather get both that is, quality and quantity! Students should wear comfortable, natural fiber (cotton) clothes they don't mind getting messy, work boots or closed toed shoes and safety glasses.

In progress on a rail spike axe. Blacksmithing knives

Place one end of the heated steel on an anvil while gripping the other end with forging tongs.

How to forge a knife from a railroad spike. 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. Forge the blade to a point. This is a fantastic class for those interested in blade making but not sure where to start.

We will twist the handle and start drawing out the blade. One of a kind forged and hand made. We will start by firing the coal forge and drawing out the handle with the treadle hammer.

Come forge your very own railroad spike knife. Come learn how to make a simple knife from a railroad spike! Bring a lunch or check out one of the local places to eat.

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. Tempering a railroad spike tempering a railroad spike. Railroad spike knife ~ each knife is an outstanding example of craftsmanship, functionality, and art.

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. The blacksmithing program is called war horse forge. As most railroad spikes don't have enough carbon in them to fully harden, we will not be doing that in class.

Working it will distort it a lot which is ok. Additional information will be emailed to those who sign up, usually one to two days before the class. 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 best way to become good at making a knife, is to start by not making a knife. The class is free and limited to 6 people. We will be forging a handle and blade to shape, along with profiling the blade and refining the shape.

The last step is to grind down the blade, and you have a finished railroad spike knife! Participants must attend both days to complete a knife. In this class you will forge a knife from a railroad spike, putting your own twist on the design.

Great for all skill levels. 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! Clean up the edge of the blade with your hammer to refine the shape and create a rounded appearance.

The class occurs outdoors in a covered area. 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. Get the tip as long and thin as you like this will require multiple heats in the forge.

To make the knife you need a railroad spike and some standard blacksmithing tools: By brandonk42, july 25, 2011 in heat treating knives, blades etc. This is a knife i made recently, a knife out of a railroad spike.

I used an old broken weight as an anvil, vice grips, and a small forge made of bricks. Take an ordinary railroad spike and learn how to forge it into a useful, functional knife that will. 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.

Heat the spike and hammer the tapered end of it until flat to create the blade of the knife. Each attendee needs to register individually and must be at least 18 years old. All railroad spike knives are between 8″ to 9″ overall length.

Keep an eye on the spine of the knife. Bring your own spike if you’d like. There is no such thing as a “high carbon steel” railroad spike, but there is.

The unique character qualities of this knife are found in the twisting and forging methods making each piece one. 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. Bring a lunch and bottled water.

An anvil, hammer, tongs, and some wrenches to twist the spike. 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. We will use the grinder to put an edge on your finished railroad spike knife.

All tools, raw materials, gloves,. 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. Then, use a rounding hammer to beat one of the corners on the end of.

This will keep it along the center line. A belt sander is used to sharpen the blade and put. Classes will take place at production blacksmithing studio in the north hills of pittsburgh.

All railroad spike knives are between 8 to 9 overall length handle material: Once we have a handle and blade formed we will quench the blade to harden it. Railroad spike one of a kind forged and hand made.

Just keep looking at it and bringing it back into shape along a center line.

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