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Machetefoot

Joined
Mar 23, 2011
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I am looking to get into knife making. I am currently in the proccess of getting into blacksmithing, as of now I am doing my homework. I have access to materials where I work. I work for the railroad so I can get railroad spikes, e clips, and rail. I know that the quality of steel in these items is good but I am wondering if they would make good knife steel. Any info on that anyone could provide would be much appriciated.
 
A section of rail will make a suitable starter anvil. HC Spikes can be forged into hawks, crosses, and rustic letter openers, but make poor knives. The best thing to do for steel is order a couple sticks of Aldo's 1084.
 
Thanks for the info, I actualy shouldn't have mentioned spikes cause I actualy had read that about them. What I was more interested in was if thin slices of rail would make good knife steel, I can sometimes find slices of rail about a half inch thick from time to time. Also the steel e clips that hold rail to concrete ties, I know the steel has a springy quallity and are pretty rust resistent. Also from time to time I can get other various types of steel items that I can't even possitively identify, is there any way of finding out the quality of an old peice of steel you find laying around?
 
Keep an eye out near the old track crossings, because you can occasionally run across some sections of leaf springs, and really what ever falls off of trucks for materials.

It's a slippery slope though, stockpile too much found blade material and you could be accused of hording. ;)
 
Haha, I have been collecting spikes and random things I have found on the tracks to work on once I get a forge, and I have already been accused of being a horder by one of my co workers. The beutiful thing about working for the railroad is that I don't realy have to look for things laying around, I could just go to the trackmans shop and get any specific item I want. I am just trying to figure out what's good and what's crap so to speak.
 
I'm a big fellah and I have a pretty badass beard so with a little practice, I'm sure I could handle it haha. Do you think that would make good steel for blades? I am admittedly less knowlegable about steel types than I would like to be, which is why I havnt started hammering yet, I still have quite a bit to learn haha.
 
Hey Machetefoot, welcome to the site. I can't find it now, but I have seen a thread here on this site where a guy got some rail from either the UP or IC. He contacted them to ask what type of steel it was and they told him 1084. In the thread, someone mentioned that they had seen a knife made with some rail and it looked almost like a damascus. I just found a small sliver of rail, maybe 1/4" thick. Who do you work for? Are you in a track gang? I work for amtrak, on board.

As said above, get some known steel from Aldo. You'd have to ask him, but I think he is going to a hammer in in upstate NY soon. Maybe you could go hang out there if it's close enough. If not, he will ship it to you. His contact info is here:http://njsteelbaron.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=48&Itemid=57
 
I work for amtrak out of boston. I work in the electric traction department working on the overhead wires. Where do you work out of? If you are out of new york we may know some of the same people, I worked on the hellgate for a year. Hell, if you are a conductor I might even know you if you work the north east corridor. I am trying to get started in nife making spending as little cash as possible, and one I get more into it I will probably drop some cash on good steel, a good anvil, good forge. As of now I am getting ready to build a forge and hammer on a hunk of rail and a 100 year old anvil I bought on craigs list for 100 bucks.
 
Machetefoot said:
I work for amtrak out of boston. I work in the electric traction department working on the overhead wires.
Click to expand...

So, are you the one who caused the power outage for the cats this past sat? J/K. I sat in DC for 3 hrs waiting for it to come back up.

I work OBS out of new orleans on train 19 & 20. If you have ever deadheaded on that train, we have probably seen each other. I'm a sleeper attendant.

That anvil you got will probably work just fine for you. If you ever decide to get rid of it, let me know please. You can make a forge fairly easily. A small one can be made from an empty R22 jug. If you can find a knife maker or blacksmith somewhere in your area that will let you come over and talk for a while, maybe watch what he is doing, it helps a bunch to see it all first hand.
Check out the http://newenglandblacksmiths.org/ , they might be able to help you out.
 
haha i had nothing to do with those outages. gotta love the cat system, makes trains go really fast when it works, but when it breaks... i have never been on those trains down there, thought about taking my wife and kiddo down to florida on one though, if i do i will make sure i get on your train if its heading in the right direction. as far as the forge goes, i have looked at different designs and eventualy i think i will wind up building something fairly ridiculous but for now i imagine i will start with something pretty primitive like an old steel kitchen sink attatched to a shop vac blower. gotta keep everything on the cheep to start out, my wife almost had a fit when i bought the anvil haha. i did my damndest to find someone looking to get rid of an anvil for free, came close, and finaly just bought one. now i'm just waiting for the snow to go away so i can set up an area in the back yard to start banging on steel. i will definatly check out that new england blacksmiths website, thanks for the link.
 
Hey, you're local. You should make it to IG's next hammer-in (April 16, New Bedford)
and meet some of the folks.
 
awesome, i will try to check that out. i wish i got into this a long time ago but i never had the space or resources until recently so il admit that the idea of attending something like that with my extremely limited knowlege of what i'm talking about is somewhat intimidating. but it is great that there are a bunch of people out there that are eager to help out a new person just getting into the craft.
 
Y'all are going to get this guy off on the wrong foot sending him to IG's without proper warnings....

1. Don't eat the food until you witness someone eating it and watching their reactions for 30 minutes that goes triple for any sauces he's made or sold.

2. Anything within reach will be urinated on by either IG's dogs, IG himself or some weird combination of both.

3. Make sure you leave some information with your family and friends in case you never return.

4. Enjoy being around one of the true characters in the bladesmithing community!

Most of us started with found steel. Most of us move on to known steel. I'd say that starting with known steel will help you finish a knife a bit faster because people can give you informed answers about what's happening with your steel. In m opinion you really have to know your stuff to work found steel, you need to be able to read sparks, have enough of it to make it worthwhile for you to test and develop processes for....
 
Dan Pierson said:
Hey, you're local. You should make it to IG's next hammer-in (April 16, New Bedford)
and meet some of the folks.
Click to expand...

Do yourself a favor and take a couple of vacation days or plan on marking off. I haven't been to this hammer in, but I made it late to a small one once. It really is worth it to go to one. Bring a notebook and pen to take notes, get phone numbers or email addys of local knife makers, suppliers etc. Just don't have the need to mark off redblock. Also bring some cash and maybe a back pack. Sometimes people bring stuff to sell. Like knife steel, tongs, hammers and other things you may want or need to do some forging. Might even find some coal, if you want to go that route. Or you can make arrangements with people here on the board to get a few things from them at the meeting.
 
I have messed around with the clips found here in Maine. The first one that I heat treated in the forge, quenched in brine, cracked all over the place. The second one was heated to 1500 in the kiln and quenched into parks 50. Tempered twice at 425 for two hours. I then kept the edge in water and used a propane torch to soften the spine to a dark blue/purple. I did the steps of the abs performance test and it held up fine but did crack when bent past 90.
 
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Thanks so much for all the info, its great that there is such a welcoming community out there. this is something I have wanted to do for years but just never had the means. Ever since I started working for the railroad and my buddies father made me a knife in exchange for a keg of spikes and a hunk of rail. I have long since lost touch with my buddy so I can't pick his dads brain so its great that you guys are so cool about helping out a newcomer. Can any of you recomend any good books on the subject of knife making or blacksmithing in general?
 
I picked up all sorts of material when I worked as a signal maintainer. The best stuff I got was a bunch of large coil springs from the cars. Need to get some other stuff tested to see what it is. As far as books are concerned I always recommend The $50 knife shop my Wayne Goddard. He covers a lot of different ways to go about making knives. You can also get How to Make Knives by Barny and Loveless. This covers stock removal by grinder and files. Also has a good section on forging by Bill Moran. Many other books area available see what you can get and read them all. Good luck and welcome to the forums.
 
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