Is it possible to make a good railroad spike knife?

[Joshua1973]

Not being a blacksmith or Metallurgist I know some limited basics of steel. And I know Railroad spikes is too soft to make a good functional hard use knife blade. However I was curious if anyone has ever tried to use a better grade steel to make a good functional railroad spike knife or welded a good knife steel to a railroad spike handle? I am interested in buying a medium to large blade railroad spike style knife. Is it possible to take say 440C stainless, D2, or 1095 for example and craft it to look like a railroad spike knife that would be more functional? If so what would be the cost of having someone do this project?

 

[Logan Pearce]

Couple of things!

1) Not all railroad spikes are created equally. As with most things. Rebar, wrenches, spikes, etc are made by multiple companies across the world using different kinds of steels. Most people just assume they are bad, because the ones they found walking the tracks weren't good.

My grandfather produced a few thousand spike knives a year. What he did was went to the company that was making the railroad spikes closest to us. It was only 2 hours away, sadly no longer in business. However, he just asked how many he would have to buy to get them to be made from quality steel. Granted it was a little higher, but definitely worth it.

Most people just don't know or don't make enough spike knives for it to be worth their time and money.


2) Many people weld good metal onto their spikes. You can still see their welds where they do it most of the time. Those tend to be a bit more pricey, since it is quite a bit of work. I've seen them around the $75-$300 range. Which honestly isn't that much more expensive than some people sell the spikes that don't have good metal in them.

There are some people that have made damascus railroad spikes and then made knives from them. You can expect more than the others for these.


Anyways, I hope this helps!

 

[Dawkind]

Yes! Here’s one recently made by Nick Rossi....nicest one I ever saw.

 

[cbach8tw]

Off subject, but I think the large hay rake knives made by Matt Bailey knives is a good close cousin.