Railroad Rail Metal for Knife

I did my first complete sword (a ribbon hilt scottish basket hilt) out of an 8" hunk of top rail, forged out on a 75# Beaudry. Acted very much like 1084.
I also have a Spanish style cut & thrust made by the fella who taught me swords-that got hard enough that the usual 30 second straightening window after quench worked out to about 10 seconds, and I lost about 2" off the tip as a result.
 
Battery powered cut off disk with plug in to charge off the wheeler or a bunch of batteries. You should be able to. Cut a good chunk with a few batteries.

If I'm not mistaken Hanwei used to use rail steel for their katanas

Sounds like fun .

I know where there's a huge supply of liked like 2 inch logging cable.
That's what my fun project will be when I'm far enough along to weld cable billets :)

Edit I can't imagine how hard that dude got thumped .

I tell my kids inanimate objects don't give a crap if it hurts you or not, it's up to them not to get killed by one ;)
That said all my kids are gun and knife safe and.my youngest is 6
 
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actually cutting the track is super easy ! A combination of 3 parts iron oxide " rust " and 1 part aluminum powder , lit with a 4th of July sparkler or a magnesium ribbon . Cheap to! Want to see how it works look up thermite on u tube ! Acualy cutting and welding railroad track is what thermite was originally used for. Bring fire extinguishers even if there is snow on the ground along with a few buckets of sand
 
oh 1 more thing antler would be dangerous to use for a true sticker . When bloody it will slide right out of your hand and is almost impossible to hang on to . some thing i just thought of ,If you can weld a piece of I beam with 2 inch well pipe for up rights , pipe ts for the cross beam welded to pipe filled with 250 pounds of railroad track and you got a drop hammer . Have your friends stand on stools. You take the slice out of the forge , then they pick it up the hammer and drop it . If you got 4-6 friends that hammer could then weigh 400 pounds . that will make quick work of flattening your rail slice. step ladders would be better yet
 
This thread makes me want to chop up my rail track anvil. It's too bad that I still need it though...
 
I just figured out how to slice your rail in any way you like. Including the top portion length ways . heat it red in your kiln , and use the oxygen jet on your torch . no need to even turn on the acetylene. A better way to flatten it to a useful thickness would be a 1 time use trip hammer. A gantry crane like set up. beam across the bottom with your anvil , a pipe sleeved with another pipe your hammer a 3/8 inch plate stacked together and welded to the bottom a 50 gallon drum filled with sand r dirt " think dead blow lead shot hammers " sand would be best . throw a rope over the pulley pipe ,tie it to the back of a 4 wheel drive with a ton of dirt. cut rope with wife's scissors , or better yet a very sharp corn knife . make sure you put that rope through a tire so it doesn't take of your head. sounds like alot of work . but i could build it in 2 hours . up rights 3-4 inch well pipe with another pipe inside same as beam across side braces above cross beam . 12 -15 welds 4 inches around . a trip hammer like that will flatten your red hot rail instantly . yes i have done this to a farriers rasp that happened to be 3/8 inch think and wouldn't move well under my 3 pound sledge . Look son don't tell mom ok . It will be fun trust me. Yea sharpen your machete real good ,this will be cool
 
i didn't say the above post at first because i didn't want you to think i was crazy are dangerous. it did work and it was fun. my hammer was 36 inch diameter , 3/8 inch wall pipe filled with sand and tied to the tractor . the rope was cut with a sycle weighted with a brick and tied to a rope. son was more than scared . it was so fun
 
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