Railroad Spike Tomahawk

[badlander]

Who makes a good hard use railroad spike tomahawk?

 

[Square_peg]

Hard use? With that tiny eye?

No one makes that.

 

[Hickory n steel]

Hard use? With that tiny eye?

No one makes that.

Why not, if the handle breaks you can put it on any twig in 5 seconds.

On a serious note though, my bal peen Hammers have small eyes and they don't break.
I still don't think anyone makes one though.

 

[abcdef]

Is rr spike steel good for hawks or knives?

 

[Steve Tall]

Is rr spike steel good for hawks or knives?

The carbon content of the steel is lower than what's typically used. According to info in another thread, the "high carbon" spikes (which are marked "HC") have a carbon content between 0.20 to 0.30 percent carbon, and the "soft steel" spikes have carbon content ranging from 0.06 to 0.20 percent carbon.

 

[Square_peg]

Hard use? With that tiny eye?

No one makes that.

Why not, if the handle breaks you can put it on any twig in 5 seconds.

On a serious note though, my bal peen Hammers have small eyes and they don't break.
I still don't think anyone makes one though.

Thanks, Hickory. You made me realize that I should elaborate on my answer. Here's an image of a RR spike hawk borrowed from the web - it's pretty typical of what I've seen.

The problem is of course the very short eye. It's going to crush the handle wood very quicky and result in a loose head for the same reason that Hudson Bay axes come loose, only faster. It's discussed in depth here:

https://www.bladeforums.com/threads/the-drawback-in-the-hudson-bay-pattern.1152684/

 

[Hickory n steel]

Thanks, Hickory. You made me realize that I should elaborate on my answer. Here's an image of a RR spike hawk borrowed from the web - it's pretty typical of what I've seen.

The problem is of course the very short eye. It's going to crush the handle wood very quicky and result in a loose head for the same reason that Hudson Bay axes come loose, only faster. It's discussed in depth here:

https://www.bladeforums.com/threads/the-drawback-in-the-hudson-bay-pattern.1152684/

Oh, yep that's definitely a probablem.
Thanks for elaborating.

 

[Lieblad]

Railway spikes are great fun to make letter openers & decorative stuff with. But as far as a "real tool", whatever crafted is mediocre at best.
As others mentioned, their low carbon alloy & 5/8"-9/16" profile seriously limits what they can be made into.