Well, there's a rope dart, a kind of chinese weapon, but I was wondering what other kinds of things people have done with rail spikes. I know basic blacksmithing, by the way, but I don't have access to a forge or any related equipment- so it's not like I can make axes or nice knives... I could make crappy knives though...
CdCase123
Well-known member
just resourcefulnees bro. re-using things. or creating things from unlikley material to prevent garbage making. I used rail spikes to open up cans of condensed milk that i stole. or you can use them to throw at whatever. or as weight for something. etc. eventually you begin to find uses for everything once you become a resource nut....
resourcefullness is cool
resourcefullness is cool
Well, I finished making a huge crochet hook with a rail spike, so I can make rope sculptures whenever I dumpster a lot of rope or cable. Now the problem with me not blacksmithing, is not that I don't know how to make a forge, but that I don't have an anvil or tongs or a place where its okay to have smoke and loud clanging noises coming out. So I'm limited to the technique called stock removal which is not a fun way to make knives from spikes, since it's purely a subtractive technique... I might post pictures here a bit later.
Once upon a time, hobo knives were made of railroad spikes, because pieces of rail were too heavy, wooden ties wouldn't hold an edge, and stones were too tempting to toss and throw. Eventually the early hominid hobo discovered that railroad spikes could be sharpened by pressing them against the wheels of a moving freight train while perched precariously in that train. The prehistoric bulls actually welcomed this new development, as getting slashed to death was preferable to being repeatedly stabbed to death by a dull metal spike which didn't even end in a proper point. After the hobo invention of fire, which subsequently led to hobo blacksmithing, the wheel ground railroad spike hobo knife became largely obsolete.
That style of knife nearly went into complete obscurity with the discovery and later refinements of the technology of shoplifting.
This particular knife features three notches on the handle near the base of the blade to warn the fingers from the sharp edge and a large cutout in the crutch style handle, perhaps a warning or charm against injury while trainhopping. This is part of the permanent collection of the Hobo
Museum of Natural History.
(The blurriness of the picture is because I used a scanner instead of a camera.)
(PS. the knife was made with a grinder and cutter, not with rail wheels, while you can technically sharpen knives that way, it will take a long time and it can ruin the temper of the blade by overheating it- along with possible dismemberment/decapitation that method of metalworking is not recommended.)
Post edited by: finn, at: 2007/08/24 10:28
That style of knife nearly went into complete obscurity with the discovery and later refinements of the technology of shoplifting.
This particular knife features three notches on the handle near the base of the blade to warn the fingers from the sharp edge and a large cutout in the crutch style handle, perhaps a warning or charm against injury while trainhopping. This is part of the permanent collection of the Hobo
Museum of Natural History.
(The blurriness of the picture is because I used a scanner instead of a camera.)
(PS. the knife was made with a grinder and cutter, not with rail wheels, while you can technically sharpen knives that way, it will take a long time and it can ruin the temper of the blade by overheating it- along with possible dismemberment/decapitation that method of metalworking is not recommended.)
Post edited by: finn, at: 2007/08/24 10:28
bryanpaul
Well-known member
some o'dem kids like ta put all kinds of crazy shit in their earholes thees days...... killin vampires is a good use too...or even better..when you pull off on a siding grab up all the spikes and brake shoes and big rocks you can and once you git rollin at a lively pace they make great instruments of desruction...........
I'd only throw stuff from 50mph train if I were totally certain that I wouldn't hit any innocent bystanders, throwing a spike like that is like shooting a gun. I'd have to be in the desert or next to a parking lot or something.
"I'd only throw stuff from 50mph train if I were totally certain that I wouldn't hit any innocent bystanders, throwing a spike like that is like shooting a gun. I'd have to be in the desert or next to a parking lot or something."
or a fancy car dealership....
or a fancy car dealership....
Lost
Active member
i have a miniture rail spike that is good for shotgunning beers..it's pretty cool though it's about the size of my index finger.
bryanpaul
Well-known member
bitch, me an' mah homies be usin regular spikes fer shotgunnin tallboys..... shoo
Lost
Active member
I suppose I'm resurrecting this thread, but I'm making stock removal railspike knives again, and for now it seems that for rough shaping, an edge grinder (one that allows for at least a 5' wheel) with a thick disk and a vice is probably the fastest way of doing that. Just remember to wear protective eyewear and earplugs. You'll have to detail it with either a file, dremel, or bench grinder before the final sharpening.
Okay, I used an edge grinder on this, with both a cutting and a grinding disc, along with a vice. I'm pretty much making these to get used to handling an edge grinder. For the one pictured here, it was bent to the side, so I couldn't cut it in half to do something like making two knives with one spike, so I just turned it into a super thick knife.
The section before the blade is pretty much the complete untouched surface with a nearly square cross-section and the grind tapers in a bit to the tip, so it has a boat-hull curve. The slot in the handle is to lighten the thing and to allow a wrapped handle or to attach it to a rope/chain so it can be used as a rope dart.
It's a bit too thick and heavy to be a practical tool, but it's fun and eye-catching. I have yet to heat treat or sharpen it, but that will come at a later time. I am working on more of the suckers!
The section before the blade is pretty much the complete untouched surface with a nearly square cross-section and the grind tapers in a bit to the tip, so it has a boat-hull curve. The slot in the handle is to lighten the thing and to allow a wrapped handle or to attach it to a rope/chain so it can be used as a rope dart.
It's a bit too thick and heavy to be a practical tool, but it's fun and eye-catching. I have yet to heat treat or sharpen it, but that will come at a later time. I am working on more of the suckers!
oldmanLee
Well-known member
Here's an idea for folks that are wintering up and have a bit of space.I take rail spikes and reshape the heads into variuos forms,and drive them about half way into a chunk of stump with a flat bottom,then polish the reshaped heads.They make great small anvils for metalworking,and the sound of tapping on copper,brass,even light steel can be muffled by putting a piece or two of cheap carpet under the stump.If you drill a hole at the halfway point on the shaft fo the spike,you can slip a piece of steel rod thru(no more than 1/4 in. diam.) and even heavier hammering can be done.Come traveling season,split the stump,take your mini-anvils,and have a cookout with the wood.
finn,would you have the address for the Hobo Antropological Society?I want to submit a papere on the possible connection of the Beaker Pottery culture and stone railspike knives.
finn,would you have the address for the Hobo Antropological Society?I want to submit a papere on the possible connection of the Beaker Pottery culture and stone railspike knives.
The Hobo Anthropological Society (HAS) currently has a camp at the foot of hard rock candy mountain. But I'm sure someone here can peer review it, since as you know, the HAS gots high standards, requiring peer reviews, full data sets for any statistical analysis, and a pint of good moonshine!
I'm working on two knives right now, made by cutting a railspike in half. Don't even attempt to do this with a dremel or any small tool, thick metal like that requires sterner stuff and preferablely a vise or equivalent. Those two knives will be more utility oriented than the last, with a thinner and shorter blade, reduced weight, and a proportionately larger gripping area. 80 percent of the work was done on the last knife via an edge grinder, 10 via dremel tool and 10 via diamond sharpener. For these two, it'll be more grinder, since I'm getting better at handling it as I use it more.
I'm working on two knives right now, made by cutting a railspike in half. Don't even attempt to do this with a dremel or any small tool, thick metal like that requires sterner stuff and preferablely a vise or equivalent. Those two knives will be more utility oriented than the last, with a thinner and shorter blade, reduced weight, and a proportionately larger gripping area. 80 percent of the work was done on the last knife via an edge grinder, 10 via dremel tool and 10 via diamond sharpener. For these two, it'll be more grinder, since I'm getting better at handling it as I use it more.
Okay, I figured out how to get a better picture from my ganky method of xerox photography. This knife just needs heat treatment and then it's done. I'm going to keep its rough appearance, since it is a rail spike knife. It's still a pretty thick blade, but the steel is too soft to be thin. I'll get to the other half sometime later. Those guys are pretty nice to hold.
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