As most people are aware, there's a large representation of people making things out of railroad spikes these days. Depending on who you ask, there's many reasons people are making things from spikes. Some say its because of the ability to get cheap carbon steel, some say it is because of the cool look. As you read further, I will be giving you some insight into the reasons I like to use spikes.
By no means do I consider myself even a journeyman smith. However, I feel as though I have picked up on some things that I consider to be core foundations of the trade. If one has the desire to forge axes or forge anything, that person has to gain a moderate amount of hammer control. Being able to control your hammer blows to a point where they're precise and still powerful is a very important thing. Having the capability to do so increases effectiveness and efficiency. Forging a ax or hawk out of a railroad spike forces one to focus on hammer control through techniques that without control can greatly increase the forging time. Being able to precisely land hammer blows keeps from having to reheat multiple times per task, which each time the metal is reheated a bit of carbon is lost. I am still working on this, as I think most smiths are throughout their smithing career. Smithing is a lot like a martial art in my eyes. There is always something to improve on and there is always something to learn. Something I tell my friend when he comes over and hammers with me, "don't swing so hard. Choke up on the hammer, control your hammer blows, and use the weight of the head, not your arm, to move the metal". Most people don't realize that not always does there have to be so much oomph behind the hammer. If the right weight is used, let the hammer do the work.
There is almost a smooth, robot-like tempo to get into. In this tempo, watching the heat, flipping and moving the piece, and timing your precise hammer blows all flow together. This is important when augmenting the metal in a way other than just hammering it flat or into a different shape. Knowing the heat and knowing what will happen not only to the part of the metal that is struck, but to the rest of the piece as well. When splitting the eye for a piece like this, knowing when to stop is a big factor in a successful slitting, splitting, or punching. Even if the tool is hard, after a certain amount of heat loss, each blow is no longer doing it's intended function, it is just damaging the tool. Oh, quench that tool, too. Keep it cool or else you can mess up (or totally remove) your temper.
Besides teaching hammer control and other techniques, I like to use spikes because they're a great looking piece. If you hand someone something and tell them it's made out of a railroad spike it's easier for them to put into perspective the transformation that the piece has undergone. If you want to check out some seriously stunning railroad spike knives, look here (even though his shop is on vacation, Cris makes some truly awesome knives). Or, you can check out some of his work that gets posted on the Blacksmith Gulid Google+ page.
For this hawk, I was going for something a bit different from what I have been making in the past. My previous ones I've gone for a more "bearded style". This time I wanted more of a tomahawk look, but it almost ended up looking like a medieval style boarding ax or rope cutting ax. I favor the bearded style far more. After shaping with a file, I was content with the look. Here's where I ran into a problem; I couldn't get this steel to harden. I quenched the piece in oil three times and no avail. Luckily, my friend Aaron Armstrong of Blackcat Forge addressed this issue. Evidently, if a spike is more of a mild carbon steel, as opposed to being high carbon, they have a better effectiveness of hardening in warm water instead of warm, used motor oil. My plan this weekend is to strip it down, get the wax coating off and try to get it to harden so it will take a better edge (and so that edge will last longer).
I think I've addressed this before, but a lot of people ask me why my creations have such a rough look. That's the look I like. I like them to look old and represent being handmade instead of being made in a factory. I like the scale skin that covers the piece and the dark, black-abyss color the piece takes on one you apply some beezewax to keep the rust away. My favorite part is that it highlights the bright look of the grind, bevel, and edge. Also... I'm hooked on Kayne & Son's hawk handles. Those are pretty hard to beat, especially when they fit perfectly after sized on their hawk mandrel.
Hope you enjoyed my ramblings!
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