I finally found a use for my old railroad spikes

I tried forging a few into bottle openers last weekend and they came out way better than I expected. Has anyone else messed with rail spikes for smaller projects like that?

4 comments

4 Comments

rubysingh1mo ago

Watch your heat though, rail spikes aren't high carbon steel so you gotta quench em right or they'll crack.

adamk951mo agoMost Upvoted

Wait, rail spikes aren't high carbon steel? I always assumed they were tough enough to harden up like a knife blade. That explains a lot actually, I've seen guys online try to forge knives out of them and end up with cracks down the spine. So what kind of steel are they usually made from, something like 1045 or just plain low carbon with some manganese? Must be tricky to get the quench right without ending up with a brittle mess.

the_christopher1mo ago

Wait, don't they use medium carbon for rail spikes?

emery_black1mo ago

How hot are you letting them get before you quench? I've found if you don't push them past non-magnetic and give them a good soak in the fire for a minute or two at that temp, they'll usually come out okay without cracking. For bottle openers you don't really need a full hard edge anyway, so a slower quench in warm oil works fine for me. Just keep an eye on the heat and you're set.