Welcome Guest!
Spike knives
- Thread starter bigelow
- Start date
Anvil Head
Senior Member
Those aren't too bad. Looks like you are having fun.
Couple of things to remember:
>RxR spikes are made of low carbon steel (inspite of what all the hotdogs out there claim). Sure they can be hardened somewhat but not to decent knife specs.
>That being said you can get them to their highest hardness by using what we call a "Super Quench". You will get something fairly close to a cheap Walmart kitchen knife, just won't hold an edge long.
>They are good practice to learn hammer and heat control to develope good smithing skills. However, high carbon blade steels will not move under the hammer the same way.
>Lot of folks like them and they sell (if that's your intention). But if you want to eventually make quality working blades, you'll get better experience from working the high carbon steels and learn the ins/outs of thermal cycling and correct forging heats.
Don't get me wrong, working hot steel is a passion for a lot of us smiths. We are going to do it until we can't lift a hammer anymore. If you are having fun that's what matters most. Just be safe and wear proper safety gear. I know what I wrote above sounds a bit negative in ways, but if you want to make quality cultery you need to practice with the appropriate steels. There is a whole lot more to the science than meets the average eye.
if you'd like to meet in person and get connected with several blade smiths and metal smiths, come up Trackrock for the Hammer-in. It's free and you can pick up some pretty good advice/skills at the same time. See a previous post for details.
Couple of things to remember:
>RxR spikes are made of low carbon steel (inspite of what all the hotdogs out there claim). Sure they can be hardened somewhat but not to decent knife specs.
>That being said you can get them to their highest hardness by using what we call a "Super Quench". You will get something fairly close to a cheap Walmart kitchen knife, just won't hold an edge long.
>They are good practice to learn hammer and heat control to develope good smithing skills. However, high carbon blade steels will not move under the hammer the same way.
>Lot of folks like them and they sell (if that's your intention). But if you want to eventually make quality working blades, you'll get better experience from working the high carbon steels and learn the ins/outs of thermal cycling and correct forging heats.
Don't get me wrong, working hot steel is a passion for a lot of us smiths. We are going to do it until we can't lift a hammer anymore. If you are having fun that's what matters most. Just be safe and wear proper safety gear. I know what I wrote above sounds a bit negative in ways, but if you want to make quality cultery you need to practice with the appropriate steels. There is a whole lot more to the science than meets the average eye.
if you'd like to meet in person and get connected with several blade smiths and metal smiths, come up Trackrock for the Hammer-in. It's free and you can pick up some pretty good advice/skills at the same time. See a previous post for details.
bigelow
Executive Chef at Billy's Bistro
Thanks I am using saltwater and dish soap quench with these. I moved up to NC I’ll see if I can get down that way.
bigelow
Executive Chef at Billy's Bistro
ol bob
Senior Member
You would do better using old American files than spikes.
bigelow
Executive Chef at Billy's Bistro
Billy slayers lives up the road from me I have spoken to him. He had given me a few tips here and there. He offers a class but I’m too cheap to pay
bigelow
Executive Chef at Billy's Bistro
Do you hammer old files or just grind?
Anvil Head
Senior Member
Don't know about Bob, but I forge all my blades to 90% finish. I did stock removal for 20 some odd years and got bored with it and tired of cleaning up all the powdered blade material on the floor. Been forging blades ever since.
Thing to remember with files - if you forge the blades be sure to grind down past the tooth cuts on the edge and up the sides 1/4" to prevent forging in cold shuts/stress runners along the blade's cutting edge.
If just grinding the blade to shape, it will go faster to anneal the file first - softer steel grinds easier and saves wear and tear on grinder wheel and/or belts. Use an warmed oil quench on high carbon steels. Water and the brine/soap quench are too severe.
If you are not sure as to the quality of a file, do tang snap test first. Heat tang to just above non-magnetic and quench just the file tang in water. Place the tang portion just off the edge of you anvil and tap with a hammer. If it breaks off clean like glass, the file has enough carbon to potentially make a good blade. If it bends the file is probably case hardened milder steel and not suitable. All files are not equal including some of the "Made in USA" ones. Always best to test up front before you do all the real work.
If you do make it down to TR, bring an old file or two and I'll show you what I mean. Pretty simple once you've done it a time or two. The snap test also works on most other "mystery" steels.
Thing to remember with files - if you forge the blades be sure to grind down past the tooth cuts on the edge and up the sides 1/4" to prevent forging in cold shuts/stress runners along the blade's cutting edge.
If just grinding the blade to shape, it will go faster to anneal the file first - softer steel grinds easier and saves wear and tear on grinder wheel and/or belts. Use an warmed oil quench on high carbon steels. Water and the brine/soap quench are too severe.
If you are not sure as to the quality of a file, do tang snap test first. Heat tang to just above non-magnetic and quench just the file tang in water. Place the tang portion just off the edge of you anvil and tap with a hammer. If it breaks off clean like glass, the file has enough carbon to potentially make a good blade. If it bends the file is probably case hardened milder steel and not suitable. All files are not equal including some of the "Made in USA" ones. Always best to test up front before you do all the real work.
If you do make it down to TR, bring an old file or two and I'll show you what I mean. Pretty simple once you've done it a time or two. The snap test also works on most other "mystery" steels.
Similar threads
