Beginner Knife Making: Forging A railroad spike Seax and Tanto

Hello everyone and welcome to the forge, In this week's video I forge a couple of railroad spike knives I was asked to do by some viewers of the channel, One being a Western-style Tanto and the other being a Viking Seax-inspired knife. I hope this video inspires you to get out in the workshop and give these a try. As always I appreciate you watching and if you would hit that SUBSCRIBE button and RING the NOTIFICATION bell to be informed when my newest content posts. #knifemaking #railroadspikeknife #bladesmithing #forgedinfire #blacksmithing #metalart #steel
Purchase these knives on my ETSY store at www.etsy.com/shop/MysticMountainForge

[@bernardstevens3613]

Love to see your ART Work Matt! Thanks for Sharing!

[@Mysticmountainforge]

Thanks for checking it out, I appreciate it!

[@gregpassmore7716]

So cool, thanks Matt for making video, beautiful work

[@Mysticmountainforge]

Thanks! I appreciate you watching!

[@StrayWolfForge]

Thanks for the video, it helped me understand how the different blade shapes were forged.

[@Mysticmountainforge]

Thanks for checking it out, I appreciate it!

[@gurvinderkaur6996]

Beautiful knives. Clean bevels🔥🔥👍👍👍

[@Mysticmountainforge]

Thanks! I appreciate you checking it out!

[@morganselens4910]

i love them

[@user-fg8qn1ou7s]

It's very very good bro 👌👍

[@lawrenwimberly7311]

add some dawn dishwashing liquid: heat the water and add salt till it doesn't dissolve anymore... add about a tablespoon of dawn to the mix and let cool... it will gain you about 5-10 hrc on the finished knife... DONT temper... it isn't needed

[@Mysticmountainforge]

I will give this a try, I get really busy with rr spike knives around Christmas so I will give it a go for sure! I appreciate the tips and advice!

[@lawrenwimberly7311]

Love your work brother... even these simple knives

[@Mysticmountainforge]

Thanks, It was a fun little throwback to the earlier days when I first started out, brought back a lot of memories of my old coal forge. I have a sheepsfoot/Bull cutter I will be making next, then some more Damascus work coming up. I appreciate you watching!

[@rvsbladesnthangs]

Really cool

[@Mysticmountainforge]

Thanks, I appreciate you watching.

[@Anderson-HandForged]

Matt those came out great my buddy gave me a whole 5 gallon bucket of brand new RR spikes im gonna have to do some practicing i guess you have awesome skills Mark 😄👍

[@Mysticmountainforge]

Thanks! That is awesome, Gotta love working with rr spikes, they are one of my favorites to work with. I appreciate you watching!

[@citylotgardening6171]

Nice video 👍

[@Mysticmountainforge]

Thanks! I appreciate you watching.

[@SchysCraftCo.]

very nice job. Forge on. God bless.

[@Mysticmountainforge]

Thanks, you too!

[@lefebvrecedric8091]

❤ merci pour la démo de forge

[@Mysticmountainforge]

I appreciate you watching!

[@lawrenwimberly7311]

as someone who has been at this since 1983, I can say that your talent is pretty impressive, particularly given the tools you have available

[@Mysticmountainforge]

Thanks, I appreciate that, I always try to learn with every project.

[@stardusk1726]

I would love to see you forge weld an actual high carbon bit into a railroad spike. Iv been attempting to for a while with little to no success so seeing your way if doing it could help. And great video btw 👍

[@Mysticmountainforge]

Thanks! I appreciate you watching! I plan on doing that in the future, I have done it a few times but also had several failures as well.

[@lawrenwimberly7311]

an adjustable wrench works wonders for twisting... lot easier on the hands

[@Mysticmountainforge]

I have a few that are in storage from when I moved back from Alaska, i just haven't got around to getting them out, they do make a huge difference.

[@nuzumforge]

Nice work! I use the same water bucket 😂

[@Mysticmountainforge]

Thanks! They are the best buckets money can buy lol! I appreciate you watching!

[@lawrenwimberly7311]

if ya want a challenge, try forging the head of the spike back into the body without cold shuts... took me 5 spikes to do it without cheating... (spoiler) the trick is to round all of the edges of the head with a small light hammer first (tucking in the corners)

[@Mysticmountainforge]

I will definitley have to give that a try.

[@BubuH-cq6km]

😎 👍🏼

[@Mysticmountainforge]

Thanks for watching, I appreciate it!

[@douglasfathers4848]

👍🤠

[@Mysticmountainforge]

Thanks! I appreciate you watching!

[@drey4184]

What do you do with the blade after it’s all brushed clean? Won’t it rust pretty quickly after?

[@Mysticmountainforge]

I apply a light coat of oil or wax to it when I store it, also make sure to dry it really well after washing. I appreciate you watching!

[@drey4184]

@@Mysticmountainforge thanks for the reply! Big fan

[@jackarrows1436]

👀👍

[@Mysticmountainforge]

Thanks for checking it out, I appreciate it!

[@snarfsnarf911]

What grit belts do you initial use on the grinder and then what do you work up to? Thanks and awesome work!

[@Mysticmountainforge]

Thank you for watching, I greatly appreciate it! I start off with a worn 80 grit to grind in the edge and roughly establish the bevels, then I switch to a new 80 grit to even everything out. Then I do a 120 grit belt with my leather platen to help smooth everything then finish off with a maroon scotch scotchbrite belt.

[@snarfsnarf911]

Awesome! Thanks for the info. I’m new to this and I’ve been watching all your videos for guidance. So far yours are the best and explain the most! So thank you.

[@Georgij572]

А теперь вопрос на засыпку. Из какой стали делают эти гвозди? СТ3. Ну и зачем?

[@Mysticmountainforge]

Forging rr spike knives is extremely popular among beginners, and they are sought after here in the U.S. because people like to put them on display. I do not normally make them anymore as I try to mainly focus on known high carbon steel knives for customers, but I had several people asking me if I would forge a couple in these styles so they could see it done. Outside of novelty purposes they don't really have much of a place besides practice for forging a real blade without the concern of ruining good steel, like if you are trying out a new technique or something that your un familiar with. I appreciate you watching!

[@Georgij572]

@@Mysticmountainforge Ну да, сталь-то мягкая и изуродовать практически нереально, а добавив кусочек подшипника на лезвие можно и неплохой нож получить... Спасибо что ответили)

[@kenparnell4297]

I really don't know why anyone would even want a knife made from a RR spike. Those things are made from piss poor steel and the quality will never be any good.

[@Mysticmountainforge]

Most usually, from what I have seen is a lot of railroad workers end up buying them to have a novelty piece, outside of that they are good for forging practice.

[@BubuH-cq6km]

😎 👍🏼

[@Mysticmountainforge]

Thanks! I appreciate you watching!