If you've ever walked together an old monitor or spent time in a metalworking shop, you've probably wondered what type of steel is a railroad spike and when it's actually any good intended for making tools. It's a classic issue for anyone getting into blacksmithing or even just folks who like tinkering along with old industrial hardware. There's something unquestionably cool about these chunky, rusted bits of Americana, but when you get right down to the metallurgy, the answer isn't as straightforward as "it's just hard steel. "
Within reality, railroad surges are designed regarding a very specific job, and that job dictates precisely what they're produced of. They aren't meant to be knives or chisels; they're designed to hold wooden ties in position whilst thousands of lots of freight scream over them from sixty miles per hour. Because of that, the biochemistry and biology of the steel is a little bit of a bargain between strength and flexibility.
The Two Main Categories of Spikes
Most of the period, whenever we talk regarding what type of steel is a railroad spike, we're looking at two different grades. If you look at the particular head of a modern spike, you'll often see a few letters stamped straight into the metal. These types of aren't just randomly marks; they tell you exactly what you're holding.
The most typical spikes you'll find are what the calls "low carbon" or "standard" spikes. These are essentially mild steel. They're tough, they're cheap to create, and they will can take a beating without taking. However, they don't have enough carbon inside them to really harden through high temperature treating.
Then you have the ones that enthusiasts go crazy with regard to: the "HC" surges. The HC stands intended for High Carbon , but here's the particular kicker—"high carbon" within the railroad industry isn't the same factor as high-carbon within the knife-making entire world. In the entire world of trains, a good HC spike is actually nearer to what a bladesmith would call medium carbon steel.
Let's Talk Figures: The Carbon Articles
To really realize what type of steel is a railroad spike, all of us have to look at the carbon dioxide percentages. Most regular spikes sit somewhere around the 1030 grade of steel . What this means is they have regarding 0. 30% co2. Within the grand scheme of things, that's pretty low. It's great for a spike because it makes the particular metal "ductile. " If a train shift causes a tie to maneuver, a low-carbon spike can bend rather than split. If it were brittle, it would snap under the pressure, and that's how you get a derailment.
The HC spikes are usually nearer to 1040 or 1050 steel . These have roughly zero. 40% to 0. 50% carbon. While that's a large jump from the regular version, it's still nowhere near the 1080 or 1095 steel used for high-end kitchen knives or industrial files.
So, if you're planning upon forging a searching knife out of one, you need to manage your expectations. It'll look good, it'll feel solid, but it's never ever going to keep a razor edge like a piece of dedicated tool steel would. It's simply not in its DNA.
Precisely why Copper is the Secret Ingredient
One thing a lot of people miss when requesting what type of steel is a railroad spike is the presence of other elements such as copper. Believe this or not, several railroad spikes consist of a small amount of copper—usually around 0. 20%.
Why? Because spikes spend their entire lives outside in the rain, snow, and humidity. Copper is added to help the steel resist atmospheric deterioration. It's not plenty of to generate them "rust-proof, " obviously, since anyone who has seen a pile of aged spikes knows they will turn orange fairly fast. But the particular copper helps make a protective layer of oxidation that slows down the particular deeper, more structural rotting of the particular metal.
The Forging Encounter
If you're a blacksmith, working with railroad spike steel is actually a lot of enjoyable. Because it's fairly low in co2, it's very "forgiving. " You can heat it up, defeat it in good working condition, and you don't have to worry too much about it cracking or even crumbling if your temperatures isn't perfect.
If you shift up to higher-carbon steels, you have got to be a lot more careful with your "soak times" and your cooling rates. But with a railroad spike? It's basically the "gateway drug" of blacksmithing. It's easy to move under the hammer, and it's plentiful. You can find them at flea markets or antique shops for a buck or 2, making them the particular perfect canvas for practicing your sludge hammer technique.
Can You Actually Solidify a Railroad Spike?
This is where the controversy gets heated within online forums. People need to know if they will can "quench" a spike to be able to very difficult. The short solution is: sort of.
In case you have a good HC spike (the 1045-ish variety), you can get this hard enough to hold a good edge for lighting work. If you quench it within water or brine (saltwater), you'll obtain a much quicker cooling rate than you would along with oil. This "shocks" the carbon into a harder crystalline structure.
However, even at its absolute toughest, a railroad spike is still likely to be "soft" compared to a professional knife. If you attempt to cut a piece of hardwood or whittle with regard to three hours, you're going to be sharpening that spike knife every twenty minutes. But for a letter opener, a display piece, or a simple camping knife that will you don't thoughts touching up, it works just fine.
Wrought Iron: The Ghost of the particular Past
In case you happen to find a really, really old spike—maybe something from the mid-1800s—you might not be looking at steel with all. Back in the time, spikes were usually made of wrought iron .
Wrought iron is a completely different beast. This has almost no co2 but contains "slag" fibers (silicates) that give it a grain almost like wood. If a person etch a classic wrought iron spike in acid, you'll discover beautiful, flowing patterns. Collectors and expensive blacksmiths love finding these because they can use the older iron as a "cladding" for contemporary steel blades, developing a look that's just like Damascus steel.
But with regard to the modern things you see stacked up by the side of the songs today, it's definitely going to be some form of carbon steel.
A Quick Note on Safety plus Legality
I'd be doing you a disservice in case I didn't talk about this: don't move picking up surges from active railroad tracks. It might seem harmless in order to grab one lying down in the pea gravel, but in a lot of places, that's theoretically trespassing and thievery of railroad house. More importantly, those spikes are available for a reason. Even the ones that look loose could be component of the structural integrity of the particular line.
If you want spikes to try out around with inside your make, check out scrap yards, antique malls, or online retailers. You can generally buy a container of them for very little money, and you won't possess to worry regarding a freight teach (or a deputy) coming around the bend.
The results
So, what type of steel is a railroad spike? It's a low-to-medium carbon structural steel , specifically engineered for toughness and stoß resistance.
Whether it's a standard 1030-grade spike or an "HC" 1045-grade version, it's a piece of metal that tells a story. It's not meant to be a high-performance alloy, plus it's never going to win any awards regarding edge retention. But as an item of history plus a versatile materials for the enthusiast, it's hard to beat. It's tough, it's reliable, and it's a hell of a great deal of fun in order to add in a forge and find out what you can turn it straight into.