Spike Knives (Hand Made) for BTC

[aahzmundus]

I have a few friends who make knives out of railroad spikes, these knives take hours to make and are crazy sharp when finished.  I am currently not in the capacity to sell these but  am wondering if anyone would be interested in a knife like this, depending on the market interest I may have him make a few to sell.  The cost would be between 10-15 btc with shipping to the US and a leather sheath at current prices (around there).  Not sure how international shipping would work, maybe it could fly as a "small artistic sculpture".

These knives are forged and then grounded down and polished to an extent depending on the desired look.

Check out the pictures http://imgur.com/a/qP08d

[Nefario]

Nice.

[RonnieP]

Very nice. Xmas is so far away....

[aahzmundus]

Sure the knives are nice, but would you be willing to pay 10btc for one?  The main reason for the cost is they are hand forged by a team of 2 people in a forge we made over many hours...  then they are twisted for the handle (really hard to get it set in the vice fast before it cools). Then they are ground to a blade, then polished.  Material cost is mostly propane fuel but the time cost is immense.  These are just some of the first blades made, more recent blades are higher quality as we figured out stuff more.

If interested in the process to make them check out the guys YouTube channel. http://www.youtube.com/user/hanzokendo#p/c/93941EEBE8B64D1A/11/P8QuFogYqns

[RonnieP]

Sure the knives are nice, but would you be willing to pay 10btc for one?  The main reason for the cost is they are hand forged by a team of 2 people in a forge we made over many hours...  then they are twisted for the handle (really hard to get it set in the vice fast before it cools). Then they are ground to a blade, then polished.  Material cost is mostly propane fuel but the time cost is immense. 

I totally think it is worth what you are asking, but personally I can't commit to buying one right now. If you were still selling them in a couple of months I probably will. I like the first one with less twists in the handle better fyi but that is just me.

[rezin777]

Interesting artwork. The buyer should understand that's all it is, and it isn't described here, that the steel used in railroad spikes makes for a poor knife, as far as a quality tool is concerned.

[bitjet]

Interesting artwork. The buyer should understand that's all it is, and it isn't described here, that the steel used in railroad spikes makes for a poor knife, as far as a quality tool is concerned.

Depends what you are using it for. Some spikes are actually high carbon steel but those are very few. Most are low carbon, mild steel. These knives wont keep an edge under any hard use, normal use will require frequent sharpening. You could cut in and weld in a piece of high carbon steel like a bandsaw or sawzall bade to make this a more resilient knife that will hold its edge.

[aahzmundus]

Interesting artwork. The buyer should understand that's all it is, and it isn't described here, that the steel used in railroad spikes makes for a poor knife, as far as a quality tool is concerned.

Depends what you are using it for. Some spikes are actually high carbon steel but those are very few. Most are low carbon, mild steel. These knives wont keep an edge under any hard use, normal use will require frequent sharpening. You could cut in and weld in a piece of high carbon steel like a bandsaw or sawzall bade to make this a more resilient knife that will hold its edge.

Very true, and some spikes are High carbon... and those are the ones we use.  If the spike isn't too warn you can see the markings on the head of it that will tell you what they are made of.

But yes, for any serious use these wouldn't be good.  But we have done some simple wood carving with them and it works out fine.  Turns out when you have a bad ass knife you almost want to sharpen it all the time so its not a problem

[TTBit]

How much does one weigh? The 2nd picture looks more like a letter opener.

[aahzmundus]

How much does one weigh? The 2nd picture looks more like a letter opener.

Well no material is added to or removed from the railroad spike... so I would assume about the same.  (I am not sure on how the forging process may change weight if at all, as there is some stuff that comes off as it oxidizes).  I will get in touch with the guys that make them and ask them to weigh it.

[bitjet]

How much does one weigh? The 2nd picture looks more like a letter opener.

Well no material is added to or removed from the railroad spike... so I would assume about the same.  (I am not sure on how the forging process may change weight if at all, as there is some stuff that comes off as it oxidizes).  I will get in touch with the guys that make them and ask them to weigh it.

there will be no significant change in overall weight.

[TTBit]

How much does one weigh? The 2nd picture looks more like a letter opener.

Well no material is added to or removed from the railroad spike... so I would assume about the same.  (I am not sure on how the forging process may change weight if at all, as there is some stuff that comes off as it oxidizes).  I will get in touch with the guys that make them and ask them to weigh it.

Sorry, my question was how big/heavy is a railroad spike? 10" and 1-2 pounds? I can't really tell from the photos if its the size/weight of scissors or the size/weight of a hammer.

Are you taking orders?

I'll pay 25btc for 2.
Also, request you take a before, a few during, and after photos. I think these would be a cool gift.

[aahzmundus]

How much does one weigh? The 2nd picture looks more like a letter opener.

Well no material is added to or removed from the railroad spike... so I would assume about the same.  (I am not sure on how the forging process may change weight if at all, as there is some stuff that comes off as it oxidizes).  I will get in touch with the guys that make them and ask them to weigh it.

Sorry, my question was how big/heavy is a railroad spike? 10" and 1-2 pounds? I can't really tell from the photos if its the size/weight of scissors or the size/weight of a hammer.

Are you taking orders?

I'll pay 25btc for 2.
Also, request you take a before, a few during, and after photos. I think these would be a cool gift.

Ill try and find out some specifics today for you, he is not yet awake and we both just moved into our first houses so he has to re set up his forge.

He actually makes YouTube videos of the process of forging, not sure if he has any specifically about the spike knives but there are other works on his page.  Check him out! http://www.youtube.com/user/hanzokendo#p/a/B56FF8085F1ECF74/0/x8Pv_G1uaYs

I will let him know about your offer, i know he has a few made for sale already and I will try and get pictures of those for you.

[Thor]

I am a blacksmith and take great issue with any railroad spikes being referred to as "high carbon".  They simply are not.

What the railroads refer to as "high carbon steel" spikes are simply slightly higher carbon than the standard spikes. The vast majority of railroad spike manufacturers mean 1020 steel when they say "high carbon".  A very few go up to 1030 which is still very mild steel, and they usually don't use makers marks any more, so knowing whether you have a 1020 or a 1030 requires very expensive carbon content testing.

A decent all purpose knife is at least XX50, and fine blades are XX75 - XX90 or special tool steels.

I make railroad spike knives as well, but would never sell them for ~$80, and would never claim they were high carbon, though I always use HC spikes to make the blades with, and use a superquench or brine solution in order to make them as decent a blade as possible.  These are mostly art pieces, and if you're expecting a top notch hand forged blade, you will be disappointed.

I do not intend to derail this thread, and am glad that people are selling more things for bitcoins, but I do not like people being misled or lied to within the context of one of my passions.

[aahzmundus]

I am a blacksmith and take great issue with any railroad spikes being referred to as "high carbon".  They simply are not.

What the railroads refer to as "high carbon steel" spikes are simply slightly higher carbon than the standard spikes. The vast majority of railroad spike manufacturers mean 1020 steel when they say "high carbon".  A very few go up to 1030 which is still very mild steel, and they usually don't use makers marks any more, so knowing whether you have a 1020 or a 1030 requires very expensive carbon content testing.

A decent all purpose knife is at least XX50, and fine blades are XX75 - XX90 or special tool steels.

I make railroad spike knives as well, but would never sell them for ~$80, and would never claim they were high carbon, though I always use HC spikes to make the blades with, and use a superquench or brine solution in order to make them as decent a blade as possible.  These are mostly art pieces, and if you're expecting a top notch hand forged blade, you will be disappointed.

I do not intend to derail this thread, and am glad that people are selling more things for bitcoins, but I do not like people being misled or lied to within the context of one of my passions.

Good info, again I am not the one that may be selling these so I don't know everything about them.  I only said that we use the HC variety of railroad spike.  If I am unclear on anything please let me clarify.  As stated in the OP this thread was to gauge interest (and it looks like we have some).  I have another thread where I sell chainmail (that I make myself) and i figured maybe I would set up a shop to sell metal-craft type stuff... who knows.

The guy that makes these doesn't even know about bitcoin... he is an artist working as a cook who is trying to support a young family and i thought maybe the bitcoin marketplace would be good for him.  Always good to have more things for sale that accept bitcoin.

[bitjet]

I make railroad spike knives as well, but would never sell them for ~$80, and would never claim they were high carbon, though I always use HC spikes to make the blades with, and use a superquench or brine solution in order to make them as decent a blade as possible.  These are mostly art pieces, and if you're expecting a top notch hand forged blade, you will be disappointed.

Ah just forge weld a piece of 1080 in the edge of your stock and your golden.

[TTBit]

You can still kill a guy with them, right?

[Lilium]

You can still kill a guy with them, right?

I suppose the railroad spike itself would already be more than sufficient. 

[sc8nt4u]

FYI:

<0.25% Low carbon steel
0.30%-0.60% Medium carbon steel
>0.70% High carbon Steel

You can tell how much carbon is in the 10xx steel series by the last two digits. The final strength of the steel will be determined by how it's being quenched and tempered.

[ColdHardMetal]

You can still kill a guy with them, right?

LOL I was just thinking that same thing: "Looks sharp enough to get inside me, which ought to be good enough..."