January Forgings – Rebar Fire Tools, Railroad Spike Knives

Tempering Colors Railroad Spike Knives

We’ve been busy at the Forge this month making S hooks, J hooks, Rebar Fire Tools, and Railroad Spike Knives. The knives pictured above were hand-hammered from old rusty railroad spikes, ground into shape, polished with emory paper, hardened, tempered, and finally sharpened.

You can see photos from the process below.

Hand Forging a Railroad Spike Knife

First, we got the spike up to an even heat. By keeping the heat even throughout the piece of metal, we’re able to control where the metal goes a little better.

You can see videos of the process on Brown County Forge’s YouTube channel.

To hammer thick steel like this, we use a much heavier hammer than we normally would. In this case, we’re using a 4 lb. cross peen instead of the standard 2.5 lb.

Railroad Spike Knife Shaping - Brown County Forge

Once the basic shape of the knife (plus a twist in the handle) is done, there’s a fair amount of grinding work and polishing to give it the final shape. Aaron’s knife has a large sweeping belly and a drop tip.

Tempering Colors Railroad Spike Knives

After the knife is shaped, we bring it back up to a red-hot heat and quench it in oil. This hardens the knife and makes it fairly brittle. The knives are set aside to cool completely before we polish them a second time.

This second polish is done so the shiny metal shows through. This makes it easier to see the color change as we carefully heat it up to temper it. In the picture above you notice a slight wheat color in the blades. This is a good level of temper for a knife blade.

Finished Railroad Spike Knives

And finally we have the finished blades all polished, sharpened, and ready to go.

Next up:

Rebar Fire Tools and Forging with Family

Father and Son Class

Earlier in the month, we had Jerry and Chris out to the forge to learn some of the fundamentals. We made some S hooks that you can see below.

S Hooks Brown County Forge

We also made J hooks and rebar fire tools including a scrolled fire rake and poker. Working with rebar can be a challenge since it’s much denser than the mild steel we use for hooks. It takes a lot of high-heat hammering to get it to move the way you want. Jerry and Chris did a great job and got results.

Rebar Fire Tools Brown County Forge

That’s what we’ve been up to in January so far. If you’re interested in classes we just made more times available. Check out the Classes page.  

Friday Night Forging and New Class Offerings

Brown County Forge Lessons

This past Friday night, we had a Brown County native in the shop learning the fundamentals. Ethan had never swung a hammer at hot metal in his life, but by the end of the three-hour private class he showed a real knack for it.

In the top picture, he’s fine-tuning a scroll at the end of what will eventually be an S hook. The S hook is a great beginning project because it involves a variety of techniques.

BC Forge Hammering

To make a single S hook, you’ll have to taper or draw out the metal, scroll it multiple times, quench it multiple times, and make nice, fluid bends. Since the S hook has two ends, that’s double the practice. Repeating those motions pays off quickly, too. There was a huge improvement from one end of the S hook to the next.

Here’s what Ethan created at the shop:

BC Forge Getting Results

Great Job, Ethan!

Sunday Class Times Now Available

Your interest in the Saturday classes encouraged us to make Sundays available for lessons as well. You can now book the forge either day.

If you’re not ready to do a full class, that’s okay. Come stop by for 2 or 3 hours like Ethan did and create something.

Thanks for stopping by. Let’s get forging!