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I have heard that railroad spikes do not make good blades because the carbon content is low. There are some spikes that have high carbon but the majority are low carbon.

So two reasons why I wanted to make a spike knife

First I wanted to experience working at the forge and pounding steel. The second reason is a little longer to explain.

Back in the mid - 1980s I took a freight hopping trip across the U.S. We were gone for 30 days and made it as far as Missouri before we headed back.

Sunset from a box car

I had picked up a few railroad spikes along the way - I think in Omaha, Nebraska, my buddy asked me why was I carrying those heavy spikes around when I could easily pick them up in Roseville much closer to home.

Actually at the time I didn't have any idea why I was carrying them but 30 years later when I got into blade smithing that spike I picked up in Omaha, Nebraska made a nice commemorative blade.