# Forum Home Renovation Metalwork & Welding  Rail spikes?

## Moondog55

I see people selling these all the time on gumtree for what I consider ridiculous prices.
I was on my daily constitutional today and picked one up from the gutter. Is there anything special about the steel these are forged from that warrants the price being asked?
 I have a mate getting into making blades and I keep all my old files etc for him and if the spike is worth passing on I'll do so.
Down the track I may be able to get a new bigger khukri out of him

----------


## r3nov8or

Depends on the type of carbon steel it is (high carbon steel is best), but it looks like many are some variety of carbon steel  What Are Railroad Spike Made Out Of: the Material and Features

----------


## Bros

We used to use them in pata nosta rigs for reef fishing. I think they would be scarce now due to machine laying of railway lines. 
We used to call them dog spikes

----------


## Marc

Railroad spikes are overrated. Modern day hobby bladesmith, prefer to use recycled steel of unknown origin to buying a known variety of steel. False economy for what a puny bit of steel is worth. 1055 or 1075 can be had for $30 a meter of 3.2 x 38 ... 1045 even cheaper. or if you really need to scrunge, go to a car wrecker and buy a bundle of car springs for very little. 
Railroad spikes can be bashed into a knife of sorts in a way that the overall shape is recognisable. If you like that, you will get something that is low carbon and you can say it is from a spike. Some do look cool, but to me, a knife needs to cut and keep it's edge, something that low carbon steel does not. 
In my opinion anyway.

----------


## toooldforthis

> I see people selling these all the time on gumtree for what I consider ridiculous prices.
> I was on my daily constitutional today and picked one up from the gutter. Is there anything special about the steel these are forged from that warrants the price being asked?
>  I have a mate getting into making blades and I keep all my old files etc for him and if the spike is worth passing on I'll do so.
> Down the track I may be able to get a new bigger khukri out of him

  lol, yep. I have a few from digging post holes on my block - backs onto a disused track that used to service a granite quarry.
my original fence posts, still a few left upright, are cut down railway track. posts were probably put in the early 60s. 
as to the worth of dog spikes?
many decades back I was ensconced in a house sit in FNQ.
the back streets were littered with coconuts that had fallen from the trees.
on the main drag into town kids sold these coconuts to the tourists for quite a price.

----------

