1. Blacksmithing How to make a knife from a Railroad Spike By Nick Ratliff

2. Materials Railroad Spike Welding Gloves Safety Glasses Blacksmithing Tongs (I used Vise-Grips) Ball-point Hammer Anvil (I used a sledge hammer) Forge (I used a gas burner) File or Grinder

4. Step 1: Place Railroad Spike into forge (if you have one). If you don’t have a forge, which happens to be expensive, you can use a gas burner and place the spike on the rails.

6. Step 2: Ignite the Forge or Gas Burner.

7. Step 3: Heat the Railroad Spike until it is reddened and hot enough to be malleable.

9. Step 4: Use Gloves and Vise-Grips to remove Railroad Spike from flames.

10. Step 5: Quickly place hot Railroad Spike onto Anvil (in my case, the sledge hammer).

11. Step 6: Use Vise-Grips to hold the Railroad Spike in place while using the Ball-point hammer to flatten the end of the Railroad Spike.

13. Continue Steps 3-6 until the Railroad Spike has reached the desired thickness for your knife. The following are some pictures of my experience with achieving the desired thickness.

15. Let me be the first to tell you that hammering hardened steel to flatten it is no easy task. It took several hours to achieve the thickness I wished for. By the time I was finished, I did not think I would be able to move my arm the next day.

16. Step 7: After you have hammered the metal down to the desired thickness, place the Railroad Spike into a bucket of water to finalize the thickness and shape of the blade.

17. Step 8: After you have achieved the desired thickness of your blade and cooled the metal then you are ready for the finishing touches. Use the File or Grinder to sharpen the blade and give it an edge.

19. Here is my finished knife: