David Croyle

#PhotoOfTheDay is a sort of before-and-after photo of my railroad spike knife alongside a typical old and rusted spike as the "before" image. Many used spikes are in worse condition and may be bent, gouged, more heavily corroded, etc. Starting with one of the better ones simplifies the process a little.

#phto #photography #blacksmithing #maker

Apr 13 at 7:14pmWeb
Show threadAnkh-Morpork Parks and Rec 🌱1d ago
@croyle wow, sir
Show threadraph f4lub1d ago
@croyle I used to have the french version of the initial material... which is screw.
Show threadDavid Croyle1d ago
@F4LUB Interesting!
Show threadJeff1d ago
@croyle Very nice!! I expected railroad spike knives would be shorter, but I guess you get more length when you flatten them out.
Show threadDavid Croyle1d ago
@unicycle Exactly, The blade on this one is pretty thick too, so it it were more like a typical blade thickness it would have turned out longer still. Also, the angle on this photo exaggerates the blade length on this example.
Show threadEllipsis... 🇨🇦1d ago
@croyle do you know what sort of steel it is? Does it have enough carbon to harden?
Show threadDavid Croyle1d ago
@tobiaspatton Railroad spikes can be different types of steel. All are lower carbon than typical blade steels, so while they will harden up they will still be softer than a normal knife. That's one reason I left the blade on this one pretty thick.