[TheForge] Dispelling Myths about Railroad Spike Steel

Sat May 3 14:56:00 2003

Dave:  A good bit of information.....I was also told by one engineer that
carbon was added to RR spikes to make them better resist deformation by
power-driven hammers.

My experiments with HC spikes revealed that they are only slightly
hardenable.  Maximum hardness was achieved with a room temp water quench.
Even then, the hardness did not approach  that of oil quenched tool steel.
The  HC spikes at 30 points carbon would not allow much hardening, according
to conventional practice, which has been borne out by observation.

Still, RR spikes make decent BBQ tools and slag hammers. , compared with
1018 HR.
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Dave Brown" <[email protected]>
To: "TheForge" <[email protected]>
Sent: Saturday, May 03, 2003 9:21 AM
Subject: [TheForge] Dispelling Myths about Railroad Spike Steel

> The following post was made by Mike Blue, a knife maker and member of the
> Guild of Metalsmiths over in Minnesota.  Because of the number of times
the
> topic of railroad spikes comes up here I thought it appropriate to spread
> his post around.
>
> So without further ado, here 'tis
>
> Dave Brown
>
****************************************************************************
**
> >I want to post this small essay for two reasons. There is some continuing
> >pressure to maintain a myth about the steel content of track spikes. And,
> >I was wrong about the markings and steel numbers I quoted to a fellow at
> >the NMM conference this weekend. I want to dispel myths with hard science
> >and publicly apologize for both of those errors.
> >
> >I received back a fax from a fellow working for Wellington Industries, a
> >division of Sheffield Steel.
> >According to the American Railway Engineering Association's
Specifications
> >for Soft-Steel Track Spikes. Original document, 1926, revised last in
> >1968. Two classes of track spikes are given specifications. Two sizes of
> >track spike are identified, one of 5/8 inch square shaft and one of 9/16
inch.
> >
> >The AREA document identifies both low carbon and high carbon spike
> >specifications.
> >
> >Page 5-2-1. "A low carbon track spike will not contain greater than 0.12%
> >carbon nor greater than 0.20% copper. Page 5-2-2. Section 6a. Bending
> >properties: The body of a full size finished spike shall stand being bent
> >cold through 180 degrees flat on itself without cracking on the outside
> >portion of the bent portion. Page 5-2-2 Section 11. Marking. A letter or
> >brand indicating the manufacturer shall be pressed on the head of each
> >spike while it is being formed. When copper is specified, the letters
"CU"
> >shall be added.
> >Page 5-2-3: Specifications for high carbon steel track spikes 1968.
Carbon
> >not greater than 0.30%, nor greater than 0.20% copper. Page 5-2-4.
Section
> >6a. Bending properties: The body of a full size finished spike shall
stand
> >being bent cold through 120 degrees around a pin, the diameter of which
is
> >not greater than the thickness of the spike without cracking on the
> >outside portion of the bent portion. Page 5-2-5 Section 11. Marking: A
> >letter or brand indicating manufacturer and also the letters "HC"
> >indicating high carbon, shall be pressed on the head of each spike while
> >it is being formed. When copper is specified, the letters "CU" shall be
added."
> >
> >The supplemental fax from the Wellington fellow indicates, "Because of
the
> >bending tests required, the carbon content will not be greater than
> >0.30%.  After all, brittle spikes would not be desirable as a track
spike.
> >A bent spike still holds the rail while a fractured spike would not. The
> >consequences for the industry would be too great to consider. However, we
> >refer to them as high carbon, they are not within the range of steels
> >known as high carbon or hypereutectoid according to the steel industry
> >standards, and have not been since at least 1926, when most track spikes
> >were previously manufactured from wrought iron."
> >
> >I am satisfied since I have learned something different from what I had
> >assumed. I hope this information can be incorporated into the body of
> >knowledge of bladesmithing.
> >
> >With what I have learned about the superquench solutions, it may be
> >possible to harden a track spike and make a knife from it. I have my
> >doubts about whether it will survive the bending test listed above.
> >
> >Mike Blue
>
>
>
> Dave Brown
> Heritage Smithing
> Green Bay, WI
> ABANA, UMBA, GoM, MODA, ARG
>
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