Railroad Spike Knives

[dlr110]

Onearmbladejunkie those are great knives and I love the handles on them. You taught me something I didn't know about railroad spikes and the story about DR. Ray Rantanen priceless, thank you.

[Onearmbladejunkie]

Here is a neck knife made from a mine railroad spike. It was made by Ray Rantenan in Idaho. He is a PhD in metallurgy and works for NASA researching metal fatigue in space vehicles ? You get the idea. But he has also been forging knives & making his own Damascus since about 1980. He makes a range of Fixed Blades, including knives from railroad spikes he finds in his area including smaller spikes near old mining sites.
Here is a quote from his website discussing the carbon content in RR spikes:
"RR spikes vary a lot in the carbon content- I have found about 45 different spikes. I spark test them against known carbon content bars of carbon steel. They range from about .25% up to near .60%. By trying different quench mediums to harden them I have them able to cut through mild steel rivets on the anvil with no deformation or chipping. Of the thousands of RR spikes knives I have made- none have been reported not to do the job intended for them. The proof of any knife is if it performs for the job it was designed and hardened for. They also make excellent wood chisels and scorps for wood carving if tempered correctly. "

This one i have is 5" OAL, so quite small but feels fine in hand with a 3 finger grip and the blade & tip are sharp.
kj

I met Dr. Ray Rantanen on Evil-bay 2002. I own 5 knives from him now. I had a few stolen. I gave some away to the deserving. Dr. Ray is a character and a great man. He made his first knife in 1974. He read a few knife making books and he started getting at it. He is a self taught blade-smith/black-smith. He knows everything about metal and the effects of metal in outer space. He wrote the book on it. He hates Stainless steel ! He has never been to a knife show or watched any blade-smith make a knife. He will never sell a knife to a dealer. A dealer bugged him at a "Mountain Man Festival". A young boy pulled out $10 and said the he wanted a knife for his father. Dr. Ray told the child to pick one out. The child grabbed a $300 small Damascus knife. The dealer cussed out Dr. Ray for not selling him the entire collection.

[Onearmbladejunkie]

Railroad Spike Spatula

rantanen_spikespatula_t.jpg (28.41 KiB) Viewed 1656 times

[kootenay joe]

Good post about Ray R. and he is also part of NASA Space Program. Bit of a genius really.
kj

[dlr110]

Railroad Spike Spatula rantanen_spikespatula_t.jpg

That is too cool, I hope I run into some others like that. Thanks for sharing.