Cool experiment, I have a bag of spikes I will go through and see if I can find any markings and then see what I can do with them. Worth a shot to learn something not many know!
i honestly have no idea, its been a hot minute. but it looks like i "blue backed" it. i probably should have done a proper 2 2hour oven cycles for better variable control.
In my experience, carbon from the cast will migrate into the steel. It works the same when mig welding cast iron. The bead turns out much harder than the cast. How far that carbon travels into the parent metal is the variable. Interesting experiment, I'll have to play with that. Thank you.
That was a cool video and process to watch. You may very well be onto something. I also assume that wants you ground an edge you would lose all of your high carbon. Maybe at heat it absorbed just enough from the cast iron
Sully, Chandler Dicknson made a RR spike knife that passed the ABS test for Journeyman Smith. Check him out, he doesn't post on RUclips anymore but his videos may still be up.
Who'd have thought? The added carbon from the welded cast iron increased the carbon content all over the spike? Maybe the carbon from the cast bled into the spike. It may not have needed to move far. Thinking of electron transfer or water in a sponge, since mild steel already has carbons mixed between irons, The whole sponge just moved its waters around to make room for the next drop? Hopefully I made sense enough. Still.... IMPRESSIVE! Deeper than than just "case hardened," too.
I was hoping for something akin to case hardening but with a much shorter time frame and energy expenditure involved. The results of this little experiment surprised me.
I think you're onto something. Cut grooves in the edge in a cross-check pattern.then buy just straight 1095 steel powder and melt that in. I guess you could add borax if you want.....I like it off the box
I think the borax is essential. It's hot metal glue. Lol no really, layer to stick the powder to and a layer to cover the powder so it doesn't just burn up or get blown off. I've got some 1095.🤔
It has nothing to do with hardening. The reason people say it is because you need a minimum of .8 carbon to make an effective edged weapon. The highest RR spikes are the ones they use for turns and they are only .3. .3 is considered high carbon in the normal world but for edged weapons it is insufficient. Forge On!!!
It’s always been controversial some say you can harden some say you can’t obviously you’ve shown you can I’ve heard that spike driven into the turns in the track are harder to withstand more pressure and I know or at least have been told Aussie spikes are closer to a 1050 or so. Personally I’m of the opinion that it’s possible to a certain degree with some but don’t rely upon it because every spike is different
Some people say a RR spike is made of hot dog steel where other say they are made of a very specific recipe. There are regular spikes and there are those that are marked "HC" In the time that I have been forging I have had several spike knives skate a file. Not often but a few and I didn't put anything on them to cause a hardened difference. Your guess is as good as mine. Some harden and some don't and you may well have case hardened them which answers your question but doesn't explain what happened with me.
This one was not marked HC I picked it out on purpose I also heated it and quenched it first before I even twisted it to check if it would resemble any hardness by itself. I missed the record button on that shot.... It did not skate a file in the first attempt. I apologise for omitting that bit of information. I kinda forgot about it being relevant
@@TAS1303 All good Sully. I think I'm going to try making some of that iron and flux and giving it a shot. That's really got me curious. Stay cool brother!
I had really good results with iron mountain/cast powder/iron mountain layers. But the 50/50 mix of powder and flux worked as well. The 1040/45 scam shavings lost all their carbon and sparked like mild after the fact sooo. Yeah man Do it!
Sully NYE the science guy lol love ya man always pushing the boundaries
Cool experiment, I have a bag of spikes I will go through and see if I can find any markings and then see what I can do with them. Worth a shot to learn something not many know!
Good Sir.. you have opened up, a wild can of worms, on this one. Rock on!. I'll be in touch 👍⚒️😀🍺♥️
I've seen so many rr spire knifes on the internet, that it seems really strange to think they are not hardenable
What was your temper process on it at the end there?
i honestly have no idea, its been a hot minute. but it looks like i "blue backed" it. i probably should have done a proper 2 2hour oven cycles for better variable control.
Great video bud!
In my experience, carbon from the cast will migrate into the steel. It works the same when mig welding cast iron. The bead turns out much harder than the cast. How far that carbon travels into the parent metal is the variable. Interesting experiment, I'll have to play with that. Thank you.
Old RR spikes are high carbon they have a HC stamped in to them the new ones are not and I’ve hardened several old ones
That was a cool video and process to watch. You may very well be onto something. I also assume that wants you ground an edge you would lose all of your high carbon. Maybe at heat it absorbed just enough from the cast iron
Sully, Chandler Dicknson made a RR spike knife that passed the ABS test for Journeyman Smith. Check him out, he doesn't post on RUclips anymore but his videos may still be up.
Yep I've seen his stuff from about three years ago till he quit. Didn't watch that one tho and never really delved into his back catalog
Who'd have thought? The added carbon from the welded cast iron increased the carbon content all over the spike? Maybe the carbon from the cast bled into the spike. It may not have needed to move far. Thinking of electron transfer or water in a sponge, since mild steel already has carbons mixed between irons, The whole sponge just moved its waters around to make room for the next drop? Hopefully I made sense enough. Still.... IMPRESSIVE! Deeper than than just "case hardened," too.
I was hoping for something akin to case hardening but with a much shorter time frame and energy expenditure involved. The results of this little experiment surprised me.
I think you're onto something. Cut grooves in the edge in a cross-check pattern.then buy just straight 1095 steel powder and melt that in. I guess you could add borax if you want.....I like it off the box
I think the borax is essential. It's hot metal glue. Lol no really, layer to stick the powder to and a layer to cover the powder so it doesn't just burn up or get blown off. I've got some 1095.🤔
@@TAS1303 I'm telling Roy you love flux 😂😂
It has nothing to do with hardening. The reason people say it is because you need a minimum of .8 carbon to make an effective edged weapon. The highest RR spikes are the ones they use for turns and they are only .3. .3 is considered high carbon in the normal world but for edged weapons it is insufficient.
Forge On!!!
It’s always been controversial some say you can harden some say you can’t obviously you’ve shown you can I’ve heard that spike driven into the turns in the track are harder to withstand more pressure and I know or at least have been told Aussie spikes are closer to a 1050 or so. Personally I’m of the opinion that it’s possible to a certain degree with some but don’t rely upon it because every spike is different
Some people say a RR spike is made of hot dog steel where other say they are made of a very specific recipe. There are regular spikes and there are those that are marked "HC" In the time that I have been forging I have had several spike knives skate a file. Not often but a few and I didn't put anything on them to cause a hardened difference. Your guess is as good as mine. Some harden and some don't and you may well have case hardened them which answers your question but doesn't explain what happened with me.
This one was not marked HC I picked it out on purpose I also heated it and quenched it first before I even twisted it to check if it would resemble any hardness by itself. I missed the record button on that shot.... It did not skate a file in the first attempt. I apologise for omitting that bit of information. I kinda forgot about it being relevant
@@TAS1303 All good Sully. I think I'm going to try making some of that iron and flux and giving it a shot. That's really got me curious. Stay cool brother!
I had really good results with iron mountain/cast powder/iron mountain layers. But the 50/50 mix of powder and flux worked as well. The 1040/45 scam shavings lost all their carbon and sparked like mild after the fact sooo. Yeah man Do it!