Railroad Spikes for knives?
Railroad Spikes make some great looking knives. Unfortunately they are not made of good quality steel. They are very low in carbon and therefore do not harden when heat treated. They do get harder but no where near the hardness needed for a quality knife. Use them and make knives out of them, I do but be sure your customers know that they are novelty items only and should be displayed or used as letter openers. They are a cheap source of steel for forging practice. There are some marked with HC on the head and it is claimed that they are high carbon but they are still not as high as good quality knife steel.
