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How to Forge a Railroad Spike Axe (by thepxsmith) Smash the point into the shaft. Keep smashing. Try to keep it from bending while smashing. When you get to 4”-4.5” you can stop smashing (Your forearms will be super tight and your fingers curled permanently around your hammer by now). Make a slit in the top side. I use a slot punch, usually takes 3-4 heat cycles for me to get it through. Drift the hole out just a wee bit. No need to get crazy here, we will come back and refine this later. Flip it back to the side and hammer the “ears” down a little. This will also open the drift hole more so be subtle. Work the inside over the horn or some other smaller round bar to create the starting indentation for the beard. Continue to heat and work that beard. Use the cross-peen hammer to start fanning out the edge shape. Before the edge is thinned all the way beat that beard down in from the top to curl it inward. Keep the inside shape cleaned up over the horn. Once you have your blade/edge shape 95% finished go back into the eye and spread it the remainder of the way. Clean up the ears and then align the edge over the center using your final drift and a vice. Grind it, sand it, polish and buff to your hearts content. Remember: Whatever you do to one side of the axe you must do to the other. I even keep track of my hammer blows so I know what to replicate on the other side. Keep things aligned as you go. It takes time and patience but keeping it where you want it will help you finish it balanced and symmetrical. Use the proper tongs/tools. I use three different tongs to make mine: Gooseneck V-Bit Tongs Railroad Spike Tongs Bent Long Reach Pliers

I'm not sure this will work. I've lost power at the house and only have my phone on mobile data....... There was a question about how to grind the bevels in a clipped point on a Bowie knife on another forum especially a curved clip and I put together a short video of how I do this. The video is about 18 minutes long, but the grinding is less than 10 minutes. In a short time, I take the bevels from zero to 220 grit.