Steel Questions

[ETX Chartaine]

Greetings all!

 

I just returned from Illinois, the Land of Lincoln. This was my first trip to this state, so I was taking in as much of it as I could.

 

Behind my sister-in-law's house there ran an old rail line. The tracks had been pulled up and likely used about 500 yards away on the new lines, but they had left a TON of steel pieces laying in the dirt. I will post pictures, but I was wondering if anyone can pick out steel types from the following descriptions.

 

I found about 20-30 "J" shaped pieces. Total length from tip to tip was about 7-9 inches, and they resembled large candy canes ... no they are not striped .

 

If turned on their side, they have a "T" shaped cross section.

 

Anyone know of what I speak? (pictures will follow)

 

Also, does anyone know what steel is in the rail plates (like the ones they hold the rails in place with) is also?

Edited March 18, 2008 by ETX Chartaine

[Donald Babcock]

Well, I know what you are referring to but I don't know what they are called or what type of steel it is. Sorry that I couldn't be of any help to you.

[tell]

They sound like rail Spikes ( dog's ) used to hold the rail to the sleepers they would be spring steel good for blades but will full temper in oil ( old sump oil or Auto gearbox oil this has a high flash point ) dont even think of trying to get a hamon and will most likley crack in a water Quench , there is a post somplace on this very topic ,

 

 

cheers tell

[Matthew McKenzie]

there is a post somplace on this very topic ,

 

I imagine that would be THIS POST I made a few weeks ago. Chartaine, in my post, everyone pretty much agreed that railroad track leavings make good steel for knives, though no one could specifically pin down exactly what type of steel I had.

[tell]

AH yes i remember it well looks as if your dog got over the train passing mate , lol

as i said then you will find its definatly spring steel think about it what other steel

would hold a rail in place and not bend "answer none " this is why it's called SPRING steel

it takes the tension and returns to place

 

so if it acts like spring steel performs like spring steel chances are IT'S SPRING STEEL

 

now go and make some great blades

 

cheers guy's

[ETX Chartaine]

I unfortunately have been playing catch up in the real world ... so I haven't gotten the pictures posted.

 

I looked at the last post, and this steel looks nothing like that piece McKenzie found. I will do my best to get pictures posted tonight.

[Matthew McKenzie]

I looked at the last post, and this steel looks nothing like that piece McKenzie found. I will do my best to get pictures posted tonight.

 

From your description, I'm guessing it looks like the piece below (pictures posted to expidite possible information):

 

[Geoff Keyes]

The simple answer is, forge a piece down to somewhere between a 1/4 and an 1/8th, take a nice non-magnetic heat on it, quench it in oil, and try to break it. If it shatters, then you can probably get a decent knife out of it. If, after the quench, it just bends, then it won't. You could also try a water quench and see what that gets you.

 

Testing like this is the cost of working in mystery steel.

 

Geoff

[ETX Chartaine]

Those are EXACTLY what I found. Thanks for the pictures, I guess they are really common.

 

As soon as I can get back to the forge ... hammer blows will fall.

 

Thanks again for all the information and suggestions.

[Matthew McKenzie]

Those are EXACTLY what I found. Thanks for the pictures, I guess they are really common.

 

If it matters, I think this is some sort of stabilizing clamp. I think it cinches the bottom plate of the rail (which means it's probably spring steel) and that ridge rests tightly against the side of thewooden plank. Having such a setup every few feet/yards would likely help keep the rail from flexing side to side as the train passes over. Bear in mind, though, that this is just a semi-educated guess.

 

 

Let us know if you test it and how it turns out. I've got dozens of these things lying around.

[tell]

There is no Educated guess about it THEY ARE SPRING STEEL DOG'S AND THE PLANKS YOU REFER TO ARE SLEEPERS , and are fitted to every sleeper to hold the rail down and take the pressure of the train the heat /cold expansion in the rail ,, i worked on the railway for yrs as a linesman/ fettler fitting this stuff and there are many different shapes to the dogs , the size of rail weather Patterns in a different part of the country IE snow /desert

concreat sleepers or wood or even meatal ones and the type of foot plate they use if any

 

spring stuff should be Quenched in oil you may get away with some in water but cracking is possible unless you use aired water and as Don will tell you a Hamon is very hard to get in spring steel ( possible but hard )

Nuff said

 

cheers tell

Edited March 20, 2008 by tell

[Matt Bower]

I unfortunately have been playing catch up in the real world ... so I haven't gotten the pictures posted.

 

I looked at the last post, and this steel looks nothing like that piece McKenzie found. I will do my best to get pictures posted tonight.

 

I know the piece you're talking about, and it, too, is a rail anchor just like McKenzie's. They're just different designs. Both do the same job.

 

There are currently two rail anchor manufacturers in the United States. Both use proprietary steel recipes. I exchanged e-mails with one of them a while back, trying to find out something about the metallurgy of rail anchors. They told me that anchors run between 40 and 60 points of carbon (theirs are on the higher end, their competitor's are on the lower end), with more manganese than a typical AISI 10xx steel. That's about all I can tell you.

[ETX Chartaine]

That's about all I can tell you.

 

That was more than I knew ... thanks Matt!

 

Two more days till forging ...