forging railroad track
Sorry if this is a dumb question, I'm new to the forging/blacksmithing scene.
I've read on the forum that railroad track spikes can be made into various items like knives but they have a low carbon content.
Ive done a search for "railroad track" and havent found any discussion on it.
Is the track itself suitable for forging into items such as knives?
I did a google search of track composition and this is what I've found:
"Standard steel rail has composition 0.72-0.82%C, 0.8-1.1%Mn, 0.1-0.6%Si or more variable manganese if Ni, Cr, Mo and V are added. Frogs and crossing diamonds are cast from austenitic manganese steel (minimum 12%Mn, maximum 0.07%P) for hard surface and tough body."
From what I've read on here the carbon content in the rail is in the right ballpark for a decent knife but I'm not sure if anything else in the mix would make it unsuitable.
If the track isn't suitable for knives , are there some other handy things that can be made from it besides a small anvil?
Tek
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