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Up Topic Welding Industry / General Welding Discussion / Railroad Spike
- - By jwright650 (*****) Date 01-09-2003 13:34
Would anyone happen to know what type of material a railroad spike is made of?

I work with a guy that has built a frame that will work behind his tractor and he is going to weld a staggered pattern of railroad spikes with points down to this frame(A36). He is going to use this to drag a baseball diamond and break up the soil/sand mixture.

My thought is that it might be forged steel, He thought it might be regular old carbon steel.

Any thoughts?

John Wright
Parent - - By RonG (****) Date 01-09-2003 15:03
Forged Steel- Carbon Steel can be and most of the time are one and the same.

Forged for sure, thats how was shaped (Forged)

Do you mean Cast Iron?

If so the answer is no. Cast Iron would not work very well in that application.

I would bet on Forged low Carbon steel.
Parent - - By jwright650 (*****) Date 01-09-2003 15:25
RonG,
I found surfing the web that people are using them to make knives and etc. So I was thinking more along the lines of High Carbon Steel. One blacksmith stated that he did a spark test that revealed yellow-orange sparks indicating high carbon content. Which would mean low hydrogen rods and preheat plus post heat if welded with SMAW.

I still haven't found anything, anywhere about the actual ASTM# or something to say there is a standard material or composition for railroad spikes manadated by some transit authority. They would have to be hard or when they are driven the head would mushroom, and all the ones I've seen have hammer marks but did not deform the head in any way.

Now I'm even more curious to figure this out, I figure if you haven't learned at least one new thing in a day, it was a wasted day.
John Wright
Parent - - By jwright650 (*****) Date 01-09-2003 15:35
I did find a ASTM# for railroad spikes - ASTM A65.01, but it cost $25 to look at it. There are two grades Grade 1 "soft", Grade 2 "high carbon"
John Wright
Parent - - By chall (***) Date 01-09-2003 15:57
A65 Grade 1 ("soft steel"): 0.12% min C, 0.20% min Cu when specified; 55ksi UTS (YS = .5 x UTS); 25 elongation; Bend rqts - 180 deg flat on itself.

A65 Grade 2 ("high carbon steel"): 0.30% min C; Cu the same as grade 1; 70ksi UTS; (YS same as grade 1); Bend rqts - 120 deg around a pin with diameter not greater than spike diameter.
Parent - - By jwright650 (*****) Date 01-09-2003 16:27
Thanks Charles,
I found that our purchasing agent had the ASTM volume (Vol 01.04) I needed, I too found that same info. I did not guess on the copper, if specified by the purchaser. So I guess there are 4 types of spikes. 1 w/ only the mfg on it(soft spike), 1 w/ mfg and CU on it (soft spike, copper specified), 1 w/ mfg and HC on it(high carbon), and 1 w/ mfg HC CU on it (high carbon, copper specified).

An Interesting note: they made it square rather than round to hold tighter in wood, also they put a cross grain wedge rather than a point on the end to further enhance the holding power.

See, I've learned more than one thing today,
John Wright
Parent - - By welder_guy2001 (***) Date 01-10-2003 02:12
so, given all of that information, would you use 8018C-3 to weld it? there might be a way to test the spikes to find out what kind they are. i've seen a little portable hardness tester used before...you could get a good idea of how much carbon is in a piece of steel.
Parent - - By jwright650 (*****) Date 01-10-2003 12:28
Welder_guy,
I told this guy about the markings that should be stamped or cast onto the spike to identify which ones he has received from the railroad. Someone knew of his plans and gave him a big box of the spikes. He said he would go home and take a look and let me know, so I could furnish him with the right SMAW rod for the job. So I'll wait and see.
John Wright
Parent - - By stever (**) Date 01-26-2003 21:38
I just wanted to add that I have forged Rail Road spikes into novelty knives and small tomahawks. These things are unique and many blacksmiths forge them for sale. The problem is that in using them as knives. The steel does not get hard enough to be called a knife. They make excellent letter openers, but not knives. I hang out at one of the blacksmith forums. These people have learned the same things that are being discussed here. The general thought on that forum is 7018 or mig welding. Being that the steel has between .30 and .35 percent carbon that only *just* puts it into the medium carbon range.

My personal opinion says that the rail road spike is not designed to be that abrasion resistant and will wear out rapidly.

I'm looking forward to more replies that have better info than me.
Parent - - By RonG (****) Date 01-27-2003 17:41
I do not beleive that a cross tie (very course open grain) would offer enough resistance to mushroom the head of a spike.

There for I can't see any reason for high Carbon. Besides the low Carbon would weather better.

Carbon makes little yellow streamers that burst open like a tiny explosion.

But what is the point? You plan to tensil test it? You can weld it with 6010, 7018 or 12018 or you can weld it with SS.

There is not enough mass in a Rail Road spike to justify much time and effort in preheating it. I bet the entire spike will get pretty hot throught out befor you finish welding.

Pre heat for the most part is to prevent the mass of the base material from quenching the weld metal to quickly. and most likely you plan to weld it to low Carbon angle iron frame work.

I have made a couple of devises for the same purpose a few years back, even made a drag using old Cotton picker spindles, Now there is some high Carbon material.

Parent - By Seldom (**) Date 01-27-2003 19:53
My hat’s off to RonG, he’s subtly given readers a valuable tip in two of his replies.

The tips stem from him having learned the art of observing and identifying sparks off grindings.
I would advise that more folks should.
Up Topic Welding Industry / General Welding Discussion / Railroad Spike

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