Cheap railroad spike knives

M

Mack@SWS

Joined
Jan 6, 2020
Messages
9
Hey all... tks in advance for any input.
I am a relative newbie in knife making.
I've been working towards it for a long time but am only now starting to get serious.
I've made a few nice pieces and quiet a few cool spike knives.
My question is about railroad spike sales specifically.
I was going to start selling soon but I now see that there are folks on Ebay selling them as low as 20 dollars a piece (made in America).

I can't possibly sell that cheap... with propane and electricity and consumables used it probably cost near that just for me to make one.

How do you guys compete with folks like this.

I enjoy making spikes but I won't work for free.

Thoughts??
Tks
 
I don't do any forging, but I think some of these guys might have power hammers and stuff that reduce the time it takes to hammer these things out. If you are using hammer and anvil only it will take significantly longer.
 
Very true and I would certainly go faster with a big power hammer. However I still can't imagine a decent knife I could sell at 20 bucks... I'm guessing the guy in Ebay is selling them at cost just to get followers and drive people towards his other items.
 
You would have to have something unique and special to set yourself apart. I don’t see that happening with a spike knife.

The other problem is once you get much past $20 you get into the price of a decent knife like a Buck. So I never saw a place in the market where I fit.

you have to do it for fun, because you won’t even break even.

I just make things for myself or if someone needs something specific. The last thing I made was a set of seat brackets for a model A Ford. They were offset to set the seat back farther.
 
I was curious too, because $20 is way too cheap for it to be a profitable business. Some of the $20 - 30 knives are imports that the sellers are lying about the origin. But of the two definite US based makers I saw, one is a 16 year old, so I suppose there is probably subsidization by his parents going on there.

The other is a hobbiest smith, so perhaps he's willing to let his work go cheap just to get his name out there.
 
One idea I had to elevate the spike knife was to make a SanMai blade. Maybe that would set you apart.
 
I guess if you are doing it for fun, selling at any price is at least partially supporting your hobby.

Think of the hobbies that have $0 return. If you could go golfing for $$60 then sell your score card for $20. Wouldn’t you do it?
 
All good points and I thank you all for helping... I think I might have gotten the wrong idea due to a guy I saw on YouTube talking about selling spikes at gun shows as fast as he could make them and for 80 a pop.

He also made high end blades but spikes were easy money.

I have a few ideas and I will share when I get more done.

Tks all!
 
From what I hear, railroad spikes laying along even an abandoned line or right of way where they removed the track still belong to the railroad.
I know that the scrap yard/metal recycling yard I worked at years ago would not touch spikes, sections of track, tie plates, or anything else railroad related unless the person trying to scrap it could prove they bought it from the railroad.
"Stolen Property" otherwise.
 
Set up a table at your local flea market with some other items. Might be your best market to get an itchy spender who sees it in person at a marked up (but still fair) price, and thinks it's just a cool piece to buy 8n person from the maker...

Other then that, IDK. Unless you can hammer in some real unique detailed handle and pommel designs, and charge a bit more for the artistic nature, (but will also cost more time), it's an interesting market, just not necessarily a very lucrative one...

A local smith runs a shop that you can sign up for, learn the basics of forging, then they give you a spike to forge yourself. End of the day they do the basic heat treat and quench, grind the final edge, and you get to throw axes and drink a few beers, and keep the knife you made. That's how they turned spike knives into a profitable venture.

In all honesty, best bet if you're good, is to locally source better quality, higher carbon steel like o1 or 52100, even 1075, etc. and forge that instead... Will make a better blade, and demand a higher price, as spikes themselves, even the HC (high carbon) stamped ones are low carbon steel by knife making standards. The steel is tough, impact resistant, and able to flex to sustain heavy lateral loads, but soft AF by "knife steel" standards...
 
afishhunter said:
From what I hear, railroad spikes laying along even an abandoned line or right of way where they removed the track still belong to the railroad.
I know that the scrap yard/metal recycling yard I worked at years ago would not touch spikes, sections of track, tie plates, or anything else railroad related unless the person trying to scrap it could prove they bought it from the railroad.
"Stolen Property" otherwise.
Click to expand...
That is what I've heard as well... however one can purchase them. There are tons of sellers online posting lots of brand new/unused spikes.

I actually bought mine from a neighbor. Pretty cheap source of usable metal.
 
strategy9 said:
Set up a table at your local flea market with some other items. Might be your best market to get an itchy spender who sees it in person at a marked up (but still fair) price, and thinks it's just a cool piece to buy 8n person from the maker...

Other then that, IDK. Unless you can hammer in some real unique detailed handle and pommel designs, and charge a bit more for the artistic nature, (but will also cost more time), it's an interesting market, just not necessarily a very lucrative one...

A local smith runs a shop that you can sign up for, learn the basics of forging, then they give you a spike to forge yourself. End of the day they do the basic heat treat and quench, grind the final edge, and you get to throw axes and drink a few beers, and keep the knife you made. That's how they turned spike knives into a profitable venture.

In all honesty, best bet if you're good, is to locally source better quality, higher carbon steel like o1 or 52100, even 1075, etc. and forge that instead... Will make a better blade, and demand a higher price, as spikes themselves, even the HC (high carbon) stamped ones are low carbon steel by knife making standards. The steel is tough, impact resistant, and able to flex to sustain heavy lateral loads, but soft AF by "knife steel" standards...
Click to expand...
Great info bud... I actually do make nicer stuff but I have an idea for spikes that I'm exploring.
I keep a little camper on a lake at a fish camp and near a railroad.
They have a little store and my thinking is to make camp knives with nice hand made sheaths and place in store. I will burn the fish camp logo on the leather and number the knives... make em a collectable.

Worse case I can continue to develop my hammer skills and master leather works.

Tks again for the tips.
 
unwisefool said:
I honestly wouldn't pay more than 20 or 25 for a railroad spike knife, for not much more you can get more comfortable higher performing knives.
Click to expand...

I agree with this. No matter what, a railroad spike knife is a novelty knife. It may be a really cool knife (and some are quite artistic), but a novelty. In this day and age with so much pedigreed steel out there at affordable prices, "found metal" knives have no reliable utility value. I have seen these knives sold with all kinds of claims about the metal used in the spikes they used, but even the makers don't know for sure.

You won't compete with some people on pricing. Different folks have different strategies for their pricing. When I was making writing pens and small wooden ornaments for sale, I had to compete with those that did it for a hobby. They priced their work on the fact that they only did wood turning for fun and it kept them busy after they retired. It gave them something to do.

Other guys weren't doing it to specifically make money (like me), but got a kick out of selling something, as it validated their skill set as a professional in their mind. If someone bought their work, it only stood to reason it must be at least pretty good. Not knowing the total cost to make a pen or Christmas ornament they happily tell you "$35 is $35 more than I had when I started today!). If those guys sell 20 pieces at $35 each, then they feel like they earned $700, not a bad day. If they took out transportation, raw materials, electricity, and any other materials, they would find that they are making well under minimum wage for their efforts.

Then others didn't want to charge much as they didn't want to have any responsibility for being a professional. They enjoyed selling their product to friends, family and occasionally strangers. They worked when they want, do it for fun, and it gives them a chance to do something constructive with their time. It was never meant to be "a business".

Find, develop, and promote your own product. You will never compete on any level with those guys if you decide to make knife manufacture a profitable business. Find your cost and price point for a signature product and assess from that point to see if you can make money with your design.

Robert
 
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midnight flyer said:
I agree with this. No matter what, a railroad spike knife is a novelty knife. It may be a really cool knife (and some are quite artistic), but a novelty. In this day and age with so much pedigreed steel out there at affordable prices, "found metal" knives have no reliable utility value. I have seen these knives sold with all kinds of claims about the metal used in the spikes they used, but even the makers don't know for sure.

You won't compete with some people on pricing. Different folks have different strategies for their pricing. When I was making writing pens and small wooden ornaments for sale, I had to compete with those that did it for a hobby. They priced their work on the fact that they only did wood turning for fun and it kept them busy after they retired. It gave them something to do.

Other guys weren't doing it to specifically make money (like me), but got a kick out of selling something, as it validated their skill set as a professional in their mind. If someone bought their work, it only stood to reason it must be at least pretty good. Not knowing the total cost to make a pen or Christmas ornament they happily tell you "$35 is $35 more than I had when I started today!). If those guys sell 20 pieces at $35 each, then they feel like they earned $700, not a bad day. If they took out transportation, raw materials, electricity, and any other materials, they would find that they are making well under minimum wage for their efforts.

Then others didn't want to charge much as they didn't want to have any responsibility for being a professional. They enjoyed selling their product to friends, family and occasionally strangers. They worked when they want, do it for fun, and it gives them a chance to do something constructive with their time. It was never meant to be "a business".

Find, develop, and promote your own product. You will never compete on any level with those guys if you decide to make knife manufacture a profitable business. Find your cost and price point for a signature product and assess from that point to see if you can make money with your design.

Robert
Click to expand...
Well said my friend and I agree. I do have a plan to set mine apart and target a small and specific market near me. They will be a novelty for sure. Thanks for your help.
 
Grandpa Peter's and Grandma Betty's said:
~ Edgar Chattin has been making a good RXR spike knife for some time now it is one of his specialty's and he has many Video's out there on youtube and a good story about him and his heritage and his grandpa and his up-bringing his life and how he got into making knives when he was just a boy and such and his wooden knife ~ when it come to being successful in making and selling knives it's about who you know and who knows you ~

Click to expand...
Great video! Thank you!
 
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