Blacksmithing - Forging A Railroad Spike Froe For Kindling 

I'm glad you exist, because with out you to show my mom how blacksmithing isn't irrelevant as a career she is helping me buy some gear to get started, thank you so much Chandler, you rock.

Amazing, it takes balls to go it alone after 40 years of working for someone else.....well done

just received my froe, I cannot say enough about it, this thing will split kindling like crazy, great design while keeping it looking good also, you want to start a conversation at the campfire pull one of these out and start splitting some wood. everybody should be ordering one of these.

This video right here is what got me into blacksmithing. I've made my own bucket forge, bought an anvil, some tools. I've already worked on my first railroad knife but it came out kind of bad. I'm getting better all the time and learning new things all the time. I love all your videos and I wanted you to know that you inspired me to start learning something that I absolutely love! Keep on making videos!

After doing a couple of craft fairs, I'm amazed at what will sell at one and not another. I've only been blacksmithing for a couple of months but I'm hooked - and it's a family tradition. That said, all of your videos that I've watched have been extremely helpful in the learning process. Thanks for posting them.

The imperfections contrast well with the high buffed finish. Best part of it. Great video man.

nice mate, I started forging railwat spikes as a kid, my grandfather was a fettler, love the design of these awesome stuff

Thank you so much for your videos. I have long been interested in blacksmithing and watching your videos has just made it that much more of a goal once I get out of the Army.

You are the Bob Ross of forging.

just wanted to say, i have absolutely no smithing experience at all, however i am fascinated by the art and it just makes me happy to see someone who is keeping the art alive

That is awesome that you got your forging down to 30 minutes each. Making money!

I recall when you first got started out in the snow with some VERY rudimentary tools, and now....... your shop is looking GREAT. Good job.

Such amazing work, blows my mind what a blacksmith can do with metal.

iv been watching ur videos for a while and u have given me a lot of tips and helped me get my forge started thanks for the knowledge and for the inspiration and incoragement

Great idea again repurposing and old RxR spike. Thanks for talking through your tutorials. It's truly helpful to guys like me that want to learn blk smithing skills. I'm real interested in hatchets, axes, mauls, and wedges.

Just a small tip. When quenching a blade it's a good idea to move the piece around in the water/oil to prevent the forming of a steam jacket around the piece which would make the piece brittle or form cavities. Great work and I love your videos :)

Awesome idea! Great product. Also I believe you are doing the temper right. The higher the temper temperature the stronger ( and softer ) it gets. So for things like this you did it right!

Im extremeley grateful that you post these videos with such amazing detail in all of the steps. Absolutley awesome for a blacksmith just starting out, Keep up the awesome work sir!

I was putting together a cheese knife today - completely stuck on what to do with the handle until I remembered this video - long story short, nailed it! Thanks for the inspiration!

I have to say, you have been a real help and inspiration

man this video is awesome. i love the blemishes in the finished product, it looks amazing in the video. it shows the craftsmanship and the "handmade"-ness. thats a mighty fine tool for 50 bucks friend. thank you for showing this.

This is my first time watching your videos, and I absolutely love that you have the "business" mind and add that in your videos. It helps us understand the time and effort put into this art form, and if we want to do this as a business, we need to think this way. Great video, very informative. Thank you!

watched you from the start congrats on 60,000

I would leave it unfinished. My cousin made knifes out of spikes and horse shoe's. He sold his all over the place. Wish I could still watch him make them but can't. Keep up the awesome work!

That's really a good wood splicing tool. Simple, but effective :) Like it. Cheers Uwe

Thank You for the inspiration! I have not started my foray in my forging adventures yet, however I am learning a lot from your videos.

Awesome project for the new shop !

I REALLY like this project, Chandler! If I was at the trade fair, I would definitely buy one. Well done!!

so glad you are back posting vids and back on the forge!!!

Man, that thing is nice. Thanks for sharing!!

A great tip that I picked up from Tai Goo's Blog a number of years ago is that the best way to get the most width out of a RR spike, or any square stock for that matter, is to forge it on the bias, or on it's diagonal, (one of it's 4 corners). Try it out sometime if you haven't already, it really gives you a lot of "spread" in the material since you're forging a much smaller surface area with the corners between the hammer and the anvil faces, forcing it down and out in width. I've used this technique when forging integral bolster knives in order to get a good dropped edge right in front of the bolster. :)

Great job on the videos Chandler. Always enjoy watching. Picking up alot of good info. Good job on the new shop. Keep it up brother.

Well done bro u do great work it's a joy watching you forge

Chandler, I live close to the railroad so getting spikes is no problem. I made a froe this week and it is the first thing (besides drive hooks) that has actually worked like it should. The biggest problem I have is with the sorry excuse for tongs that I have available to me. A video on how to make a good set is needed.

Just a thought... a convex edge would bite better, stick less, and split cleaner. Grind it on a slack belt and leave the forge scale on the top half. That cuts your grinding time down and gives a much more attractive look to your finished product. A wood splitter needs to look like a forged tool. A mirror finish makes me want to cut a wedding cake with it. Hammer on. Great video. $65.00 to $75.00 would be my price point out here in California.

you make me want to blacksmith. I'll have to build a forge and acquire an anvil. Thank you for entertaining and informative videos.

Always love watching your videos

love the new shop and an amazing tutorial video on your work and skills. hope all goes well and look forward to more vids. stay cool.

always a great watch !! thanks for sharing and also how you think and what planning goes in to your work. Blessings

Awesome knife as usual! Love your work!

Looks amazing. Great little tool. Will have to try that one myself. Thx

mate, your videos are awesome. i have built a forge from a lawn mower, brake drum and a hair dryer, cost me $45. made my first railway spike knife and sold it for $50. keep up the good work.

Thank you for answering my question on working the head back into itself! ill try that next time i get to fire up.

Half way through it looked like a really nice butter knife... Your videos are great, keep up the good work!

wow, that is beautiful. I think the imperfections actually add to the tools charm.

Great idea. Railroad spikes are some of the hardest iron/steel there is. It will make an excellent fro blade.

Awesome video Chandler. Thanks for the detail it filled in some spots that I am missing in the work I am doing. Keep it up Sir!

Love your artwork!! You got great ideas. I love how you're trying to make it affordable and I wish you the best of luck with the new shop. You're too much fun to watch!! Make that money brother.

I think the "pineapple twist" without any lines would look cool too.

Looks good. Lot of work goes into hand made products like that.

Wish there were some classes on blacksmithing near me... You do some really cool stuff... I enjoy your videos Thanks!! Stewie

It looks like one big butter knife ! Looks great chandler

Enjoy your videos Chandler, keep up the good work.

Chandler.. It is a cool Idea! A Smithing tip for you: At some point every Blacksmith misses while chiseling or punching and ends up striking the anvil face. Find a piece of channel iron that just fits over your anvil, place it over the anvil and use it as a protective cover when chiseling or punching. If you miss.. no big deal, the anvil face is protected. Thanks for the video.. Shad

Absolutely love your videos man pretty smart idea and will work great

great video; love your projects...thank you

I was looking forward too first vid in the new shop very nice

"I like it!" That's you un-official Tag line. Your doing great work, Brother of steel. :)

Congrats on getting the shop up and running. I sadly don't live in the New York area, otherwise I would gladly buy the knives and tools you make.

Very cool vid, very informative also and was a pleasure to watch. Thanks for sharing! Greetings from Germany!

great work! looks fantastic

I've seen other videos to make knives and yours is the best especially like the one with the railroad spikes that is one of my favorites

Impressive as always.

that pinapple twist is kool and the polishing is kool too and going to make some of them tooive been watching all your videos learning alot thank you im getting sick waiting to get my forge up and running

nice work. A useful tool anyone could use. Thanks for sharing.

Came across your video just being bored but I was drawn in from the beginning. I dont do any forging but I love to re-purpose things. Excellent video, you got a new subscriber.

Fantastic job!

Dude that was awesome!

I love your work man!!

love it, very good looking blade

great job, looks awesome.

Nice product, hope it sell well. The mirror finish is pleasing to the eye but I'm not sure it's necessary. Here's an idea, after the first grinding you can see most of the forging marks. Perhaps take the ones with the fewest marks and polish them up and just leave the rest as they are. Sell the polished ones for 25 bucks more.

Wow that's a kewl idea!

awesome craftsmanship

This looks really good.

those look sweet! Good work!

That is a beautiful knife!

Just watched a 2yo video on your channel. You have come a long way since then. I hope when I get everything I need I will also progress as rapid. Money and home is an issue (live in a place that has HOA and they don't like ANYTHING different about every house)

i have a kukri i had shipped over from napal i pulled out over the campfire last year didn't think i could top that but i just found the knife that could do it haha. excellent work

It's a very nice looking tool you made there.

Very impressive sir!!! So damn cool how u can make a Bad ass Froe from a railroad spike I'm very excited to get started with my own tool making!! Hopefully make some rad stuff like u just did

looking good man nice to see it all set up I think just sand to a finish if ppl want a mirror finish it could be an added cost thing ... I would love to come see the place keep up the good work

Chandler, great idea and great project. I'm not sure if I'm your typical customer, but for a wood cutting tool, I think I'd prefer a hammered finish on the blade, particularly from a hand-forged piece. The up side of this is less polishing for for you. The handle I think polishing is worth it for sure.

Dude, you're awesome. Keep it up

Stunning!

Awesome job man

very informative video I enjoyed all of it not to mention I have 400 plus railroad spikes ,I live on the tracks and have collected them for many years now I know what I can make with them.

Great video. I am just starting out and it's great to see the technique in how you make this. I would love watching more detail on how you clean, grind and buff the blade as well. Thanks for the great content

Love the videos Chandler, thank you for sharing your passion with the rest of us. A thought on the froe, it may be easier to use if you bent the handle away from the edge as opposed to towards it, and then hold it with a "reverse" grip. You don't need as much aiming control with a froe as you do with a knife since you place it, and it gives your hand more clearance when you get to the bottom of the piece of wood you are splitting, or it gives you more leverage if you twist it to split.

Great job ....well done

I want one, thanks for sharing!

I love the videos by the way keep up the great work :)

shop area and tooling are looking better everytime I watch one of your vids , keep Smithing , dont let the Haters wear on you , dont let the know-it-alls get to you , A Wise Man Can Learn From A Fool , Its The Fool Who Cant Learn From A Wise Man, (or so I hear). Pineknot Forge.

awesome love it great work chandler i think you gave me a reason to buy something of etsy now

Something you might want to look into is a "tool" finish. If you go to a hardware store look for splitting wedges, most are super rough ground then coated in paint or varnish and then the edges are finished. On something like this you might be able to just clean the scaling away and wire wheel the blade and then put the edge on kind of like how you did the handle on the first one. That would cut your "finishing" time to almost nothing and you wouldn't have to worry about the little imperfections ( also it would make them look less knife like and more tool like ). As far as hardening and tempering, I think you have a good process.

Looking good man.

like how you made time out of the end of your vid to reassure us we could do that with an angle grinder. i was like heck yeah im forgin tomorrow.

I'll buy one! Throw in a couple extra spikes because I want to get into forging myself!!

buenísimos tus trabajos. felicitaciones . Saludos de Argentina

I need one of these! great idea!