MalachiMcMullen Posted September 17, 2008 Share Posted September 17, 2008 A railroad employee informed me the other day that yes some are very soft steel and a pocket knife would actually "bite" into the steel.May have to try one after all. The one I have though is 5/8 square. Tim Sounds like your setting yourself up for failure already Tim. Think of it this way, it's only 5/8 square. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim71 Posted September 17, 2008 Author Share Posted September 17, 2008 One thing though that would make this harder especially trying it unbraced, would be the awkwardness of the huge head they have. Grabbing it DO style would be extremely rough. Funny you post this as I've been researching RR spikes lately and have been pondering the same things. Still, a 5/8 square bend at this length would be INSANE even out of soft steel. Tim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim71 Posted September 17, 2008 Author Share Posted September 17, 2008 I will say this though, IF and I mean IF I ever have the honor of bending a railroad spike then I'll do just that. The head and point will be 100% intact. Tim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timiacobucci Posted September 28, 2008 Share Posted September 28, 2008 Spike update. There is a huge variance in these spikes. I cannot tell if they are different makes or manufacturers, they all seem to be fairly identical. I tried to cheat bend another spike to test the variance they might have at the request of Tim Tolbert and boy was his suspicion confirmed. This second one was easily 2 to 3 times stronger, a good bit springier and slightly harder, it bit into my pipe a bit unlike the first. Here are the pics. http://www.gripboard.com/index.php?autocom...si&img=7941 This time the damn thing bent BOTH of my box end wrenches. I did not even have enough leverage to bend it past this point. It felt more like 24" x 5/8" than the previous one which felt more like a 10" x 3/8" spike. Only I didn't have 24" to bend it with. http://www.gripboard.com/index.php?autocom...si&img=7942 It also tried to turn and bend on it's edge like square stock usually does. This was even with the edges locked in the notches of the box end wrenches. It just rotated the wrenches in my hand while it was bending. http://www.gripboard.com/index.php?autocom...si&img=7943 And finally my poor 13/16" wrench could take no more when I tried to straighten it. Ok, so I will have to qualify my previous statement, SOME of these spikes can be bent, how to tell which is doable and which is superman stock, I have not figured out yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim71 Posted September 28, 2008 Author Share Posted September 28, 2008 Great job on the research. Nice to know this since they kicked my butt. Later, Tim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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