A find at the farmers market

     I do alot of these projects so money is always a factor. Anything that I can salvage, scrounge, or pick up as a freebie in any way is always welcome. The other day my wife, and I checked out a local farmers market. I noticed a set of train tracks right near where everything was set up. After exhausting my curiousity I left her to wander the stalls while I snuck away to walk the tracks for treasures. Train tracks are a great source of scrap metal. Theres always little (and sometimes big) bits of useable steel. My quick walk was rewarded with the quick discovery of 4 railroad spikes, and a large bolt that looks like it held a wheel on or something.  The value of spikes as knifemaking material is highly debated. The one blade Ive ever forged was from a spike, and although I dont have the experience to judge it seems to me to work pretty well.  One application Im keen to try them with is tomahawk blades. Throwing tomahawks has become like therapy to me. I can do it for hours, and totally lose track of time. Being able to forge my own hawks would be a great addition to my little cache of skills.  With a weeks vacation coming up soon I think trying to forge a tomahawk will probably be the topic of a near future post. My forge is in the middle of a redesign at the moment as I came into a cast iron semi brake drum that will be a Massive  upgrade. Between that and the bows I think Ill have plenty to talk about for awhile.  Keep an eye out for the next bow post soon  at this point Im a step ahead having already carved the limbs, and backed the bows with fiberglass.