The railroad spikes were addressed today. The knifemaker's aunt was directed to the bucket of forged spikes - a remote location under one of the benches. Yikes! There must be more than 300 spikes in that bucket! Since metalworking in done in stages, these were probably done a while ago in wait for the time when someone could do the profiling. Today, the knifemaker's aunt was the someone. Done very much like the nails were done, the job did not seem so daunting: establish the blade edge, the spline edge, cut in a finger notch, and then make sure the edges are at right angle to the belt sander. With the railroad spikes, however, the head of the spike is ground as well as the blade and spline. Much like the image of the forged and profiled nails in the earlier post shows, the forged spike is rough, and the profiled one begins to show metal that has a shape. 
The knifemaker's aunt selected 12 spikes and watched carefully as the knifemaker's dad walked her through the way he profiles railroad spikes. It was clear to the knifemaker's aunt, right from the start, the move from a nail to a spike involves more strength, more force, and not dust but metal filings. The metal friction sparks flying off the belt sander were bigger and could be felt...not painfully so, but definitely she could feel the occasional ping ping against her skin. The dust accumulating on her shoes, pants, floor, and arms were actual filings that could be picked off and rolled between fingers. Once done with the first batch, the knifemaker's aunt made a point of using a whisk broom to brush herself off (which was done easily). 
The pile of profiled spikes went to the knifemaker's dad's station for grinding before going back to the forge for the handles to be twisted and the blades heat treated. This is the point with metalworking: everything is done in stages and if one stage is completed then that is the success for the day, not trying to complete all stages in one day. Learning that rhythm and being pleased with success in stages make all the difference.
Patience and pacing are critical...a valuable lesson.
