Forge Welded Railroad Bar - 2 Piece shaft & 2 Piece Rounded Head

[tabbyapple]

In this part of the Midwest this tool would be called a railroad bar - or a "cement buster" ;0)

Its around 48 3/4" long. The shaft is made from two pieces of bar stock (25" & 25 1/4") which are joined with a forge welded along a diagonal lap joint. The rounded head appears to be made from two 3/4" thick discs which were joined together and attached to the shaft.

I could not detect any railroad markings or manufacturer markings, although they could have been worn off over time.

Direct Gallery Link (click on pictures to see full size images):

http://www.use.com/IwpYA

Would this item have been made in a factory with a large industrial press of multiple tons or hand made? Most of the bars I have are longer, do not have a head, and are typically made from 8 sided bar stock.

[Andrew Mackey]

Neat looking 'pinch bar'. probably hand made, and probably old (1800s) Nice find! Octagonal (8 sided) was used for many things, from pry rods, to jail bars, to gun barrels! Most was forged, and was very tough. I have one made from 1" octagonal rod, that was at one time a window bar in the Essex County Jail, in Caldwell NJ. A prisoner made it for my father in law, while the jail (Built in the mid 1800s) was being renovated. Don't know if he made one for himself I have used the bar many times. It will not bend, and has kept the wedge shaped working end for over 100 years!

[OrgWayne]

Guy across the street has 6 ft bar marked SP , His Mother when she was real young ,would walk the tracks to town for milk and bread and found the the bar
Wayne

[tabbyapple]

Thanks for the information!

I found this bar at an estate auction where they sold it with a axe and sand shovel for $5.00. I don't think anyone else could see that it was made of separate pieces because of surface grime and because someone had used it to pour cement at one point.

I used some muriatic acid to remove the cement:

http://www.menards.com/main/paint/so...14950668094424

Paint brushed it on and let it set although it begins to foam immediately upon contact with any cement, but does not harm the metal. I then removed the cement with a very dull junk chisel used as scraper. Recoated second time and removed remainder. Rinse with water. Used Dremel brash wire brush on surface. Add light coating of 3-in-one oil to protect surface.

Be sure to use rubber gloves and face shield with this stuff :0)

I have two other longer ones which are made from a single piece of stock. One was likely a railroad piece as it came from my grandfather. We find them really helpful at providing some "gentle" persuasion to an occasion stubborn piece of log to be run through our log splitter, but this will not be used.

[dalmatiangirl61]

Originally Posted by tabbyapple

because someone had used it to pour cement at one point.

I have some old rebar that looks like that, pretty sure it was not made as rebar, but that is how it was used last. Most pieces are 3 to 4 ft long, and main shaft is round, but they have the button headed end, I'm pretty sure it was just scrap metal they threw into the concrete. I pulled it out of concrete that was poured in 1910.