Iron nail

“ The manufacture of cut nails is less automatic and requires more manual labor than is necessary in the making of wire nails. The iron or steel is first rolled into sheets, the thickness of which is equal to the thickness of the nail; it is then cut into strips as wide as the nail is long. This strip of metal is fed into the nail machine and sheared off in tapering strips having the form of the nail, when it is seized by clamps that hold it just long enough for the heading hammer to strike the blow that forms the head. ”

“ Fig. 33.—Setting Nails.
You will notice the iron nails have two smooth sides and two rough ones. In using these it is necessary to drive them with the smooth sides parallel with the grain, otherwise they are sure to split the work.
Nails are classified according to their shape and gauge. The only kinds you will probably ever have [Pg 36] occasion to use are the Common, or nail for all ordinary work; the Finishing-nail, with the small head used on finish work; and the Brad, or small-sized finishing-nail. ”

“ Three thin slats one inch in width and six inches long are made fast across the front, and above the top shelf, to form the pamphlet or periodical rack. The nail and screw heads may be covered with brass upholsterers’ tacks painted black to suggest the idea of a large nail, or imitation wrought-iron nail-heads may be made by cutting disks out of sheet-lead and slightly beating the edges so as to imitate the hammer-marks of wrought-iron work. These disks are secured to the wood with slim steel nails, the heads of which, when driven in with a light hammer, become imbedded in the soft lead. ”

“ When, however, the nailing to be done is of such a kind that it becomes necessary that the nail should pass through the wood so as to come out upon the other side, to be clinched there, the stiffness of the iron in a cut-nail constitutes a serious difficulty ”

“ The nail-master or merchant furnishes the iron in bundles to the nail-maker, weighing sixty pounds each, and allows him from six to twenty-eight pounds for waste per bundle, according to the size of the nails; the largest size, of course, wasting less iron per pound produced. The nailer has to run his own risk as to the quality of iron furnished him. Sometimes several rods will be almost useless.
The land-made nail trade has been sadly depressed for nearly half a century, and from various causes. ”

“ Taking, say, a few common iron nails, let him note some obvious properties they possess: they have weight—are hard and tough so that they cannot be crushed in a mortar—are opaque to light—if a smooth surface be produced on any part, it will show that peculiar shiny appearance which is called metallic lustre, in this case without any decided colour—they are not dissolved by water as sugar or salt is—and are attracted by a magnet. ”

“ To remedy this difficulty, it is found best to heat nails intended for clinching before driving them. By heating the iron red hot, the metal seems to expand to its original condition [Pg 137] of ductile iron, and it loses the extreme hardness and stiffness which was given to it by the force and compression of the nail-making machine.
Stuyvesant had seen a carpenter in New York heating some nails on one occasion, and he had asked him the reason. He, therefore, understood the whole process, and his plan was now, after selecting his nails, to go and heat them red-hot in the kitchen-fire. ”

“ So I quit school just where the Monitor had sunk the Merrimac in the “first fight of the ironclads.” Thereafter my life was to be bound up with the iron industry. My job was in a nail factory. I picked the iron splinters from among the good nails that had heads on them. This taught me that many are marred in the making. Those that are born with bad heads must not be used in building a house or the house will fall. In the head of the nail is its power to hold fast. Men are like nails, some have the hold-fast will in their heads. Others have not. ”

“ These strips, having been cut into pieces two or three feet in length, are heated to a red heat in a furnace, to be immediately converted into nails, when designed for those of a large size. For small nails, the iron does not require heating.
4. The end of the plate is presented to the machine by the workman, who turns the material over, first one way and then the other; and at each turn a nail is produced. The machine has a rapid reciprocating motion, and cuts off, at every stroke, a wedge-like piece of iron, constituting a nail without a head. ”

“ But if we include the nails which were given by the officers and crews of both ships for curiosities, &c. with those given for refreshments, they cannot have got less than five hundred weight, great and small. The only piece of iron we saw among them was a small broad awl, which had been made of a nail.
Both men and women are of a common size with Europeans; and their colour is that of a lightish copper, and more uniformly so than amongst the inhabitants of Otaheite and the Society Isles. ”

“ We next visited the Union Rolling-mill, near the city, on the bank of the Monongahela; here also is a nail factory. In the II.168 patent-office at Washington I saw upwards of seventy different models of nail-making machines. In this factory they were cut by horizontally moving shears, and at the same time the heads were formed by a hammer. A workman can make a hundred and fifty pounds of the smaller kind of nails daily. The preparation of the iron plates from which cut nails are made is very interesting. The crude pig iron is made white hot in the furnace ”

“ When the four grooves were finished, the box was ready for assembling. This called for hammer and nails.
Wire nails are so cheap now that the old-fashioned cut nails have been largely driven from the market.
The nails used on the box were one-inch brads.
The holding power of flat-head nails is of course much greater than bung head, but in this case the box was to be squared up after nailing, exactly as if it were a solid block of wood. This meant planing the sides and ends, and as the nails would ruin the plane iron, they were all sunk below the surface with a nail set or punch. (Fig. 135) . ”

“ There will be no change in color. Repeat both parts in the same order then begin to pour the liquids contained in the tumblers back into the pitcher in the order reversed and the excess of acid will neutralize the alkali and cause it to lose its color and in the end the pitcher will contain a colorless liquid.
Contributed by Kenneth Weeks, Bridgeton, N.J.
Cheap Nails are Expensive
The life of iron shingle nails is about 6 years. An iron nail cannot be used again in putting on a new roof. Solid zinc nails last forever and can be used as often as necessary. ”

“ A piece of iron about six inches long, and of a width and thickness respectively of the finished nail, is inserted at a red heat to the feeder of the machine; a narrow strip is immediately cut off the lower side of the heated iron, and by the motion of the steel slide is carried to and pressed against a fixed die; while in this position another die rises at right angles and presses the partially formed nail against another fixed die. ”

“ The making of a nail, however, is by no means one of the simplest operations. The same person blows the bellows, stirs or mends the fire as there is occasion, heats the iron, and forges every part of the nail: in forging the head, too, he in obliged to change his tools. ”

“ Anyone who buys 100, 200, 300 or 400 marks' worth of iron Nails receives a silver Shield with a corresponding inscription; similarly, a gold Shield for iron Nails to the value of 500 and more marks. Whoever changes a 10 mark gold piece receives an iron Nail free.
For the purpose of preparing inscriptions on Shields the date on which it is proposed to drive in the Nails must be notified at the Treasury three days in advance.
If clubs, societies, or other collections of people wish to drive in their Nails in private parties they are requested to get into touch with the Municipal Architect, Mr. ”

“ It was known in commerce as 'nail-rods;' and it is found that, in a commercial sense, nail-rods were not known as 'bar-iron.' The article, therefore, was a description of rolled iron 'not otherwise provided for.' The commercial understanding as to the description of the article by congress must prevail. ”

“ The nail-maker pays on an average 2s. 6d, a week for his cottage and shop. He must find his own tools, which are rather simple and few in number. His anvil is generally a small piece of hardened steel driven into a cast-iron block, and not more than twice as large as the face of his hammer. ”

“ The galvanized nails cost from $1.50 to $3 more per keg than the plain cut or wire nails.
The cheaper grades of galvanized nails are frequently coated only with lead, and will not withstand the government test; that is, dipping them into vitriol. A simple way to test the coating of a galvanized nail is to rub the nail on a piece of white paper. A lead-coated nail will mark the paper the same as a lead pencil and should be rejected, as it is only a sham and has no redeeming qualities. ”

“ Fill a china wash basin with a suds of warm water and castile soap. Soak the hands for five minutes. With an old soft linen towel push back the skin around the nails. If there are hangnails snip them away carefully. Cutting the cuticle at the base of the nail was a barbaric feature of a new science which disappeared when it became more rational and refined. Never, under any circumstances, must the inside of the nail be scraped with a sharp instrument. Another thing to be avoided is the vulgar application of pink nail cosmetics. ”

“ Clumsy nails spoil good work, as the holes made by them are larger than the awl used in stitching. Very fine nails do not spoil the work, and can be obtained in sizes suitable for heavier and clumsier work; and they may be used over and over again if care is taken in pulling them out with the nail-claw. Cut tacks are used in putting gig saddles together, in nailing the leather to the tree, in adjusting panels in the gullet and behind, between the two prongs of the crupper staples, for nailing seats in riding saddles, etc. ”

“ The toe-nails do not grow so fast as the finger-nails, but they should be looked after and trimmed at least once a fortnight. They are much more subject to irregularity of growth than the finger-nails, owing to [Pg 370] their confined position. If the nails show a tendency to grow in at the sides, the feet should be bathed in hot water, pieces of lint introduced beneath the parts with an inward tendency, and the nail itself scraped longitudinally. ”

“ Machine-made nails are cut by compression from a sheet of iron. Brads are cut out, simply, as in fig. 5, which uses up the whole of the iron without any waste, and requires no finishing; but other forms of nails are cut first into simple wedges, and have the heads finished afterwards either by the blows of a hammer or by compression.
CUTTING BRADS.
Most nails are made flat or chisel-shaped at the point, that they may not split the wood. ”

“ The nails which hold the outer covering should either be set and puttied, or the heads should be left even with or slightly above the surface of the wood, that the paint may cover all parts of the nail head. If the nails are driven too far in the heads are not fully covered and protected by the paint, in which case they will rust and present an unsightly appearance. ”

“ If it is impossible to find the large nails that bind the corners at a hardware store, they may be made from sheet-lead. Disks half an inch in diameter are cut from the lead by means of a small cold-chisel and mallet. The edges of the disks are beaten with a tack-hammer to give them the appearance of a rough, hammer-headed nail. These disks are painted with a dead-black paint, made by adding a small portion of dry lamp-black to thin shellac, and applying it to the metal-work with a soft brush. ”

“ A cutter upon the side of a wheel now comes round, and, by acting as the moving chap of a pair of shears, cuts the nail off from the rod. The nail shank being still firmly held in the jaws of the vice, with a portion of its end projecting outwardly, the heading die is slidden laterally until it comes opposite to the end of the nail; the dye is then projected forward with great force, for the purpose of what is termed upsetting the metal at the projecting end of the nail, and thereby blocking out the head. ”

“ Oval steel nails are nicely shaped, very tough, and are less likely to split the material than any other kind of nail; slight shallow grooves in the shank increase the holding power. Brads are known in more than one variety. The cut-steel large brad is used in flooring, and does not make such a large hole as a cut nail. The cut-steel small brad is used for general purposes. French nails are of round wire, pointed, and have round, flat heads; they are strong, but their unsightly heads cause their use to be confined to rough work.
Fig. ”

“ The finger nails and toe nails are a part of the skin and they also need to be taken care of. You will see at the root of your finger nails a thin layer of skin that is inclined to grow out with the nail. If this skin is not kept pushed back it becomes rough, breaks into little shreds, and forms "hang nails." This little band of skin should always be kept carefully pushed back. The finger nails should be kept evenly and neatly trimmed, but they should not be [62] cut so close to the skin that the ends of the fingers project beyond the nails. ”

“ A finishing nail, that is, a nail having a head only a shade larger than the shank, is used for the finer kinds of woodwork. After you have driven in a nail until its head is within, say, 1⁄8 inch of the surface put the small, hollow end of your nail set on it, hold them together with your thumb and forefinger and drive it in by hitting the nail set with your hammer. After the head is sunk below the [11] surface of the wood fill in the hole with a wood filler [7] when neither the nail nor the hole can be seen. ”