Making Nails by hand

Interesting! I wasn't sure that I followed all that you described so I looked for a video. Here's one I found (Finnish blacksmith):

video with a Canadian blacksmith said that people used to make

2 cents per 100 nails and that money would buy some groceries. I imagine that must be the equivalent of probably $5 -$10 today. It seems that in the videos I=92ve seen, the blacksmiths are making nails out of =BD=94 dia rod. I would think that you would want to start out with 3/16 to =BC=94 dia rod and if you only had 1/2" rod maybe stretch or draw it down over heat from a forge before starting to make nails. What rod diameter is your starting material?

speaking of nails, I recently had to trim some finishing nails down.

I cut the excess off at an angle with side cutters, then filed the side that was not cut (the longer part) with a file. A few strokes of a file removed the smashed "fin" left by the cutters. In the end each nail had a perfect and rather sharp 3 sided point. Holding the nail with pliers, this all took seconds to do.

I understand in the old days the blacksmith spent the winter making nails in his spare time. Wood was cheap, nails cost. You could cut a tree and make your own lumber. So when a Settler decided to move somewhere else a lot of times they burned down the house and sifted out the nails.

Let the Record show that "Bill McKee" on or about Tue, 1 Dec 2009 15:21:16 -0800 did write/type or cause to appear in rec.crafts.metalworking the following:

I was told, that the common sizing of nails the "d" in "10d nails" referred to the old denarius, or penny. And a ten penny nail, cost "ten pennies" in a day when ten pence a day was good money. The pricing was set by the weight of a thousand nails. So if a thousand nails weighed ten pounds,then each nail was ten pence. Of course,that was back when Iron was pricey and Steel was really expensive, and ten pence bought food and lodging for the day. back when snakes wore shoes and dirt was two dollars a pound when you could find it! Now we make nails of steel, and buy them by the box.

- pyotr filipivich We will drink no whiskey before its nine. It's eight fifty eight. Close enough!

I think the 10 pennies were for a quanity (maybe 100). Not per nail.

For nails of about 20D (about 3/16" square shanks) down to carpet tacks, I use 1/4" square stock.

Early this afternoon I added a section to the bottom of the same page about the "nail rods" in answer to a question I received.

Pete Stanaitis

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Denis G. wrote:

Let the Record show that "Bill McKee" on or about Tue, 1 Dec 2009 17:59:51 -0800 did write/type or cause to appear in rec.crafts.metalworking the following:

As I recall the lecture, prior to the Industrial Revolution (which was mostly the ability to produce cheap Iron), carpenter's wages were comparable in terms of purchasing power, but iron cost like silver, and steel like gold. Hence the minimal use of nails (compared to now) and all the fancy woodworking tools and stuff. But I haven't researched it closely myself, so you may be correct.

tschus pyotr

- pyotr filipivich We will drink no whiskey before its nine. It's eight fifty eight. Close enough!

--Many moons ago, when PBS used to show kewl indy documentaries, there was one called "Nails" that showed a water-wheel powered factory turning out nails in a variety of styles using various machines. Highly recommended but wouldn't have a clue where to get a copy.

Was it on "Southern Lens"? They had lots of cool indie stuff.

Joe

--Long time ago; couldn't say. Looked to be in New England somewhere but maybe not..

I remember a slitting mill there from a visit back when I was a kid. It made no sense to me for years until I realized the square rods it produced were for nails.

So how do you forge wood screws?

jsw