Goodyguy
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- Mar 10, 2007
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Hand-forged nails were the first manufactured nails, and they date back to Biblical times. As people first used hewn beams, timbers, planks, and whole logs to build with, the early hand-made nails were spikes. With the development of the split wood shingle, nails of about 1" long came into use. When sawyers, and then sawmills, began cutting dimension lumber, the sizes and varieties of nails greatly expanded. Thus, over time, nails developed in different sizes, shapes, and used different heads to fasten lumber and wood.
Nails have always been in demand. Some blacksmiths made only nails and they were called "Nailers." Nails were so scarce (and expensive) in pre-1850 America that people would burn dilapidated buildings just to sift the ashes for nails. They did so because pulling the nails would have damaged most of them. After the nails were recovered, a blacksmith could easily straighten any nails that had been bent during construction.
We still use the term "penny" when referring to a nail's size. It is believed that this term came into use in the early 1600's in England. The English monetary unit was the Pound Sterling (£) which was divided into Shillings and Pence. The cost of 100 nails in Pence in the 1600's is how we refer to nail sizes to this day. For example, 100 small nails that sold for 4 pence were called 4d nails (4 d is the abbreviation of 4 pence). 100 larger nails that sold for 16 pence are 16d nails. And so on.
The cut nail made its appearance in the mid-1700's. For example, Thomas Jefferson established a nail factory at his Monticello plantation as a way to increase his farm income. His nail factory made both hand-forged and cut nails. It would not be until the middle-1800's that cut nails began dominating the marketplace. Cut nails are not actually "cut"--they are sheared from steel plate that is the thickness of the nail shank. Although routinely referred to as "square nails", the cutting machine tapers the nail shank as it is sheared from the steel plate. A second machine forms the head of a cut nail. With the hand-forged nail, all four sides are tapered. With the cut nail, two sides are parallel because they represent the thickness of the plate they were sheared from.
Cut nails could be manufactured much faster than hand-forged nails. As the process was mechanized, the cost per nail was less. However, cut nail factories employed operators and attendants for each machine so the process was still labor-intensive. The noise in those mills was deafening as well. Cut nails had their heyday from about 1820 (development of the Type B nail) to 1910, the advent of the wire nail.
GG~
References:
Nail manufacturing at Thomas Jefferson's Monticello http://www.monticello.org/plantation/work/nailmaking.html
Nail Industry at "Nail City"--Wheeling, WV http://wheeling.weirton.lib.wv.us/history/bus/nails.htm
Glasgow Steel Nail Ltd. www.glasgowsteelnail.com
By Dave Allen, Editor, Appalachian Blacksmiths Assn.
Nails have always been in demand. Some blacksmiths made only nails and they were called "Nailers." Nails were so scarce (and expensive) in pre-1850 America that people would burn dilapidated buildings just to sift the ashes for nails. They did so because pulling the nails would have damaged most of them. After the nails were recovered, a blacksmith could easily straighten any nails that had been bent during construction.
We still use the term "penny" when referring to a nail's size. It is believed that this term came into use in the early 1600's in England. The English monetary unit was the Pound Sterling (£) which was divided into Shillings and Pence. The cost of 100 nails in Pence in the 1600's is how we refer to nail sizes to this day. For example, 100 small nails that sold for 4 pence were called 4d nails (4 d is the abbreviation of 4 pence). 100 larger nails that sold for 16 pence are 16d nails. And so on.
The cut nail made its appearance in the mid-1700's. For example, Thomas Jefferson established a nail factory at his Monticello plantation as a way to increase his farm income. His nail factory made both hand-forged and cut nails. It would not be until the middle-1800's that cut nails began dominating the marketplace. Cut nails are not actually "cut"--they are sheared from steel plate that is the thickness of the nail shank. Although routinely referred to as "square nails", the cutting machine tapers the nail shank as it is sheared from the steel plate. A second machine forms the head of a cut nail. With the hand-forged nail, all four sides are tapered. With the cut nail, two sides are parallel because they represent the thickness of the plate they were sheared from.
Cut nails could be manufactured much faster than hand-forged nails. As the process was mechanized, the cost per nail was less. However, cut nail factories employed operators and attendants for each machine so the process was still labor-intensive. The noise in those mills was deafening as well. Cut nails had their heyday from about 1820 (development of the Type B nail) to 1910, the advent of the wire nail.
GG~
References:
Nail manufacturing at Thomas Jefferson's Monticello http://www.monticello.org/plantation/work/nailmaking.html
Nail Industry at "Nail City"--Wheeling, WV http://wheeling.weirton.lib.wv.us/history/bus/nails.htm
Glasgow Steel Nail Ltd. www.glasgowsteelnail.com
By Dave Allen, Editor, Appalachian Blacksmiths Assn.