bsiler Posted August 2, 2009 Share Posted August 2, 2009 Been making some nails which seems to be good practice. It usually takes a few (several) heats and most of the time the heads aren't centered on the shank. Sometimes I can do some re-forging and make them half way decent. My headers aren't the best either, need to work on them some too. Could us some pointers. Thanks Billy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Ameling Posted August 2, 2009 Share Posted August 2, 2009 If the top of your nail header is level, then it is just a matter of hammer control. The first big hit sinks the metal down, but after that each blow starts to refine the head. So hitting on the off side tends to drive the metal towards you. And any sideways movement of your hammer as it hits also moves the metal a bit in the direction of the blow. The rest is just practice ... practice ... and more practice. Years ago Colonial Williamsburg decided to build a new blacksmith shop. And they wanted to do the whole project on-site with tools and methods of that early time period - 1770's. Well, they sent an order for nails to their current blacksmith shop. Peter Ross was running it at that time. He said they got an order for 13,000 nails! After the initial shock wore off, they realized that they just needed to keep ahead of the carpenters. So every day a couple of the apprentices would start the day making a couple hundred nails. He said 2 got very good at it. And it also was a good warm-up for the day's work. A number of years ago, a cache of early Roman era nails was discovered over in Britain. They had been stockpiled to build a new fort, but never got used. There were 875,000 nails in that cache/stockpile! And each size of the nails was remarkably similar to all the others - length, diameter, taper, and head. Practice, lots and lots of practice. Mikey Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Einhorn Posted August 2, 2009 Share Posted August 2, 2009 Here is a picture of the period correct nail making station that the Williamsburg smiths made in order to make large numbers of nails as quickly as possible. :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CurlyGeorge Posted August 4, 2009 Share Posted August 4, 2009 I've been reading the threads on nail heading and I have a question. I tapered my hole from the bottom side of the header to get smaller at the top. My nails still seem to stick, even after quenching. Any suggestions to solve that? I want to do more nails in my 1845 demos. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Ameling Posted August 4, 2009 Share Posted August 4, 2009 Nail headers ... break or wear in ... over time. The edges get smoothed up in use and will work a little better. It sometimes helps a little bit to have a small straight section at the very top of the hole, then the tapered/flared out bottom of the hole. And having a double ended heading tool also helps. You make a nail on one end, then let it "air cool" on that end while making another nail on the other end. It sometimes works a little better than quenching the nail to "shrink" it so that it will tap back out of the header. (A tip from one of the ABANA conferences.) Hope this helps. Mikey Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimbob Posted August 4, 2009 Share Posted August 4, 2009 I've been reading the threads on nail heading and I have a question. I tapered my hole from the bottom side of the header to get smaller at the top. My nails still seem to stick, even after quenching. Any suggestions to solve that? I want to do more nails in my 1845 demos. Try taking a small 3 square file and putting a radius on the top side of the header hole...I believe if its to sharp it tends to grab the nail Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeremy k Posted August 4, 2009 Share Posted August 4, 2009 George - Clean up your nail header like mentioned above, then when you get your nails all sized to your liking - Take another heat just before you break the nail off and do the heading - as the nail will be expanded in size - you do the heading while it's still got a good heat in it, then when it cools it will shink up more so it is removeable very easily. When I first started nails I had the same problem - working them to cold by the time the heading was done, which by then your "riveting" - give that a try and you'll find it works much much better. After you get faster then they can be done in less heats as people have seen others do. - Have Fun George !!! - JK Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CurlyGeorge Posted August 4, 2009 Share Posted August 4, 2009 Mikey, Jim & Jeremy, thanks for the advice. I see a couple of things that I need to change. I'll give it a go this next weekend. Thanks again. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimbob Posted August 4, 2009 Share Posted August 4, 2009 (edited) here's and article about the Peter Ross way to make them (nails) http://www.blacksmithing.org/Articles/Hot%20Iron%20News/Nail%20Making@Peter%20Ross%20method.pdf might help on the off center problem Edited August 4, 2009 by jimbob corrected URL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mandomaniac Posted August 4, 2009 Share Posted August 4, 2009 Was very interested in checking this article, but it seems the link does not work for me. Anyone else get it to cooperate? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimbob Posted August 4, 2009 Share Posted August 4, 2009 try it now . sorry about that! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted August 4, 2009 Share Posted August 4, 2009 Yes you have to backtrack to Florida Artist Blacksmith Association and then go to the how-to section and select Nails Peter Ross Method Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mandomaniac Posted August 5, 2009 Share Posted August 5, 2009 Very helpful drawings. I'll have to explore the FABA link as well. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.