Hi,

 

A couple of weeks ago I decided to try and forge a nail header that extends down the anvil pritchel hole. This makes the tool more stable and fixed in position, especially when you angle the blows for the faceted finish on the head. This one is for fairly large nails, ~7x7mm hole.

 

 

 

I got some questions on how it was done, so I made this "how-to":

 

 

Here I show how it's used:

 

Phenomenal, Tubbe.  Seems like there's nothing you aren't capable of doing to a master level!

Very nice! I love the design... May have to make one for myself. Thanks for sharing.

Great stuff!!  Very nice, thanks for sharing.

Saving to my "stuff I gotta make" file.  :)

Hey Tubbe!

 

You can constantly achieve that sort of rough scandinavian perfection which I like so much! Thank you for showing us and teaching.

 

Greetings

 

Gergely

Nice looking header. It really stood out in the nailmaking video.

Thanks for that video Tubbe.  I'll have to try to remember drawing out the nail the way you do,  seems to keep the heat quite well.  It's been added to my growing library.  :)

Thanks for the instructions and video, Tubbe. You explain things very clearly.
I have never made a nail, but I think it would be good to have some hand-forged nails to hang tools on in the demo forge. Much better than old roofing nails!
So I will give it a try. I would like to know what size of round bar you started with. Looks like a pretty hefty piece of stuff to 'forge down to fit pritchel hole'.
(PS. I note you're in Sweden. I had Swedish visitors to my forge today and they were impressed to see I was using a Kohlswa anvil. They said the Kohlswa company still exists there. Nice people. They are taking home a genuine Australian long-horn bull wall hook)

Hi ausfire!

 

Thanks. I started with a bar of 35mm round for my header, but as always with blacksmithing you can do things in many ways. If you find it had to forge down you could start with a bar that already matches your pritchel hole and upset it a short distance form the end. When you think it's enough to form a shoulder, cut off and continue upsetting (like forging the head of a big nail). If that makes sense...

 

I'm impressed as well :) I have 3 Kohlswa anvils in the shop right now. Yes the company is still in business, but the new anvils are ridiculously expensive. Here's a link.

 

A long-horn bull wall hook sounds like a nice souvenir! Instead of a plastic fridge magnet depicting the Sydney opera house......

 

Hi ausfire!
 
Thanks. I started with a bar of 35mm round for my header, but as always with blacksmithing you can do things in many ways. If you find it had to forge down you could start with a bar that already matches your pritchel hole and upset it a short distance form the end. When you think it's enough to form a shoulder, cut off and continue upsetting (like forging the head of a big nail). If that makes sense...

That makes a lot of sense to me, Tubbe. I think I would have more success doing that than forging down 35mm steel. I had a thought that a really big bolt with a shank the same size as the pritchell hole would be a good starting point too.
Thank you for the advice; I appreciate it.
(And you made me smile - I'm not fond of Opera House fridge magnets either!)

OK, so I thought I had better have a go at making a nail header. I think the pritchel hole on my anvil might be a bit small so I reckon the hardy hole would suffice. I had a look around the scrap and selected an old bolt that had a substantial head on it and a shank about the same as the hardy hole. I think it was a wrought iron bolt as it appeared to have some layered structure.

I cut the head off with about a half inch to set in the hardy hole and drilled a pilot hole as described in Tubbe's instructions. Then a half inch hole to within about a 1/4 inch of the top.

Into the forge and made the square hole. I wasn't sure about hardening it, so just quenched it in oil. I was going to round off the bolt head but figured it would make no difference being square and I don't have a fuller to put in a handle groove. (Another thing to make).
I found another bolt in case one didn't work out. Bent an old welding rod for a handle and attached. Yeah, I know I shouldn't have used the mig. When I make a fullering tool I will make another with a respectable wrapped handle.

I don't know it they work yet. Tomorrow I will make a nail.

How did the nail headers work? Well, I'm quite happy with them. The welded handles created a bit of jarring but I expected that. I was a bit nervous about making the first one so I did it before visitors arrived and it worked fine. So I made a few more. Not perfect, but quite usable.
Thanks again to Tubbe for posting an excellent video and details of the nail header. The next one I make will have the wrapped handle.
Here's my first go at nails:

Ausfire, welding on loops of cable (wire rope) instead of solid rod handles is great for struck tools, whether on the anvil, under the power hammer, or in a fly press.

 

The other alternative is to make a loop in one end of the rod, and weld just one end to the tool, sort of an elongated letter 'P'.

Like the bolt idea, too... I have one hanging around I want to try this with now.  Thanks

Nice nails! Many ways to do a header...

 

Nice nails! Many ways to do a header...

 
Yes, the nails are fine but even though they work, the header tools are a bit rough. Yours have an artistry and finesse about them which I like. Gives us something to aspire to. I am making one with a wrap handle today. Haven't made a fuller for the grrove yet so I'll try using a worn hot cut.

ausfire: might consider throwing together a spring fuller using the same stock you intend to wrap with

Eric, I would like to use 1/4 rod to wrap, but wouldn't that be a bit light to make a spring fuller from? I had intended to make a guillotine type fuller using some rounded 1/4 plate as the 'jaws'. I have seen pics of spring fullers but never had much success in making one. Things don't seem to line up right.

It is a bit light and won't last terribly well. I might weld a couple of pieces of small angle or other handy scrap on either side of the bottom (vertically) to keep the top aligned. Main benefit of it is I can fab it up faster than I can pry one of my kids off of the PS/3 to hold a top tool (or the work) ;-).

 

Swing fuller is a more substantial solution.

Well, making a groove around a nail header for a wrap handle using a hot cut was harder than I thought. The side opposite the cut kept closing under the hammer. I managed but the groove was untidy and needed some filing to widen it for the 1/4 inch handle loop.
Here's the result:

A bit rough and not as classy as Tubbe's masterpiece but hey, it works. The next one will be better as I have finished making a fuller which will hopefully make a good groove. I'll post a pic in another thread.

On preventing unwanted deformation, one trick is to quench the side that goes down on the anvil as it comes out of the fire. This is especially true when using a gas forge, as small items tend to heat more evenly than in a solid fuel forge.

 

A little harder to juggle is setting up a profile supporting bottom fuller on the anvil: a bent length of small rod with one end stuck in the hardy hole will work.

 

The ultimate answer is the blacksmith's helper, either the flesh and blood kind, or the mechanical variety. I REALLY need to get around to making that guillotine tool set...........

Thanks John. Yes, I should have tried that ... form half first then quench that part and form the other.
I would be interested to see how you go about the guillotine set.

Hello.

 

Made a video on how I made another nail header like this:

 

Smooth masterwork! Thank you for making and posting it!

 

Bests to you:

 

Gergely

Nice work, as always Tubbe. That's pretty much how I make my nail headers .. a bit rougher than yours though. (But they work OK.)
Gotta make myself one of those spring fullers.