Eaton weekly Democrat. [volume] (Eaton, Ohio) 1866-1875, 1870-08-25
Nails for Out-of-DoOr Work.

EVERY farmer, says Hearth and Home,
who has had to do with the repairs OF out
buildings, finding it needful to constantly
replenish his stock of nails, which are
used in various uncomfortable ways, has
many times noticed the havoc that rust
which the nail is driven. Three
years in some states of the wood
will suffice to either rust the nail hole
large enough to make whatever Is tasten-
ed with the nail insecure, or, perhaps, 70
impair the vitality of the nail itself.
Various plans have been devised to rem
edy this waste, which COSTS the country no
small sum each year.
al recent article in the Tschnoloqist talks
so sensibly upon this matter that we copy
it entire:
every one is familiar with the fact
that a piece of rusty iron wrapped in cot
ton or linen cloth soon destroys the tex
ture of the fabric. A rushing nail, for ex-
ample, if laid upon a few rags, will Don
produce large holes in them, or it win, at
least, render every point that it touches
50 rotten that the cloth will readily fall
to pieces at these points, and holes will
be produced by the slightest hard usage.
Why this is SO it is not our purpose to in
vesLigate. We merely state q wellknown
fact, and draw from it the conclusion that
iron, during the process of rusting, tends
I w ACokAOJ my NOES116A0 404O = ~ 40
it may be in contact This explains, to a
certain extent, the rapid destruction OF
the wood that surrounds the nails used in
out door work, whereby the nail is soon
left in a hole much larger than itself
and all power of adhesion is lost. Part
of this effect is, no doubt, due to the &C.
ton of water and air, which creep along
the surface of The nail by capillary at
traction, and tend to produce r~ottennesi
in the wood as well as oxidation in the
IRON But when we compare an old nail
hole with q similar hole that has been ek
posed during an equal time, but hnec
with q wooden pin instead of an iron nail
We inc that h wood surrounding ia
wooden pin has suffered least, n w
may, therefore, fairly attribute q destruct
i've action to b rusting of THERON. i
might, at first sight, be supposed that, a
the oxide of iron is more bulky than tn
pure iron, the hole would be fled more
tightly and the nail held more firmly Il
Its place. But, although this effect is pro
duced in the first instance, yet the de
structfon of the woody fibre and the pull
verization of the oxide soon overbalanc'
it, and the nail becomes loose. Ofcourse
the iron itself being also destroyed, it
strength is diminished, and we have
therefore, q double incentive for prevent
ing or diminishing the action that w
J have described. The only way to pre-
9LA0 6O1AOA IL W OONO4 tA0 81 y
some substance that will prevent oxida
tion. This might be done by Timing, a
is common with carpet-tacks, which ar
| now extensively timed for he purpose o
preventing them from rustiAg, and thu
t rotting holes in the carpets. Coat
ing them with oil or tallow woul,
/ be efficient if the act of driving dii
not remove the protecting matter entirel.
FROM a large portion of the surface. But
: even then, it viii be found that the oil o
} fat Is stripped off the point and gathere
: about the head in such q way as to pre-
1 vent the entrance of air and moistur
D into the hole. The most efficient way t
; coat nails with grease is to heat them t
f q point sufficient to cause the grease t
j smoke, and then pour the grease owe
( them, stirring them about in a pot @
: other vessel. When the nails are no
the melted grease will attach itself t
them more firmly than it would have don
if they were cold-indeed, SO firm that
will require actual abrasion of the NETS
to separate it. In erecting fences, layin
plank or board sidewalks, and the like,
. becomes an important matter to securet h
nails against the influence that We hav
0 mentioned, and yet he work must !
done rapidly and cheaply. Nails may /
may simply be dipped in oil or paint Z
o the moment when they are driven il
And we have found, by experience, tn,
e in cases where it is not advisable to pail
p the whole fence, it il, nevertheless, q GOO
q plan to go over the work and touch Il
b head Of every nail with a brush dipped
oil or paint prepared so as to DC of Il
q same color as old wood"