Clarke courier. [volume] (Berryville, Va.) 1869-1997, 1905-10-11
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CUT AND WIRE NAILS
METHODS BY WHICH THEY ARE
TURNED OUT IN VAST QUANTITIES.
The Wire Nail Process t. simple and
Almost Wholly Automatic. While
the Cut Nail Process Il Le.s Auto
matte and Much Harder.

Almost Wholly Automatic. While
the Cut Nail Process Il Le.s Auto
matte and Much Harder.
The making OF nails is one OF the
Oldest American. as Il Is one OF the
Oldest English. Industries. but in Great
Britain the greater part OF the product
has been hand work. I'm America ma
chine work
or modern nails. the wire or French
nails and the common cut nails are
made in quantities which far exceed
all other kinds. The wire nails have
increased enormously In general use
during recent years. but there are still
many purposes for which cut nails are
preferred.
The process OF making wire nails Is
exceedingly simple and almost wholly
automatic. a large reel or spool Of
wire OF a size equal 10 that OF the
shank OF the nail 10 be made feeds
forward az each revolution OF the ma
chine a piece OF wire equal TO the
length OF the nail and n fraction OF an
inch more
This Is seized firmly by clamps.
which straighten while they hold Il,
and at the same time pair OF Jaws
so cut the wire as 10 leave a sharp
point 10 the nail.
Before the clamps let 70 their hold
"A hammer. the face OF which is a die,
strikes the other end OF the wire n
sharp blow. which forms the head.
The clamps have corrugated sur
faces, not merely TO hold the nail more
securely. but TO impress upon Il a
series OF ridges and depressions, which
make IL harder TO draw out when
once driven home.
The making OF cut nails is less auto
matte and much harder Any one who
has seen nailmuker az work will I'M
derstand the aptness OF the old express.
sion. TO work like a Mailer" The iron
for cut nails Is first rolled into sheets.
the thickness OF which Is eQum TO the
thickness Of the nail. Ii is then cut
Into plates as wide as the nail Is long
and OF such length as a man can han.
die conveniently. say from fifteen 70
twenty inches.
The nail cutting machine Is n heavy.
compact piece OF mechanism. not much
larger than n sewing machine. before
which the nailmaker sits on n stool.
Ii consists OF but little more than a
pair Of shears. strong enough TO cut
iron three-eighths OF an inch thick. and
a heading hammer.
Any one who viii examine cut nail
Will find that the shank tapers. not on
all four sides from the head. as he may
have supposed. but on two sides only.
The other two sides are parallel. IL is
the neglect 10 notice this fact which
leads so many persons to start a nail
into wood in n way which splits II.
From small furnace near the ma
chine the nailmaker draws n plate
which has come TO duh red heat.
Holding this by means Of pinchers. he
reeds the edge farthest from him to the
jaws Of the machine As they descend
they shear a tapering strip from the
edge. This is seized by clamps, which
hold 1t just long enough for the head
Ing hammer to strike the blow which
forms the head and then drop il.
Now, II the mailer were simply
to push the plate forward again the
tapering character OF the strip which
Is sliced of would destroy the rectan.
gular shape OF the plate, and the nails
would neither be OF length nor have
square heads and points. To obviate
this difficulty the plate must be turned
over between every two nails that are
cut, so that the head OF the nail will
come alternately from one side of the
plate and from the other.
This-and 1t is the principal part Of
the nailer's works. done with n sim
pie turn OF the wrist, and the plate is
fed forward as before. As the ma
chimes run at considerable speed. and
the flop" must be accurately timed
IN order that the end of the plate may
meet the shears at the right moment
and In the right place. the difficulty
and the tiresome nature of a nail
makers work may be imagined. Some
luea OF II may be had by holding the |
mick end Of a shingle in pair of |
tongs and attempting so to turn IL |
with a single motion Of the wrist that |
alternate sides will lie uppermost ON n |
table.
COCO nallmaker VIII make from |
TWO to four flops--that is, will cut from
TWO to four nails-a second, the smaller
halls, or course. being made more
rapidly than the larger ones. As the
plate grows cool IL is returned To the
oven to be reheated, and another plate
takes It's place.
a nailmaker's hands and arms al
ways show the character of his work
oy the tremendous development of GER
taln special muscles and by calIouses.
whlch become as hard as horn.
Inc common names OF nails-sixpen-
n.y. eightpenny. tenpenny, and SO forth
are believed to be corruptions of six
pound eight pound and ten pound.
names given I'm England TO denote the
weight OF one thousand OF a given kind
't nails. Sixpenny and eightpeunv
was an easy step from "sixpun'" and
'eightpun'."-Edward Winiston Trentz /,
n Youths Companion.