Pierre weekly free press. (Pierre, S.D.) 1889-19??, 1906-01-18
MAKING OF NAILS.
Methods BY Which They Are
Turned Out in Great
Quantities
Wire Nail Process Is Simple
While the Cut Nail is
Less Automatic.

oldest English. industries but in Great
Britain the greater part of the product
has been hand work, in America ma
chine work
OF 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
1 many purposes for which cut nails are
1 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 to that of the
shank of the nail To be made feeds
forward at each revolution of the ma
chine piece of Wire equal to the
length of the nail and fraction of an
inch more
This is seized firmly by clamps,
which straightan while they hold it,
! and at the same time pair of laws
SO cut the Wire as to leave sharp
point to the nail
Before the clamps let go their hold
u hammer. the face Of which is die,
strikes the other end of the wire
sharp blow, which forms the head
The clamps have corrugated sur
faces, not merely to hold the nail more
securely, but to impress upon 1t
series of ridges and depressions, which
once driven home
1 The making of cut nails is less auto
matte and much harder Any one who
| has seen nailmaker at work will I'M
| dcrstand 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 equal to the
| thickness of the nail. 1t is then cut
4 into plates as wide as the nail is long
! and of such length as man can han
| die conveniently, say from fifteen to
| twenty inches.
| The nail cutting machine is heavy,
| compact piece of mechanism, not much
/ larger than a sewing machine, before
| which the nailmaker sits on stool.
1t consists Of but little more than
pair of shears, strong enough to cut
/ iron three-eighths Of an inch thick, and
ID heading hammer.
/ ANY one who will examine a cut nail
will find that the shank tapers, not ON
all four sides from the head as he may
have supposed. but OH two sides only.
The other two sides are parallel. 1t is
the neglect to notice this fact which
leads SO many persons to start nail
i into wood in a way which splits it.
Prom small furnace near the ma
chine the naiimakcr draws plat.,
which has come to a dull red heat.
| Holding this by means of pinchers, he
4 feeds the edge farthest from him to th,
Jaws of the machine. AS they descend
they shear 4 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 it,
/ Now, il the mailer We're simply
! to push the plate forward again the
! tapering character Of the strip which
+ is sliced off would destroy the rectan-
| gular shape Of the plate, and the nails
would neither be of a length nor have
| square heads and points. To obyiate
! this difficulty the plate must be turned
1 over between every Two nails that are
i cut, so that the head of the nail will
4 come alternately from one side of the
\ plate and from the other
\ This-and it is the principal part Of
the nailer's works. done with sim
4 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
! il order that the end Of the plate may
meet the shears at the right moment
and in the right place, the Difficulty
IND the tiresonle nature Of nail
makers work may be imagined Some
| idea of il may BE had by holding the
/ thick end of 4 single in Il pair of
tongs and attempting so to turn it
| with a. single motion of the wrist that
/ alternate sides will lie uppermost on a
1 table.
Two II, four tioP5-tllat is, will cut from
TWO to four n0ii8-;, second, the smaller
/ aaiis, Of course, being made more
1 rapidly than the larger ones. AS the
psate grows cool 1t is returned to the
oven 10 be reheated, and another plate
takes IFS place.
\ nailnaker's hands and arms al
ways show the character Of his; work
! BY the tremendous development of GER
! tain special muscles and by caIlouses.
which become as hard as horn.
The common names of nails-sixpen-
| ny, eightpenny, tenpeiny, and so forth
are believed to be coruptions Of SIX
| pound. eight pound and ten pound.
names given in England to denote the
4 weight OF one thousand ola given kind
Of nails. Sixpenny and eightpennys
was an easy step from .sixpun'' and
'eightpun' - Edward Willistoa TrenMs
! in Youths Companion
The other Way Around.
1T seems to me, exclaimed Aunt
Rachel, you two are always, quarrel.
] ing when / come in z,
4 On the contrary, ma'am.. yocifef
| ated the masculine end OF the domestic
controversy. Y Cd a WAYS Sha,5De11 in