Western liberal. (Lordsburg, N.M.) 1887-1919, 1906-02-23
CUT AND WIRE NAILS
METHODS ~ WHICH THEY ARE
TURNED OUT IN VAST QUANTITIES.

Almost wholly Automatic, While
the Cut Nail Process II Less Auto
MATTE and Much Harder.
The making Of nails IS one OF the
Oldest American, as It is one Of the
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
an 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 q size equal to that Of the
shank OF the nail 10 be made feeds
forward at each revolution Of the ma
chine a piece Of wire equal to the
length Of the nail and q fraction Of an
inch more.
1nNa - ftAA|u AAAg " NA@htR'f
which s~traighten while they hold it,
and at the same time a pair of jaws
So cut the wire as to leave a sharp
point to the nail.
Before the clamps let 90 their hold
u hammer, the face OF which is q die,
strikes the other end Of the wire a
sharp blow, which forms the head.
The clamps have corrugated sur
faces, not merely to hold the nail more
securely, but 10 impress upon it n
series OF ridges and depressions, which
make It harder to draw out when
once driven home.
The making of cut nails IS less auto
matte and much harder. Any II who
has seen a nailmaker at work will un-
dcr8tand the aptncss of the old expires.
sion, TO work Ike a mailer" The iron
for cut nails ia first rolled into sheets,
the thickness Of which Is equal to the
thickness OF the nail. It is then cut
into plates as vile as the nail is long
and OF such length as n man can han.
die conveniently, say from fifteen tc
twenty inches.
The nail cutting machine Is a heavy,
compact piece OF mechanism, not much
larger than n sewing machine, before
which the nailmaker sits ON a stool
1t consists of but little more than q
pair Of shears. strong enough to cut
iron three-eighths of an inch thick, and
a heading hammer.
Any ono who win examine a cut mai
will lind that the shank tapers, not oI
all four sides from the head. as he ma!
have supposed, but on two sides only
The other two sides are parallel. II 4
the neglect 60 notice this fact whici
leads 50 many persons TO start a mai
into wooG ia q way which splits it.
From a small furnace near the ina
chine the nailmaker draws a plat
which has come TO n dull red heal
Holding this by means Of plnchers, b
feeds the edge farthest from him to tn
jaws Of the machine. As they descen
they shear n tapering strip from I'll
edge. This is seized by clamps, whlc
hold It just long enough for the head
ing hammer to strike the blow whlc
forms the head and then drop it.
Now, IL the mailer were simpl
to push the plate forward again III
tppering character of the strip whic
is sliced of would destroy the rectar
gular shape Of the plate, and the nail
would neither be Of a length nor hav
square heads and points. To obvlat
this difficulty the plate must be turne
over between every two nails that ar
cut, so that the head Of the nail wi
come alternately from n side Of tn
plate and from the other.
This-and 1t is the principal part 0
the nailer's works. done with a sin
pie turn Of the wrist, and the plate /
fed forward as before. AS the ms
chimes run at considerable speed, an
the "1op" must be accurately time
in order that the end of the plate ma
meet tie shears at the right mOmen
and I'm the right place, the difficult
and the tiresOme nature Of a mai
makers work may be imagined. Som
idea OF it may be had by holding th
thick end OF a single in a pair O
tongs and attempting so to turn
with a single motion Of the wrist tina
alternate sides will lie uppermost on
table.
= good nailmaker win make fror
two 20 four hops-that is, will cut froI
two to four nails-a second, the smalle
nails, OF course, being made NOR
rapidly than the larger nes AS III
plate grows cool It IS returned TO tn
oven 20 be relocated. and another plat
takes It's place.
a nailmakcr's hands and arms al
ways show the character Of his worl
by the tremendous development Of Ger
tain special muscles and by callOuses
which become as hard as horn.
Tie common m of nails-sixpe1
ny, elghtpenny, tenpenny, aud so fort
are believed to be %corruptions OF ST.
pound, eight pound and ten pound
names given in England 10 denote th
weight Of one thousand OF a given kin
OF nails. s%lxpenny and eightpenn
was an easy step from "slxpun'" an
"eightpun Edward Willlston Trent
IN Youths Companion.
Just n Hint.
Auntie-HOw smart you look thi
afternoon. dearie! Dolly (whO hal
been forbidden TO ask II she may sta.