NEW METHOD AND PROCESSES IN THE MANUFACTURING OF NAILS
Year: 1808

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, JOSEPHI
WILLMORE, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Silversmith, and
JOIN TONKS, of the same place, Plater, do send greeting.
WHEREAS His most Excellent Majesty did, by His Letters Patent under
the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, bearing
date at Westminster, the Twenty-eighth day of May, in the forty-eighth
year of His reign, give and grant unto us, the said Joseph Willmore and
John Tonks, our executors, administrators, and assigns, His special licence,
full power, solo privilege and authority, that we, the said Joseph Willmore
and John Tonks, our executors, administrators, and assigns, during the term
of years therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and
vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, our
"NEW METHOD AND PROCESSES IN THE MANUFACTURING OF NAILS;" in which
said Letters Patent there is contained a proviso obliging us, the said Joseph'
Willmore and John Tonks, under our hands and seals, to cause a particular
description of the nature of our said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, to be inrolled in His Majesty's High Court of Chancery
within one calendar month next and immediately after the date of the said in
part recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same, relation being thereunto
had, may more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, we, the said
Joseph Willmore and John Tonks, do hereby declare that the nature of our

page_text: said Invention, and the manner in which the same is to be performed, are as
herein-after set forth, that is to say :-
We take a nail rod of a size suitable to the size of the nail intended to be
manufactured, and, applying it to a common screw press mounted with proper
cutters, cut off from the end of the rod two pieces at once, obliquely across
the rod in one place and directly across it in another, as is shewn in Figure 1
at a, c, and b. Two studs or stops are set up, one at c and the other at d,
which are attached to the press, and are adjustable by screws or other means,
the stud c being adjustable or moveable in the direction of the rod, for the
purpose of ascertaining the length of the nail, and both c and d being adjust-
ablo in the cross direction of the rod, so that the rod being pressed gently
endways against c, and sideways against c and d, the obliquity of the cut
according to the kind of nail to be made is thereby determined, as well as the
length of the nail, and the length of the two pieces may either be nearly
equal or unequal by means of the said adjustments, as will be evident on duc
consideration. This may be called the first operation.
The second operation is to anneal the pieces so cut off if the iron should
not be sufficiently malleable, which we do in the usual and well-known
manner.
The third operation is that of heading, which for clasp-head nails consists
of two parts, one for gathering and the other for forming the head of the nail.
The first part of this operation is performed by putting a piece cut off the rod of
iron, as before described, into a pair of clams, leaving as much of the thick end
projecting above the clams as is sufficient to form the head. These clams
have steel bits let into them, with sharp edges, which press only against the two
opposite sides of the piece, and which have the effect of two chisels, when the
punch of the press is brought down upon the piece with considerable force,
and raise or gather up iron on each side towards forming the head. The
second part of this operation is to put the piece thus prepared into another
pair of clams, having bits formed to correspond to the under side of the head,
and the punch, having the impression of the upper side of the head engraved
or sunk into it, is brought to press strongly upon the head in the clams, and
thereby the clasp head is properly formed. For nails intended to have rose heads
or any other kind of heads except clasp heads, the first part of this operation
is not absolutely necessary, tho' we think it adviseable to be done; but the bits,
which for clasp nails must have sharp edges, must for other kind of nails have
blunt edges, to prevent the under cutting. For the second part of this opera-
tion, the piece is either put into a pair of clans (or into the tool commonly
called a bore), and then pressed with punches properly engraved or sunk,

page_text: according to the kind of head wanted. By the first operation the piece cut off
the rod of iron is formed something like a mortice chisel.
The present or fourth operation is to point it, which is done by putting the picce
into a bed of steel, in which is cut a nick or groove d, having parallel sides, see
the plan C, Fig. 2, but the bottom rising toward the end where the point of the
nail is to be formed, see the section B of the bed. The punch is shewn at A,
and the end which presses upon the point of the nail is made to project farther than
the other part, so as to meet the corresponding part of the bed when the punch
is brought upon the nail. The groove or nick in the bed should be just wide
enough to receive the piece easily, but prevent it from twisting when the
impression is made. The piece is put twice into the nick, once with the chisel
end lying horizontal, and next turned a quarter round to press the chisel edge
into a pointed form. If the nails, by the strong pressure. which is necessary in
this operation, should become too hard to clench, we in such case annical them
in the ordinary way, which may be called the fifth operation. The third,
fourth, and fifth operations above described we apply to nails or pieces cut off
from sheet or rolled iron in the ordinary way; but as they, in consequence of
the fifth operation, which is necessary to give them the quality' of clenching,
are apt to be too soft to drive well, we apply a sixth operation, viz.
Quenching them when red hot in water or other proper fluid, which.gives
them stiffness enough to drive without destroying the quality of clenching.
Fig. 3 shews a pair of clams, with bits or dies let into them which can be
renewed from time to time with more ease and at less expence than by the
usual method. These bits are proper for the first part of the third operation.
Fig. 4, a pair of bits or dies proper for making either rose heads or flat heads.
Fig. 5, a pair of bits or dies proper for the second part of the third operation
for clasps-head nails; the dotted lines shew the head of the nail. Fig. 6 is a
view of the common screw press, in which is shewn the side screw or pin a, by
which the clams are firmly pressed together at the time the punch is pressed
down upon the nail. This pin or screw is generally worked by the foot, by
means of the lever b, connected with a treadle, while the hand applies its force.
to the handle of the fly; but we fix to the head of the main screw a portion, of
a pulley A (or a whole one), to which is attached a rope, chain, belt, or other
connecting pliable material, which plying round the edge of another pully B,
fixed to the frame of the press and standing vertical, descends and is attached
to the moveable end of the treadle; and on this treadle we place a weight
heavy enough to press the clams together with sufficient force. By means of.
the latter-described machine, which we only claim as our Invention, the