CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF NAILS
Year: 1850

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
MANLY, junior, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Manufacturer,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, bearing date at Westminster, the Twelfth day of June,
(One thousand eight hundred and fifty), in the thirteenth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
John Manly, my exors, adññors, and assigns, Her especial license, full power,
sole privilege and authority, that I, the said John Manly, my exors, adñors,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said John Manly, my exors, admors,
or assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time and
at all times 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, my Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
MANUFACTURE OF NAILS;" in which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso
that I, the said John Manly, shall cause a particular description of the nature
of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, by
an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, to be inrolled in Her
Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six calendar months next and
immediately after the date of the said in part recited Letters Patent, as in
and by the same, reference being thereunto had, will more fully and at large
appear.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
John Manly, do hereby declare the nature of my Invention, and the
manner in which the same is to be performed, are fully described and ascer-
tained in and by the following statement thereof, reference being had to the
Drawing hereunto annexed, and to the letters and figures marked thereon,
that is to say
The first part of my Invention consists in ornamenting the heads of nails
in the following manner:-I first cast the nails in the usual manner with
plain heads, or with heads on which the pattern to be produced is partially
formed. I then form the pattern on the plain head, or perfect the pattern
partially formed on the head, by casting, by stamping, or pressing the said
heads in suitably engraved ornamental dies, by the methods of stamping and
pressing well known and commonly practised, and which said methods of
stamping and pressing I do not think it necessary to describe. In the process
of stamping or pressing I prefer sinking the pattern in the upper die, the
lower die having the same pattern formed on it in relievo, and also having a hole
drilled in its middle to receive the spike of the nail. I sometimes place the
(the said nail in such
die in which the pattern is sunk underneath the nail
cases being placed in the die head downwards), and strike the said nail into
the said die by a steel punch, which method of stamping is also commonly
practised.
The second part of my Invention consists in ornamenting the heads of nails
in the following manner, namely:-I take nails made with plain heads and
cover them with ornamental metallic shells or coverings, which said shells
may either be cut out of sheet metal rolled with a pattern upon it, or be
made by stamping plain blanks or discs of metal in suitably engraved orna-
mental dies. I then form the said discs into shells, as in the making of
buttons; that is to say, I turn back the edges of the said disc, and, placing the
heads of the partially-formed nails in the said shells, complete the said nails
by the operation of dies, which bring the head of the nail and the orna-
mental shell covering the same into close contact, and secure them together.
Fig. 1 represents in section a nail so ornamented. a is the head of the nail;
b, the ornamental shell, the edge of which is turned under the head of the
nail.
The third part of my Invention consists in the manufacture of nails of
malleable or cast iron, and afterwards making the same white by tinning or
otherwise, and polishing by stamping in bright dies, or bronzing or bluing
irou nails, or tinning and afterwards lacquering, so as to give to the said
nails the appearance of brass. The said nails, if they are intended to have a

page_text: white or brass colour, are first cast in malleable iron and annealed; they are
then tinned in the usual way, and afterwards stamped in bright or polished dies,
by which a smooth surface is obtained, thereby saving the ordinary process of
burnishing. If I wish the said nails to resemble brass, I lacquer them with
a suitably coloured lacquer. I sometimes polish the nails after they are
stamped by rubbing them with leather, the said nails being first stuck on
iron pans, as in the usual way of lacquering brass nails. When I wish the
iron nails to resemble bronze, I stamp them in the usual way, and lacquer
them with a green lacquer or varnish, or they may be brightened by friction
in a shaking barrel, and afterwards heated until they assume either a purple
colour or a blue colour, as required, after which they are lacquered. I some-
times omit the stamping process in making bronzed or blue nails, and cast the
nails from common iron; stamping is less necessary in such cases, but I proceed
in other respects in the manner described.
The fourth part of my Invention consists of an improved method of stamp-
ing the heads of nails. In the ordinary method of stamping the heads of
brass or iron nails considerable force is required to spread out the head to
the proper size. By the following process, a considerable saving in labour and
tools is effected, and the heads of nails may be expanded to a greater size.
The nails to be stamped are scoured in the usual well-known manner, and
are immersed for a short time in a weak solution of soap in water, which
solution I prefer using hot'; the said nails are afterwards dried on a stove and
are then ready for stamping; the small quantity of soap left on the nails facili-
tates the action of the dies in spreading the metal. In making the solution
of soap, I prefer using one ounce of yellow soap to four gallons of water, but
I do not confine myself to the use of any particular kind of soap, or any
particular strength of solution.
The fifth part of my Invention consists in forming the heads of nails of
horn or paper, and is carried into effect according to the method pursued in
making horn or paper buttons, excepting that the dies I use are formed
so as to admit the spike of a nail instead of the usual button shank.
The sixth part of my Invention consists in covering the heads of nails with
any
fabric or flexible non-metallic material, the said fabric or material being
applied to the said heads of nails by the methods adopted in covering buttons
with the said fabrics or covering materials. Although I do not limit myself
to any particular methods of applying the said materials to the heads of nails,.
I will describe the methods by which I prefer effecting the same. Figs. 2, 3,
and 4 illustrate one of these methods. In describing this part of my Inven-.

page_text: tion, I will describe and represent in a general manner only the several stages
of the process I employ, but deem it unnecessary to describe and represent
the several tools by which the covering is effected, as the said tools are, with
the exception of provision being made to admit the spike of the nail, similar
to those commonly employed in the manufacture of covered buttons, and the
construction and use of the said tools are well known. c, Fig. 2, is a metallic
shell; d is a disc of the covering material; e, the nail. By the operation of
the ordinary dies for making covered buttons, the edge of the covering material
is gathered into the interior of the shell, and the head of the nail also brought
into the said shell as represented in Fig. 3, in which Figure the same letters
are used to indicate the same parts as in Fig. 2. By a subsequent operation
the several parts are compressed and the nail finished, as represented in Fig. 4,
in which Figure the same letters indicate the same parts as in Figs. 2 and 3.
I. sometimes carry this part of my Invention into effect in the following
manner, which modification is especially applicable in the use of costly fabrics
or materials for covering nails, as a less piece of the covering material is
required to cover a nail of the same size than when the last-described method
is resorted to. The covering material f, Fig. 5, is attached to the metallic
disc of which the shell is to be made by the edge of the said metallic disc
being turned over the edge of the disc of the covering material, as represented.
The said covered metallic disc is then made into a shell, Fig. 6, and the said
shell attached to the head of the nail, as represented in Fig. 7. In the several
Figures 5, 6, and 7, the covering material is indicated by the letter f, and
the metallic shell by the letter g. In Fig. 7 the nail is indicated by the
letter h. I sometimes also attach the covering material to the head of the
nail by a metallic rim of the form shewn in section in Fig. 8. In Fig. 9,
which represents a nail made according to this part of my Invention, i is the
rim; j, the covering material; and k, the head of the nail. The methods by
which the several parts of the nails illustrated in Figs. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8,
and 9 are put together are well known and commonly practised in the manu-
facture of covered. buttons, and I do not consider it necessary further to
describe them.
9,
The seventh part of my Invention consists in covering the heads of nails
with silk or other thread, which said thread may be wound round the head
of the nail in the same way as in making that kind of button called "Leek
silk buttons."
The last part of my Invention consists in covering the heads of nails by
applying thereto vegetable fibre in a state of fine division, such as is used in

page_text: the manufacture of that kind of paper hangings called fock paper hangings,
by covering the head of the nail first with any suitable adhesive matter, and
afterwards applying the said vegetable fibre thereto; or the said vegetable fibre
or any fabric or covering material may be first attached to sheets of metal by
any suitable adhesive matter, and afterwards cut into discs, which said discs
may be made into shells to be applied to the heads of nails, in the manner
herein-before described with regard to metallic shells.
Having now described the nature of my said Invention, and the man-
ner in which the same is to be performed, I wish it to be understood that.
I do not limit myself to the precise methods of carrying my Invention into
effect, herein described and illustrated by the accompanying Drawing, as the
same may be varied without departing from the nature of my said Invention;
neither do I claim exclusive right to the use of the processes by which I carry
the sixth part of my Invention into effect, excepting the application of the said
processes to covering nails; but I claim,-
Firstly, the manufacture of nails having ornamental heads, the said orna-
mental heads being produced by the combined processes of casting and
stamping.
Secondly, the manufacture of nails having ornamental heads, produced by
covering the heads of nails with an ornamental metallic shell or covering
attached to the said nails by dies or by pressure.
Thirdly, the stamping of tinned malleable iron nails in polished dies,
thereby dispensing with the process of burnishing; and also the manufac-
turing of bronzed or blued nails from malleable or other iron, in the manner
described.
Fourthly, the method herein described of facilitating the stamping of the
heads of nails, that is to say, by coating the said nails with a film of soap
before stamping.
fabric or
Fifthly, the manufacture of nails having heads covered with
non-metallic covering material, whether the said covering be effected by
any of the processes herein described, or by any other process in which the
several parts of the nail are put together by dies or pressure.
Sixthly, the manufacture of nails having heads of horn or paper.
Seventhly, the ornamenting the heads of nails by winding thereon silk or
other thread after the manner pursued in the manufacture of "Leek silk
buttons."
Lastly, the manufacture of nails having ornamental heads, produced by
attaching to the heads of the said nails any fabric or flexible non-metallic
covering or vegetable fibre (such as is used in the manufacture of flock paper