Hand forging Nails isn't as easy as it looks
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- Опубліковано 23 лют 2022
- Making nail between hammer and anvils sounds easy, but it isn't as easy as it looks. Nail making was a specialized trade and I have heard that a skilled nailer could make more than 100 nails in an hour. As a blacksmith, I am certainly not a skilled nail maker
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It's wild to think that all nails used to be made like this, or similarly to this at least. Makes it clear why joinery was so important!
Absolutely! I've heard that people moving would burn down their cabin to take nails with them at one point. Craziness. Especially in out world where we dispose of everything.
Best nailmakers would make 1500 pcs a Day witch is nuts i made like 40/8 hours of school.
@@hipjazzbone I believe that is a myth, as the intense heat would have made the nails worthless and brittle
@@davidbritt5020as opposed to the hotter temperature they reach when being forged? 😂
@@Uncephalized forging is more than just making something really hot.
I think this is a really great way to practice, maybe even more-so than making leaves, since it involves similar steps. Once you have a nail header, they're quicker to produce, and it really feels great to put one up in your shop and use it as a hook (or to actually nail something into place). And I agree, some people can make it look really easy, turning out these beautiful nail heads, while half of mine come out looking like tiny golf clubs 😂
In a shop I volunteered in for public demonstrations at a living history museum, the blacksmith wouldn't let anyone do any other work until they could consistently make a quality nail using one of the small anvils and the nail header. It taught us hammer control and good hand/eye coordination, and was a great way to build skill.
Hay John, This gives me a new appreciation for the makers of all those square nails I find when I'm metal detecting.
We owned a house in East Texas that was built in 1870. I did lots of remodeling, including new flooring. Every nail was a hand cut nail, and I pulled hundreds of them. I’ve got some in a jar and they look just like the ones you made in this video.
Making one nail in one heat - that´s the deal of the master. You know how to do the job. Thank you for sharing your knowledge, Mr Switzer
I liked how NWS&W (North Western Steel and Wire made nails when I worked there, just insert two wires into the machine and let it go, made 2 at a time and somewhere around 150-200 a minute 😛😁👍🏼
You're so right, it's definitely not as easy as it looks! I just forged my first nail (and first blacksmithing project ever!). I love how everyone does it just a little differently and there's no "right" way to do it. I'm learning from my dad who learned at Old Sturbridge Village, a living history museum in Massachusetts, almost 50 years ago. I'm documenting my journey learning blacksmithing on my channel. The video on forging nails went up a couple days ago. I've been watching your channel a lot and enjoy the range of projects you do.
John, you motivated me to make some nails this weekend on my Fontanini anvil. It takes me at least three heats to make one (sometimes I can get one in two heats, but quality goes WAY down), and I'm still not consistent on my nail appearance, especially the heads. Seeing how much steel you leave above the header was very helpful. I didn't have time/ability to make a header at the time so I bought one from Blacksmiths Depot (Kayne&Son). Their's is still fairly inexpensive ($30), the same price I paid 4 years ago.
If you strike hard enough and repeatedly enough, your hammer can increase how long your heat lasts.
This is how it (once was) done in Japan traditionally.
They'd take a bit of a pretty thin steel bar, and smack it until it was red, then they'd use the red metal to start a fire to light their forges with.
Thats how I got started....making nails. And its still fun!
Need to forge myself a proper nail header some time
When I was a kid I read a book written by Louis LaMour called Bendigo Shafter. In it a passage describes him making nails during the winter months in prep for spring building time. Loved those books!!!
Making nails isn’t hard but they are time consuming. By the way I know for a thumbnail you want perfectly sharp nails, in reality blunted ones will work best as this will reduce the chances of wood splitting.
Absolutely. My dad taught me to blunt commercially produced “store bought” nails to stop splitting. Did that again last week replacing some 1x4 trim. Not a single split!
Thanks for sharing this Nail Making Video John, you make it look so easy. Goes to show that practice makes perfect ! Stay safe and enjoy yourself. Fred.
The sound of your hammer is so relaxing !!!
This was the first thing I forged at like 7 even put the twist in it is say pretty easy
Nice video, but I've thing wood workers look for in a forged nail is the fact that it isn't round or square. One side is wide and the other side keeps it's thickness. So you don't split the grain. Stumpy nubs has a good video about that.
Thank you for keeping the tradition go on
That’s really cool, I like how you showed one of the nails being used in the end
Just awesome to watch! Thanks for sharing your skills and knowledge with us all.
Nice quick job blacksmith. Well done
Love it , thank you sir.
Thank you for making a short, sweet and to-the-point video on this process!
Nails came out cool. U made it look easier to forge nails👍👍🔥🔥🔥
I like watching you work no waisted effort
I appreciate that!
Very nice video today John. They turned out very well there. Hopefully you get great use out of them. Can't wait to see more videos soon my friend. Keep up the great craftsmanship and hard work my friend. Forge on. Keep making. God bless.
Another OUTSTANDING video
So easy to make. Thank you for showing us how
@blackbearforge thanks John! You made that look easy. Shows your skill!
Love the content and Thanks for sharing! I like that you film the process from multiple angles. Really helps show technique. Looking forward to your next video!
Glad it was helpful!
You definitely "Nailed it" in this one, John! 💯 Thanks for sharing! 😎👍🏻🔨🔥
It's all fun and games until you get one stuck in the header tool! (I did that the other night - pretty embarrassing since I was demonstrating how to make a nail...)
John I love the production feel very nice
I don't know why, but I love hand forged nails.
That's satisfying to watch. Gotta dust off my headers. Lol
I’ve been watching a docu-series lately where they are reconstructing a 13th century castle and the blacksmith is obviously Essential. They just made nails. I’m wondering if you’re watching the same series. Thank you for sharing this. I can’t wait to make some myself for my next wood project.
This right here is the main reason I’m learning to blacksmith. I sped a fortune on nails every year. Nails, latches, hinges and tools.
Thank you for a most interesting video, thankfully without an superfluous commentary. One thing I don't understand: why not use the header over the pritchel hole, so eliminating the step of taking out and returning the hardie? Just a thought. Cheers.
I renege jokingly mentioning to a very experienced blacksmith about "making something as easy as a nail". And he said have you made any nails? There's more to them than it looks.
This makes me want to buy a forge and an anvil
Not a easy as it looks, though you do make it look easy 💜
Remember my grandpaw pretty much only had hooks of nails and they did good.
Also them square shape nails holds twice a much.
Thanks
When my girlfriend looked at me funny for saying " Truth." to this, I explained the process of making a taper work. I then I had to explain how hard it is to make somthing initially square from round stock, then further told her " sometimes it goes " diamond, lenticular, blob. In such cases, you just gotta think " Goddangit. Another way how to not make a taper." And hot cut it into the scrap bin then re try again.". She understands the plight.
Definitely struck the nail on the head with this video. 😁
Perfect!
Just think... back in the day, accomplished nail smiths routinely made a nail in a single heat, and might have as many as eight pieces of stock in the fire at a time. Nail-making was regarded as an important step in the education of ANY blacksmithing apprentice, but as noted, it was also a specialized trade in itself. George Washington himself owned a nail smithing shop, where two slaves labored full time at the craft.
Thanks for sharing your knowledge.
Thanks for the video question in the old days how many nails cut a blacksmith make in a day roughly best guess
I have been ask to work with 2 young men who are working very hard to be come boiler makers , And I remember when I started many years ago on my paper work it had a heading that said Blacksmith and Boiler makers Association of Australia, Now that is around 49 years ago John and I'm going to research this some more so I was wondering if you might know more about the Transition of the trades . Cheers . :)
G'day John. Great video mate. What steel are you using for your nails? Is it just mild steel, or something more exotic?
Why wouldn't you use the header over the Pritchel and save the effort of pulling out the hardie every time?
Is there a rudimentary nail header that you could show how to make for use with the vevor 30kg anvil? I don't have a good source for coil spring as many US videos show - what stock would you start with for making a nail heading tool?
This is why I only forge screws.
Great Video as always!! I have been told that this trade WAS an apprentice's way of starting out. I have also been told that CHILDREN would routinely perform this work. Must have been before Cell Phones and TV's. Anyway, 1 question..... Why are you removing the Hardy Hot Cut to use the header? Wouldn't it save you time and effort to use the header in the Pritchel hole?
I think it’s because that’s how he had the camera set up. In that view you wouldn’t have been able to see the work done unless he used a second camera or had panned it over more.
Not easy, but the process can lend itself to some nice meditative thoughts if I'm making a lot of them.
How do you get the head to stay centered on the shank?
👍👍👍👍👍👍
It's getting harder and harder to find cut nails here outside the US. The proper tapered kind. I've wondered if one could use a black smithing press and a die to massproduce nails, for ones own usage anyway, wouldn't be commercially viable but something faster than hand forging nails anyway.
I should give this a try, it seems like a good learning exercise. They're just mild steel right?
Although i might wait for it to be a little cooler, Australian summer is a bit hot for forging if you don't have to
Yes they're just mild steel
Why didn't you use the header tool over the pritchel hole? You wouldn't need to take the hot cut out every time to shape the head.
I was thinking this exact thought. I've not made any nails yet, but I was curious if they hardy hole was intended for this purpose.
I remember my first now I still have it for I became an apprentice apprentice I Museum
Here I am a year later making I made in a sock and now I’m making nails I’m pretty sure that’s what I’m doing his nails
What is the tool called that holds the nail while forging the nail’s head?
That is simply called a heading tool or nail header.
Good video. I assume 2 things. First, there are different dies for the different thicknesses of nails. Second, this is different than the cut nails I have in my 1890's house, which were "mass produced" in sheets and then cut in a slight diagonal. Are either of my assumptions valid?
I would say that both are correct.
Can I ask, what do you call the tool used to break off the length? (I gathered from the comments that the other tool is called the header!)
The tool used to cut the nail from the parent stock is a hardy tool (that goes into the square hole) called a hot cut. The tool he puts it into to then forge the head of the nail is the nail header.
Wouldn't it be easier to use the pritchel hole than to remove the hardy tool every time?
I want 2 be a black smith
I read that people burned down old buildings for the nails.
Were nails used in ye olden times?
Nails are a bronze age invention going back to at least 3000bc in Egypt.
Nail where so valuable back in the 1800 they would burn down barns to get the nails when they sold property
میخ
Forget about the nail. What kind of anvil is that.
Before you hammer the nail, you must first hammer the nail.
…. But you claimed it was NOT easy, then you do it like it is. Maybe I’m missing something?
A good nail maker would have completed a dozen or so nails in the time it took to watch this video. It took me 20 minutes to forge 5 nails.
whenever I try to make nails, they look more like scrap.
You need a drop forge that will cut and shape each nail or several at a time. Or a crew of slaves.