Forged, cut , smelted: Nails are old as time
The Palm Beach Post 8/8/93
Associated Press
It may be love that makes the world go 'round but it is nails that hold a lot of it together.
"The nail is one of those very practical accessoriesx, important throughout history" sayas Frank Whiet, curator of mechanical arts at Old Sturbridge Villiage in Massachsetts.
Historians employ nails, the most common artifact found at historic sites, as an aid in dating old buildings and furniture and in defining the extent of changes and alterations.
The Mesopotamians are believed to have hand forged crude nails as early as 3000 BC Probably employed in construction by 1000 BC, iron nailes were used at the Crucifixion and have been unearthed in excavation of Roman fortresses and sunken ships.
A recent archaeological dig at the Roman legionary fortress at Perth, Scotland, revealed a well preserved hord of hand smelted and hammered nails dating from A.D. 90.
In nedieval England, nails handshaped on an anvil were available in a variety of shapes and sizes and were sold by the hundred count. The practice of selling a particular size at so many pence (denoted by the symbol "d" for "denarius", an ancient Roman penny) led to the penny measure, a system of size classification still used today where a 2d nail measures 1"; a 6d, 2 inches.
The time, effort and materials envolved in manufacturing nails made them a valued commodity in Colonial America. Using iron-ore materials from England, colonist with specialized blacsmithing skills opend naileries. Lard quantities of nails also were imported from England during the 17th and the first half of the 18th century.
There were also efforts to develope local iron-ore deposits. By the year 1650, in what is today Saugus, Mass., workers in the ironworks community then known as Hammersmith were familiaar with the white heat of flast furnaces. Today the Saugus Iron Works, which ceased operations in the mid-1670's after 30 years production, is administered by the Nationa Park Service. A resident blacksmith demonstrates making nails, using the same techniques and tools employed three centuries ago.
It was not until after the Revolutionary War that America became less dependent on improted nails. Tomas Jefferson purchased a nail-cutting machine in 1796 and he manufactured nails for more than a quarter of a century. By 1797, two cut-nail factories had been established in Philadephia.
Although nails have always ben used by cabinitemakers, their potential to split wood made them less popular in centuries past than the traditional techiques of joinery - - The mortice and tenon, the dovetail, knuckle and miter joints, pegs and adhesives. In case pieces - - chests of drawers, desks and cupboards-- nails were used to attach backboards and drawer bottoms.
White said nails are more likely to be found in country fruniture where workmanship was "a bit more haphazard, done by unkown carpenters rather that cabinetmakers."
Cut nails made before 1820 were hand headed and display the same eccentricities of earlier hand-forged nails. By 1830, all cut nails had achieved a uniformity in size, shape and head. By 1850, machines were cutting nails from coiled steel wire. the modern wiere nail is available in a variety of designs.
Today, with the old techniques of joinery fast becoming a lost art, we rely on nails more than ever.