Woodworking with Rob Millard

Make your own hand forged nails

When I first became interested in period furniture, I had this romanticized view of it, so it came as quite a shock to find that my perception and reality weren’t in sync. One of the things that surprised me the most was the fairly extensive use of nails. Where I would have expected a glue joint, or at the very least a screw, I found that nails were more common. In retrospect this makes sense, glue required clamps, holding up production (nails were sometimes used as clamps) and while nails were somewhat expensive, screws were even more so, and took longer to install.

At first I purchased reproduction cut nails. These had the period look, but each one was exactly the same, so I ended up doing a little hand forging to give them some individuality. I will admit I dislike cut nails. Despite the fact that they crush the fibers ahead of the point, they still have a tendency to split, and their tapered shape makes a pilot hole a compromise. Of course they do offer tremendous holding power, but in furniture they are used where they are loaded mostly in shear, so this is of lesser importance.

At some point I read about a restorer, who used common upholstery tacks that were hand worked and used to conceal modern nails and the idea hit me to take common wire nails and forge my own.

Use only uncoated common wire nails, I don’t know what if any effects heating a cement coated nail would have, but for safety sakes I avoid them. I do know that heating galvanized nails will release a toxic gas.

I have used nails from 4 to 10 penny. I look for nails that have fairly thick heads; some of the box and sinkers nails have head that are too thin to forge. Start by heating the head until it glows yellow and hammer it on its side, drawing out the head. Then rotate it 90 degrees and strike it a few times to square up the “ends”; you don’t want a square head, but you also don’t want a long narrow head.

The rest of the process can be done with the head cold. I have used two different methods to further form the head. The first is simply holding the nail in the vise a hammering the head to shape. The other involves a stout block of steel with a hole the approximate size of the nails shank.

In looking at period nails, the most common head shapes were ones with either 3 or 5 facets to the head, although not every blacksmith got that memo. I like the look of the head with 5 facets.

One of my favorite memories of the first furniture show I went to, is of an older gentleman, not looking at the front of the desk I had on display, but instead the back; he said “nice work sonny, right down to the nails” I said “yep they are “forged” ( as in a fake signature).

From left to right the photos below show, (click on any photo to see a larger version)

The heated head ready to be flattened on the “anvil” portion of a machinists vice

The head being formed while the shank is held in the vice

The head being formed while held in a block of steel

The progression of the nail from, factory, to having the head flattend, having the ends squared, a three facet nail, and a five facet nail.

                                                                 Rob Millard

Sharpening the card scraper

It seems everyone who writes about woodworking is obliged to do a piece on sharpening (and dovetails). I use to think this avalanche of articles was redundant, but now I see where it allows for a diverse set of techniques for the woodworker to choose from; a smorgasbord if you will. What I do not like are articles that over complicate the process of sharpening, (or any aspect of woodworking) these only serve to intimidate newcomers, or make the writer look smarter than they are. I also dislike jigs or guides for sharpening; the only one I use is the tool rest on my hand cranked grinder. Learning to trust your hands and eyes is fundamental to efficient work, in not only sharpening but all of woodworking.

Below is the way I sharpen the card scraper. It produces an excellent edge that lasts as long as any method, and is so quick and easy that it becomes second nature, which is the way all sharpening techniques should be.

(You can click on a photo to see a larger version.)

The process starts with filing the edge. I have a small block of pine with recess routed into it that receives a 6 inch mill bastard file. Hold the scraper on its edge, squaring it by eye, and push it down the file 2 or 3 times.  It is important that the scraper be held square, or one edge won’t be serviceable. This will result in an edge that won’t require any further honing. This filing does raise a burr on the face of the scraper that must be removed. To do this, I use a super fine diamond hone. I like the diamond hone, because it doesn’t require any kind of lubrication. I’m careful to hold the diamond hone flat on the face; letting it tip over edge just once, will ruin that edge.  

It would seem like the steel in the scraper is so hard that it could not be easily deformed, but that is exactly what must be done to form the cutting edge. In order to do this, you must work the edge (burnish) with a tool harder than the scraper; that tool must also be highly polished. I have heard of everything from the backs of chisels, screw driver shanks, valve stems from car engines, to purpose made burnishers, but I use a broken solid carbide endmill, shoved in an old file handle. Carbide is an ideal material, being very hard, slick and in the case of the shank of an endmill, highly polished.

The first step in burnishing, is to draw out some metal from the faces of the scraper. To do this, hold the scraper flat on the bench and take several firm strokes down the edge, holding the burnisher, slightly off level. Be sure to work the full edge. When complete, if you magnified the edge, you’d see a sort of C shape, with little projections of metal drawn out on each face.

   

The next step is the trickiest; these projections must be flattened out, so the cross section would now look like a T. To do this, hold the scraper on edge, and with extremely light pressure run the burnisher down the edge. You should really only use the weight of the tool on the first couple of passes. You will feel a slight drag at first, as those projections are flattened out. When this drag is gone you can increase the pressure slightly for one final pass (as before be sure to do the entire edge). The common mistake at this stage is to apply to much pressure, which will gall the burr, or work harden it; neither of which is a good thing.

 

Now that burr must be rolled over, to form a cutting edge. To do this lay the scraper on the bench with its edge overhanging the bench and run the burnisher down the edge, holding it just a little off the vertical. I only make two strokes down each of the 4 edges, using a good pressure. On one stroke, start at end towards you and run it off the far end, on the other stroke, start it way from you and run it off the end towards you; this way you get the burr turned for the full length of the cutting edge. As with the last step over working the edge will work harden it, and it will dull more quickly. The common error here, is turning a burr that is too aggressive. Over doing it, will result in a burr that dulls quickly and you won’t have the control you need, because you have to lean the scraper too far forward to get a good bite.

 

The cutting edge of scrapers are not long lived. You’ll know when they dull because they will make dust not shavings. As long as you didn’t over do the burnishing of the burr on the first go around, you can re-roll the burr at least once, before you have to go back to the file.

To re-do the edge, place the scraper on the bench and flatten the burr, much like the first step in forming the burr after filing and honing, only here you must use very light pressure, as in the second burnishing step described above. Here again, you will feel a slight drag at first. To finish, just repeat the second and third steps above, and go back to scraping

I hope you found something of use in this installment.

Rob Millard