You may remember that in a previous post, I wrote about a demonstrator and the nail header tool he made, as well as a nail that he passed around. Well, although it is to some a mundane task, I have always been intrigued by one of the prime blacksmithing exercises.
So, I made myself a Nail Header!
Two, actually.
The first I began with a piece of 1060 steel. I beat it into shape:
Moving that metal was tough! It was the same stuff that I made my hot-cut hardy out of. Its really very tough, even with a 4-lb hammer.
This was the first one, and the square punched hole is off center and crooked, which detracts from the overall quality of the header.
It is beefy, but I may have to take it out and reforge a little bit.
It is punched 3/4 of the way through, and then drilled out the back to allow the nail's shank to freely fall out of the header. Because the hole is punched off-center, it sticks a little bit. But it way my first, and I'm allowed mistakes, right?
The second is much better!
I made it from a Railroad Spike:
I cut off the head, and flattened the area a bit. I then rounded the spike portion of the metal, and drew the whole thing out a little bit.
Here it is, post-forging and post-wire brush.
Again, punched from the top, almost all the way through, and then drilling the rest of the way.
And now, NAILS!
And, for these, I didn't quite "nail it", since I was new at the whole thing. It really helped me with my square tapers, though. Good practice!
This is my best one!!!!
An ugly bunch, I know. I need to work on that.....
Ew. Ugly. But, its tough, there is only so much heat when it is in the lower 20 degrees F.
This nail header, I might add, is on sale from Craigslist, because I am a poor college student.
Happy Hammering, and Happy New Year!
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