Handmade Nails - Price?

[lxskllr]

I'm making a rustic half door for my kitchen, and was thinking about using doornails and clenching them to put it together. Handmade nails seem kinda spendy. A quick look shows the cheapest are from a smith in Finland @ $2/each. Does that seem about right? I think getting enough nails will make my crappy door too expensive. I could also experiment with reshaping cut nails, and that might be my first step. I can do that free. What would you expect to pay for a handmade nail?

[btulloh]

Cut nails would be pretty good. I haven't tried it, but you can probably peen the heads a little larger and get a good look. Probably need some heat though. Then you'd have hand made nails.

Real hand made nails are spendy at $2 each.

Maybe you could find some to salvage if you know of any old structures.

[Magicman]

There was a fairly long topic on here about cut nails a while back.  Some searching should fine it.

[breederman]

I used cut nails on all the interior doors when we built our log home 30 years ago. They still look ok to me 
😁

[lxskllr]

There was a fairly long topic on here about cut nails a while back.  Some searching should fine it.

I think I found it...
where do I find Cut nails? in General Board
That gave a link to Tremont Nail...
Welcome to Tremont Nail Company - Steel Cut Nails for Authentic Restoration Projects and Remodeling
Price/each is very good. A 1# box would be more than sufficient, and only ~$20. Thanks a lot!

[Magicman]

Oh wow, that topic was almost 15 years old, but a success is a success.  8)

[thecfarm]

I sell those "cut nails" concrete nails at the hardware store I work at.

[Southside]

$2 is a bargain!!  The ones I find in customers logs cost $28 a piece, and they don't even get to reuse them in their project!!   :D

[Old Greenhorn]

$2 is a bargain!!  The ones I find in customers logs cost $28 a piece, and they don't even get to reuse them in their project!!   :D

8) :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D ;D

[Don P]

When you clinch a nail you are making it dead, "Deader than a doornail" comes from that.

Years ago I was working on an old outbuilding. That property had been in the same family for generations. When I got to this one door it had more nails in it than I had ever seen and I mentioned it to the owner. He started out "Well grandpappy was sort of bad to drink. He was in town one night, got into a brawl and killed a man. The next day he was working on this door when the sheriff came by. Being a small town the sheriff told him to finish up what he was doing and then come turn himself in. It took him all day to put that many nails in that door."

[lxskllr]

Ordered my nails! Shipping was a little spendy at $19. I also got two boxes so I could beat the $5 handling fee for orders under $25  :^D


I got the clinch rosehead standard
Tremont Nail Company 800-842-0560 - Steel Cut Nails for Authentic Restoration Projects and Remodeling


and the decorative wrought head black oxide finish
Tremont Nail Company 800-842-0560 - Steel Cut Nails for Authentic Restoration Projects and Remodeling


Both in 6d size. Their parent company is Acorn, and they deal with retro hardware. I may get some hinges from them, but they're kind of expensive. I'll get the wood assembled first, and contemplate it before I figure out how I'll mount it.


edit:

Got an email back saying one of the nails was OOS, and wouldn't be in for a few weeks. I told them to wait til they have everything, and ship them at one time. They also have a cheaper shipping option @ $8, which sounds much better to me.

[Nebraska]

You might take a look at the nails farriers use to attach horse shoes with. Anvil brand comes to my mind. I did a little search, what you found reminded me of them. They are clenched over after they are driven thought the hoof. 

[Brad_bb]

Back in 2016 I built a "M*A*S*H" style Alaskan tent door.  I used cut nails (flooring nails) to bond two layers of 1x7 T&G white pine.  I bent over (clenched) the back side.  I broke a few, but most bent over ok.  They are more brittle than a hand made nail likely.  But I got it done.  Tent was for a jobsite and was made of 2x4 material and reused titanium roofing paper and some heavy duty tarps.  Had an alaskan wood stove in it that kept it heated during the day and the coffee hot.  Ate lunch in there each day.  Tent stayed up for at least 3/4 of the year. 



 

[gunhandle]

you might try door screws from blacksmithbolt.com

[lxskllr]

you might try door screws from blacksmithbolt.com

I'll keep them in mind. They look like a good resource for fasteners that are a bit less common than the homedepot standard.

[Tom King]

I have quite an accumulation of wrought iron nails, from all the old houses I've worked on, but I have bought some off of ebay. I keep them for when we need some replacements in spots that can be seen.

 There is a big, noticeable difference between wrought iron nails, from the 18th Century and before, and cut nails.  I'm sure there are still blacksmiths around that make wrought iron nails.  They aren't hard to make if you have the stuff to do it with.  In a pinch, I have made some using a MAPP gas torch, and an improvised "anvil".

[Don P]

[Allagash372XP]

https://www.tremontnail.com/index.htm

These guys have treated me well in the past. Might be what you're looking for.

[Don P]

@Tom King
I see my text didn't post on the previous pic. Do you recognize that flooring nail? I've heard it called a plancher.

[Tom King]

I've never seen one in anything.  Only slightly similar ones like that, pulled by someone else, and only in pictures.

It was easy for a blacksmith to make whatever anyone dreamed up.