HandForged Ironmongery Articles

Nails have been around ever since man started to work metal. The discovery of iron, tough and durable but more importantly more abundant than any other metal, helped to revolutionise construction methods as nails could now be produced in greater than ever numbers and allowed two pieces of wood to be joined together without the need for shaping a joint.

Over the centuries nails have been made in diverse shapes and sizes for many different applications and buildings can often be accurately dated by the types of nails used in their construction. Until about 500 years ago, hand-wrought nails were very labour intensive to produce and consequently became a valuable commodity rather than risk damaging the nails by pulling them from the woodwork, old buildings were often razed to the ground and the ashes sifted to remove the undamaged nails.

The manufacture of hand-forged nails followed much the same process for a couple of thousand years. Square-section rods of wrought iron were prepared by hand as the base material for nail making. In 1585 the water-powered slitting mill was invented, automating this particular process meaning that greater numbers of nails could be produced by a less-skilled workforce. The rods were re-heated in a forge by the blacksmith or nailer so he could taper the four sides towards a point at one end - hand-forged rose head nails always leave a square hole. The rod would then be cut to the required length and placed into a “nail header” or a hole of the right depth on the anvil and the head beaten out, either by using a mould or striking the head directly.

A traditional hand-forged rose head nail will have four facets to the head, forming a mildly irregular pyramidal shape. The term “rose head” appears to have become rather a generic one in recent times, being used to describe any number of rustic looking and predominantly flat-headed nail types, depending on the supplier. In the late 18th century machines for cutting nails from sheets of metal were developed obviating the need for hand-forging nails. Our renewed appreciation of traditional artisan craftsmanship has meant that authentically hand-forged rose head nails are enjoying a renaissance.

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