Handmade nails: anyone have a source?

[MikeG.]

My usual source of roseheaded nails has gone out of business. I need quite a few 3" large-headed rose heads (forged or cut, it doesn't matter), and wonder if any of you guys have a contact or suggestion.

 

[jeremyduncombe]

https://www.wellsreclamation.com/rose-h ... ail-3/p977. Is this any good to you ?

 

[Woody2Shoes]

My usual source of roseheaded nails has gone out of business. I need quite a few 3" large-headed rose heads (forged or cut, it doesn't matter), and wonder if any of you guys have a contact or suggestion.

Hi Mike is there anything on the Dictum website that suits?
https://www.dictum.com/en/search?sSearch=Nail

 

[AJB Temple]

Agree with above re Wells. They are good.

Since I got a small forge last year I make my own now. It's pretty easy.

 

[MikeG.]

Thanks guys. I'll contact Wells tomorrow.

 

[marcros]

of all people, rutlands used to be pretty good for these.

 

[MusicMan]

https://www.heritage-store.co.uk/tradit ... nails.html do supply them. They are not handmade but forged on the "traditional british machines". I've had some of the smaller ones (35 mm) and they look good.

Keith

 

[MikeG.]

https://www.heritage-store.co.uk/traditional-nails/1031-rosehead-nails.html do supply them. They are not handmade but forged on the "traditional british machines". I've had some of the smaller ones (35 mm) and they look good.

Keith

Thanks Keith. Yes, I've already talked to them (Leanne, that is, and she is working from home). Those are fine-shanked nails with a small head that you link to, and their large headed nails unfortunately are imported from America and cost quite a lot more.

 

[HOJ]

I buy from this company, closer to home, has some 65mm nails:

https://www.suffolklatchcompany.co.uk/

 

[MikeG.]

I am buying my door hardware from them (they're only 7 or 8 miles from me), but that 65mm dimension doesn't help me. I am wanting to clench the nails (ie bend them over), and with board+ledge depth being about 52/53mm that doesn't leave enough to fold over properly. I've asked them if they could source some longer ones (most of their products are made in India), but I'm not holding out much hope.

 

[mrpercysnodgrass]

This is a good source.

http://www.fromtheanvil.co.uk/catalogse ... +and+studs

 

[MikeG.]

There is an Ebay supplier selling From the Anvil nails hugely cheaper than they sell them themselves! I wonder if they know. This is my favourite nail so far, but they're pricey.

 

[AndyT]

There is a company in France making rose head nails on nineteenth century machinery. Chris Schwarz has blogged about them a few times. He also mentioned that Objects of Use (a shop in Oxford) sell them. They do, up to 70mm. Open for online orders and they have stock.

I bought some shorter ones for a nailed box I made.




https://www.objectsofuse.com/products/h ... bpmBLfHKTW

Schwarz story here

https://blog.lostartpress.com/2015/07/3 ... available/

 

[Droogs]

Mike,
Ironmongerydirect have rosehead nails

https://www.ironmongerydirect.co.uk/bro ... nails?fi=s

a bit dear, but handforged.com have them at £50 a Kg
https://www.handforged.co.uk/door-furni ... head-nails

 

[MikeG.]

There is a company in France making rose head nails on nineteenth century machinery. Chris Schwarz has blogged about them a few times. He also mentioned that Objects of Use (a shop in Oxford) sell them. They do, up to 70mm. Open for online orders and they have stock.........

Superb, Andy. That's more like it. Look at the price! £13.50 for 100. Other people are wanting up to £50 for a kilo (60 to 70 nails).

 

[AJB Temple]

Have you tried the Suffolk Latch Company products Mike? I am just interested in your experience as I didn't know their stuff was made in India. They kind of implied to me it is UK made, which was a bit cheeky!

I bought about 20 pairs of large strap hinges from them about 18 months ago (before I invested in a small forge so I can ruin metal as well as wood). They are supposedly hand made, but some have a rather machine stamped look about them (and they were returned). They deny that machine stamping goes on (I queried it by phone) but my instinct is that the blanks are stamped and then hammered by hand. Once we sorted the wheat from the chaff I have been pleased with the hinges: heavy duty and no sag. The screws they supply with some fittings are without exception garbage.

I also bought some rats tail / shepherds crook window latches (can't think of the correct name) and they were of variable quality metal. A couple broke but were quickly replaced.

Practically everything comes in a thick layer of wax and sealed in plastic bags.

I used to be able to get this kind of thing hand made by the local blacksmith, but it appears to be a dying art.

 

[MikeG.]

That's a very fair description of their products. I had a long conversation with the guy who owns the place last time I was there. They're made on small scale machinery in an Indian village, with some of the work being done by hand, but mostly it is hand-feeding small machines. The finished products are put into a concrete mixer with a whole lot of big steel balls and rumbled, to give them a hammered look..........but they're generally just a bit too flat and uniform for a genuine hammered appearance. So overall they fall somewhere in the middle between the nastiest cheap pressed hinges and latches, etc, and the really costly hand-forged ones. Some of their forged handles are really nice.

The screws are uniformly dreadful, as you say, and went straight into my metal recycling bin.

I would stress that I was mainly talking about door furniture, and that they do have other products, some of which are from different suppliers.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

... The screws they supply with some fittings are without exception garbage ...

I have yet to find screws supplied by anyone with anything that aren't garbage, likewise glue with any flat pack.

 

[AndyT]

Also, don't miss this blog post for some great photos of the Rivierre nail works

https://blog.lostartpress.com/2016/05/2 ... ged-nails/

 

[MikeG.]

My usual source of roseheaded nails has gone out of business. I need quite a few 3" large-headed rose heads (forged or cut, it doesn't matter), and wonder if any of you guys have a contact or suggestion.

Hi Mike is there anything on the Dictum website that suits?
https://www.dictum.com/en/search?sSearch=Nail

It seems these are the same nails as Andy has linked to. I missed these last night, somehow.