THE ART OF A NAIL.

King Country Chronicle, Volume V, Issue 348, 29 March 1911, Page 7

THE ART OF A NAIL.

The driving of a nail is deemed so simple a matter, that inability to do the job is often spoken of as though typifying entire lack of mechanical anility ; yet it may be that some skilled mechanics have something to learn in regard to this elementary operation. It usually takes a woodworker's apprentice a year or more to learn that he doesn't know how. A fedgeling mechanic who spoke cneeringly of a man whom he heard using severn 1 blows of the hammer to drive a single nail, was somewhat crestfallen when told that the nail would hold better when driven "home" by several light taps, than when driven by one heavy one. "Why ?" he a-ked in surprise. ' Pecans?," said the other, ''when you drive a nail home with a heavy blow, it is apt to rebound a trifle, loosening the grip of the wood fibres on it. Drive it almost down, if you will, with as hard blows as you v. ish, but finish the job with se.eral light blows."

One who thinks that the driving of a ri'iil simply consists in getting the whole length of it out of sight, has little conception of the real nature of the operation. A nail driven by an expert will often hold several times as much as one ill dri'. en; v. bile too, it is often made to draw the parts into place. If you have ever watched a mechanic driving nails, you have doubtless noted that he rarely drives one at right angles with the face of the work. There is a reason for this. Suppose that he is nailing the "sheeting" on the frame of a building, and desires to draw the board down tightly against the one below it ; he points the nail downward, and a few well-considered blows at the latt produce the desired effect. If the board is bent edgewise, so that much force is required, probably he will start the nail in the up!er edge, pointing very sharply do award. Again, two nails driven in a hoard at ditlerent angles will hold it in place much more firmly than the same nails would if they were driven in at right angles with the face of the board. Did you ever notice that, in driv- ; ing a nail in very hard wood, one ! man will do it successfully, while i another succeeds only in doubling i the nail up before the point has i fairly entered the wood ? The diffcr- ! ence lies in the fact that the expert I strikes the nail fairly, and not too ! hard, "coaxing" it in ; while the I oth:r strikes too hard and with in- \ direction. It may be profitably mentioned, right here, that in driving a nail into very hard wood, it is usually profitable to dip the end ; into oil or grease, This will not sensibly interfere with the holding qualifies of the nail, while it will very materially facilitate its driv- . in r. In order that a nail may hold its b'st, it is necessary that the pieces it jen-.tratcs should be in close con- ! tact. A few well-judged taps of the \ hanmer at the finish will serve to ; l.r.'ng a':out this contact ; while a : hfnvy, ill-judged blow often tle- ; stroys it, on account of the rcI hound. ! Ho, too, the direction in which a I nail goes is governed, not mendy by j the direction in which it is started, ! but very largely by the shape 01 \ the point : You have doubtless noticed how a horseshoe nail, by having a chisel point, is made to swerve ami to come out of the hoof but little above the. shoe. Hy filing the | point of a, nail oil on one side, it ! may readily he made to take a I curved course in driving, or the same I result. may lie attained by bend- ! ing the point slightly with the ciaws j of the hammer.