How old is this nail?

[bruceward51]

I have been fixing up an old chair for a bloke - it required complete Reggie and a new front stretcher. I could see at least 4 different repair attempts over time including a new front leg at one point. I suspect that the oldest repair attempt was a swag of nails through the corner brackets (doubling as support for a loose seat.
I noticed the old nails have square heads and wondered if that is a clue to the age of those first dodgy repairs? I have seen similar nails in my house which dates to the early 1920s.
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20200107/677ebbc105d79f765ff7083b5700038d.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20200107/73ae2c38970b9b50598c95f803911c45.jpg


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[Potts]

Seen similar nails in my great grandfathers carver chair that I restored, dated around 1910 -1920 as best the family can estimate it first arriving in the house in Bendigo.

[Xanthorrhoeas]

I think that they are called crown head nails. They are a wire nail so date from the late 1800s onwards. I think both previous estimates of early 1900s probably correct.
Before wire nails there were cut nails. There has been a bit of research and publication about nature Le but mostly in museum circles.
hope this helps
David (only an occasional visitor at this time)

[redx]

I think that they are called crown head nails. They are a wire nail so date from the late 1800s onwards. I think both previous estimates of early 1900s probably correct.
Before wire nails there were cut nails. There has been a bit of research and publication about nature Le but mostly in museum circles.
hope this helps
David (only an occasional visitor at this time)

Yes I agree with 1900's also. Mid to late 1800's were cut nails as you say. They could be square or rectangular in cross section and also tapered down toward the point.

In the late 1800's they used another type of nail as well. In cross section it was like a very flat oval shape and had no taper. They probably had other uses for them, but I first saw them when lifting floorboards during a Victorian period house restoration. I think the idea of them was that as you hammered them in they would twist and follow the change in grain direction as the nail passed through the floorboard into the joist. Clever idea because the twist would lock them in. They were a bugger to pull out.