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Manufacturing Antique Cut Nails

Bob and crew travel to Wareham, Mass., to visit the Tremont Nail Mill. Tremont Nail, manufacturer of the cut nails used in the antique pine flooring installation in the modern Colonial's sister house, still makes use of original production equipment dating back to the mid-to late-1800s. The tour, which looks at the machinery as well as the nails it produces, offers a glimpse of turn-of-the century manufacturing in New England.

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Installing Hardwood Flooring with Screws and Plugs Now Playing

Installing Hardwood Flooring with Screws and Plugs

Fabricating and Installing Colonial-Style Wood Wall Panels Now Playing

Fabricating and Installing Colonial-Style Wood Wall Panels

Manufacturing Antique Cut Nails Now Playing

Manufacturing Antique Cut Nails

Wide-Plank Pine Flooring Installation Now Playing

Wide-Plank Pine Flooring Installation

Clip Transcript For:

Manufacturing Antique Cut Nails

computer-generated transcript - may not be 100% accurate

" We've traveled to wear ham Massachusetts to visit this this mill building which is on the national register of historic places it started out nearly 200 years ago -- cotton mill. The British burned it to the ground during the war making twelve it was rebuilt burned again but it's been a nail factory for about a 180 years let's get started. And the general manager here bill Driscoll is going to explain a little bit about this operation and this is stunning machinery and that this is really early stuff right."

" This originally was design Bob by Ezekiel reed way back and the early eighteen hundred's the machine that we are looking at here. Which probably built somewhere between 1816 and 1890s. Gorgeous pieces now this was all driven by water power how does that work water power from the mill pond was Fed underneath this mill where we're standing right now. And -- walk how we will provide the powerful all of these overhead shafts that you see in the mill. Today so this is basically distilled that still the same machinery that is in operation creating your product line here the same machines that you see here are ones that we're using today we use about twenty of these machines today for the various. Nails to -- that you've moved into a new factory building. Where you've got them all ganged up from where the operation is much more efficient because this was. This is like something that should be in the Smithsonian this is all overhead -- thing in these overhead shafts were the prime resource of power. And continue to be that way all the way up until about. 2000. This is an area of Massachusetts is really well known for. Cranberry bogs where they get the iron ore nearly two centuries ago to have a nail manufacturing before the job mills started. Mass production of these nails around 181918 point. Most of the promised because it was an agrarian economy. Made their own nails in the wintertime and they found by filling a land -- A lot of the war in the land they smell that with the -- and could actually make nails out. So they would have made sheets like this and then this was Fed into the machine -- correct. And it Fed into the machine and then the reciprocal action back and forth. Nails were caught -- growth this particular she followed the youth behind and Alex fields. And the nails were produced. Today it's more mechanized but it still basically the same page from the same designs we've made machines that actually are copies of these machines that are. 13240. Years old is that a real nail keg that you just doesn't -- me okay and that we used to ship nails out of here. And up through probably 19898000. Pound kegs of nails were shipped to various contractors suppliers hardware stores and in warehouses. Today they're packaged in corrugated. Today also the majority of your product is used in restoration work right that's correct. The fasten nails that you see here are some of the nails we use in flooring we have a clinched. Nail here we also have a special nail that we make for Carlisle with the narrow. Head on it. And then we have our standard wrought head which is also used in flooring night. Many of -- so close machinery still in operation how do you fix it when something breaks down we fix it internally we have our own machine shop. We do our own ways we have reports there is no. Original manufacturer you can go through and ask. Can we get a new part you want to get in -- large quantity -- enemies are signing percent from the -- we have here are made internally when something breaks. Always taken off a machine that's in mothballs good old Yankee ingenuity -- thanks for the tour thank you very much what would --"

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