Name/Title
Machine Cut NailsEntry/Object ID
2026.3.8Description
Machine-cut nails, original to the Bailey Homstead, were sheared from a flat iron sheet: 2 sides taper, 2 sides are parallel. The parallel sides are the thickness of the original sheet.Context
"But on the whole I liked to pull nails. It was almost like play. Moreover, it saved me from weeding onions or cleaning out the cistern. These were 'cut nails,' with the four sharp angles and real heads, not the shiny improved kind that buckle in the middle...They came out bent and crooked; some of the big spikes had to be hammered through the scantling and then driven back again for a better hold. Most of them had to be straightened; this was real sport, to put them on the end of the big tree-trunk block standing by the barn-door and to hammer them into shape; it was like making something..." -Liberty Hyde Bailey, "Nails".Lexicon
Nomenclature 4.0
Nomenclature Secondary Object Term
NailNomenclature Primary Object Term
Fastener, WoodNomenclature Class
Woodworking T&ENomenclature Category
Category 04: Tools & Equipment for MaterialsParts
Count
21Parts
Twenty one assorted machine cut nailsLocation
Building
Family Room, Bailey HouseExhibition
Permanent Exhibit