Mary Ostler

Since I have made my own hinges for the skid wood chest (the style is called a hutch) I am loath to use screws to fasten the hinges down. I want to use a clenched nail, but will not spend good money on real hand wrought nails, if I can bodge something passable. Plus I have a boat load of nasty nails left over from disassembly of the skid. I have a few set aside in vinegar to try getting a black with the milk paint, but that leaves a good 30 nails left over.

I took one of the nails and cut it down to ~ 1 1/2″ with a wire cutter

I then took the nail gripped in a vice grip to the bench grinder. Grinding down both sides of the nail has a couple of good side effects.
1.  The flattend profile of the nail cuts through the wood, not just pushes it to the sides. So if you orientate the flat of the nail with the grain of the wood you can hammer the nail quite close to the edge of the boards. A normal nails would split the wood.
2. The end of the nail glows red on the grinder and become malleable allowing the nail to be easily turned. Normally the nail would be difficult to bend, and may become brittle and snap.
3. The nail having cut the fiber, has the added benifit of the fibers slopping in the direction of the nails path. This acts a bit like a feather board making the nail  less likely to become loose.  Which could be a problem on a hinge where there would be considerable movement.

An image of the nail path (note the wood only cracked when I band sawed very close to the nail)