Replacing original nails - on waxless (gasket) blocks - with screws

[Jomme]

Hello I have a little question thet could fit into this topic...
I started the rebuild of a Cavagnolo and found out all nails looked assymetrically at the head like this:


I can't imagine they used assymetrical nails? I guessed they looked like this because they were wacked against the plates but even the nails between the reeds where there was only one nail to hold two reeds looked like this...
Is this something normal? In Jiml's post on top of this topic I read about 'cut accordeon nails', what is this please?
Thanks
Guillaume

 

[Waldo]

Proper technique for setting wood screws is to bore a pilot hole that is the diameter (or slightly smaller, if drill option/selection dictates) of the shank (center post) portion of the screw. The screws threads can then "press" corresponding threads into the wood without the shank creating a wedging action, which is what splits the wood apart. A bit of wax on the screw threads upon installation helps a great deal, lubing the interface. I don't see any problem if done correctly. I agree with Paul that screw use is probably governed by time/cost considerations.

 

[Dingo40]

Jomme,
Check this out ?:

 

[Gonk]

Hi Jomme, interesting question. And Dingo's video link is fascinating too but I'm not sure it speaks to the same question (about the asymmetry of the heads). Could it be that it was statistically more difficult to produce a perfectly centered head with the machinery used at the time? How old is the Cavagnolo?

Could it also be a kind of compromise between the older "L" shaped railroad spikes used to hold plates, and more generalized nails?

I just checked the nails I took out of this Borsini, and the heads are centered, but this instrument is probably from the '70s-'80s.

 

[Dingo40]

Gonk,
I think your idea about the railroad spikes is spot on!?

 

[Jomme]

Guess the instrument is from the fifties and it looked like the bigger planes were on the reeds...cant imagine checking every nails position before hitting it...but maybe...I tried some nails on a scrap block and they hold the reed very well...not at all wih my new standzrd nails...

 

[Ffingers]

Somewhere on the youtubes thinggie, there is a dissertation on nails whre the relative merits are discussed - the common cut-wire nail's principle advantage is ease of production; it seems to lose out in most other aspects. Forged ones, obviously much more expensive, seem to win on most other aspects.

 

[Jomme]

Thanks, saw it, will just use the nails they work very well...