Advice for cutting round nails

[Badger74]

As the title says really.

Is there a non electric hand tool that will cut normal 3mm shaft round steel nails easily.

I've about 600 to do.

Thanks in advance.

Chris

 

[FGYT]

http://www.toolstation.com/shop/Hand+Tools/Saws/d10/sd70

 

[bhofmann]

When you say cut the nails, do you mean produce nails from 3mm wire? Or do you mean you have nails that you want to cut down in length? I'm a little confused - noob that I am!

 

[Badger74]

In fairness I never thought of a saw as I don't think its that practicle for what I want. I'm planning, well trying, to make a 15th Century style Brigandine armour and I have to push the nail through the outer material and the the plate. The nail will then be 'cut' close to the plate and peened over; thats the idea any way. I was thinking of pincers but when Ive tried it on test, ultra brute strength is needed and then they are bending just as the nail is cut.

Ta

 

[FGYT]

In fairness I never thought of a saw as I don't think its that practicle for what I want. I'm planning, well trying, to make a 15th Century style Brigandine armour and I have to push the nail through the outer material and the the plate. The nail will then be 'cut' close to the plate and peened over; thats the idea any way. I was thinking of pincers but when Ive tried it on test, ultra brute strength is needed and then they are bending just as the nail is cut.

Ta

big end nippers then as yes a saw wouldnt be practical for that unless pre cut

ATB

Duncan

 

[phill_ue]

I used a very small pair of bolt cutters (they wouldn't cut a bolt but they'd do nails easily) when I was cutting wire mesh at work the other day. They're about a foot long, so it gives you some idea of scale.

 

[Ogri the trog]

Would it not be easier to just buy a bag of steel rivets?

Ogri the trog

 

[Badger74]

Ogri, I haven't found rivets 3mm in diametre and I need the point to push the threads apart without cutting them.

 

[Adze]

Cutting through them - Closest thing I can find would be this:

http://uk.ebid.net/perl/auction.cgi?mo=auction&auction=24969965&from=googlebase

...never used one so I've no idea how effective it might be, but then again £4.50 is cheaper than a new 20" Hardpoint from your local builders merchants, so it might be worth a punt just on the off chance it's not complete rubbish.

I did find this:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/MXZ-POCKET-SA...1QQcmdZViewItemQQssPageNameZRSS:B:SILF:GB:102

But the independant reviews are less than promising

http://www.kltv.com/Global/story.asp?S=5980942

Cheers,

 

[Adze]

Of course... if there's any possibility of using an electric:

http://www.machinemart.co.uk/shop/p...th/power-hacksaws-bandsaws-metal-cutting-saws

I've used one of these and it does exactly what it says - it's not the fastest of saws through wood, but it's considerably faster than having to change a broken blade because you've hit a nail or screw.

Cheers,

 

[g4ghb]

I have a set of cutters that are like a small pair of bolt cutters in style but the blades cross like a pair of scissors. No idea what it's proper name is but it will go through mild steel like butter - just the job for what you need .

Sorry I can't be of more help than that - if i can fine a link i'll post it

 

[woodcraftwanderings]

Hacksaw would give a neater finish, but would take a lot longer. I would agree with the bolt cutters suggestion. Have a small pair myself to ‘adjust’ the lengths of nails and screws im using. Ive tried pincers or side cutters, but unless you can get a really big pair they don’t work as they are not designed for the forces involved i.e. the cutting edge just gets damaged (unless its a soft metal like copper).

Sounds like your got a lot of work there, all the best with your project

 

[Dave Budd]

a few options for you, most of which are speedy on account of the fact that you will need to cut lots of rivets! A saw is too slow I reckon and will likely damage the brigandine.

These bolt cutters are basically side/wire cutters on steroids. They should go through a 3mm nail ok, if not then see if they do a larger size. Might be worth heating the nails with a torch or putting them in a fire just to anneal them, often nails are cold drawn and so are harder (they have work hardened) than you want to cut through by hand

Use small bench shears like these to cut the nails off at an angle before you start, then you have pointy rivets of the right size to start with

Dremel with cut off disc, even a battery powered option.

when I had a load of short rivets to make of the same length, I made up a simple bolster from a bit of steel plate of the thickness that the rivet needed to be. a length of stock the correct size was placed into the hole (with the bolster laying on my anvil) and the head formed with a top tool. Those were all 1/4" diameter with dome heads, so was all done hot, but I think it would be fairly simple to make a tool up to make a short pointed (though a dull point)rivet in 3mm mild and it would work cold. Then if you use a chopsaw or bench shears to cut the lengths of rivet, you drop one in and twot it to spread the head out, then turn over and tap the piece free.

Or of course the easiest might be to ask about amongst other re-enactors who make that sort of thing, somebody will have found a solution by now!

 

[Badger74]

Thanks everyone for your help. Dave your first suggestion looks promising so i'm going to have a look at one of them next week. As long as it has enough bend to get very close to the back of the plate to cut it'll do. The 'rivet' only has to be about 5mm in length.

 

[Dave Budd]

have you thought about galved roofing tacks? they have short spikes on them and if you drop them into some vinegar the galv comes straight off.

 

[phill_ue]

The wire cutters Dave posted about first are exactly what I was using, they cut through large galvanised mesh with ease, they'll d you right.

 

[mr dazzler]

WISS tin snips are the biz. They work well, never fail and the blades arent soft....I was able to cut starret bandsaw steel with ease, they should handle 3mm mild steel just as well. Should cost about £10-£15

 

[give us a clue]

angle grinder with 1mm thin stainless steel cutting disc

 

[SMOKOE]

If you gripped one arm of the bolt croppers in a vice you could opperate them single handedly like a guillotine using one hand to chop whilst the other holds the nail.
You'd soon rattle through them and judging the length of cut would soon come.

 

[Hoodoo]

A good pair of bolt cutters will do the job easily. They are designed to cut things like the hardened steel of padlocks so cutting a nail would be nothing. I also like the idea of the battery powered dremel. I have one and have used it for things like that many times using fiber reinforced disks. They will cut through the large U shaped bike locks although it takes some time.