Black Steel Diamond-Head Forged Nails from Clouterie Rivierre

While traditional forged nails are highly sought after for restoration and reproduction work, their merits go well beyond their historically accurate appearance. Used since ancient Roman times, square-shanked nails offer far greater holding power than modern wire nails. Driven into an undersized, predrilled hole, the tapered shank compresses surrounding wood, bending the fibers downward to yield a wedging action that helps prevent the nail from withdrawing. The well-defined shoulder seats flush to the work, allowing the broad head to spread the bearing surface over a large area; this draws the work together during assembly and prevents the head from pulling through under load. It's no exaggeration to suggest that nails of this type should not be used to make anything you may ever have to disassemble.