Pipe Tampers With An Historic Twist by Bert Olton In 1976 the United States celebrated it's Bicentennial. There were many events throughout that year to mark our 200th birthday, but one in particular affects these unique pipe tampers. That was the completion of the restoration of the USS Constitution, aka Old Ironsides, in time for the July 4th, 1976 festivities. These pipe tampers are an integral part of that history and restoration. One of the subcontractors providing historically accurate fasteners for the Constitution was the New England Bolt Company of Everett, Massachusetts. To make deck spikes for the project, the New England Bolt Company hired the Tremont Nail Company of Wareham, Massachusetts. The Tremont Nail Company is the oldest nail manufacturer in the United States. Established in 1819, to this day they produce nails on machines that are 125 years old. They also specialize in many other Early American hardware items like door pulls, gate latches and hinges. For more information on the history and products of the Tremont Nail Company, you can visit them at: http://www.tremontnail.com/index.htm To make the deck spikes for the restoration of the USS Constitution, the Tremont Nail Company purchased some plates of “double puddled” wrought iron from an entrepreneur in the Boston, MA area. This fellow had procured the plates from a source in Britain. According to his information, the plates were manufactured in the 1880s as armor for naval war ships. When the restoration of the USS Constitution was complete, there were a batch of spikes remaining and at some point, the gentleman acquired them. I do a little bit of hobby level blacksmithing and keep my ear to the rail for the chance to buy real wrought iron from odd sources. Back in 1995 I ran into this fellow and it was from him that I purchased the spikes. I used some of the spikes to make a few odds and ends, but I didn't have the heart to use many of them. They seemed too historic an item to be turned into napkin holders, door latches and other paraphernalia. A few years ago I realized that making them into pipe tampers would preserve the spikes' original character. So, I am offering for sale 100 numbered sets as pictured above. Each set includes: two of the deck spikes, a stand made of white oak and brass and a presentation folder in which are a copy of a letter of authenticity from the Tremont Nail Company, two set number cards and a copy of this write up minus the photos and ordering information. One set number card is mounted to the cover of the folder and reads simply, “Deck Spike Pipe Tampers”, “Set 'X' of 100”. The second set number card is mounted on the inside left sleeve of the folder and reads the same as above but will also be individually dated and signed by me at the time of shipping. One deck spike in each set is untouched. The head of the other spike in each set has been ground and polished to a mirror finish, to be used as a pipe tamper. The spikes are approximately 4 inches long and the heads of the spikes are approximately 3/8 inch by 1/2 inch. There is however a lot of variation in the dimensions - the machines on which they were made were not precision equipment. I chose white oak for the stands because that is the wood used to make the outer hull of the USS Constitution. The copy of the letter of authenticity is printed in color and is cased in a clear plastic sheet holder. This is a one time deal. The spikes in these sets are all that exist in the world. The metal of which they are made is unique (read more about that below), the purpose for which they were made was unique and the manner in which they were made was unique. Once they're gone, they're gone. Caveat The deck spikes which make up these sets should not be considered souvenirs of the USS Constitution, but of the Tremont Nail Company. I contacted the curator of the Constitution Museum about this. Though they were made for the 1976 restoration of the ship, because it is not documented that these extra spikes were ever actually aboard the USS Constitution, the Museum can not authorize them. Each set does however, include a copy of the letter of authenticity which I received from William Driscoll, General Manager of the Tremont Nail Company. In the letter, Driscoll confirms that the spikes were indeed made by the Tremont Nail Company for the 1976 restoration of the USS Constitution. About the metal True wrought iron is radically different from anything commonly available today. A typical modern use of the term is “wrought iron hand rail”. Though made to look like wrought iron, modern hand rails, balusters and fences for instance, are actually made of steel. The steel may be twisted in patterns typical of old black smithing styles, “distressed” with dents to imitate hammer marks and blackened by either paint or chemical surface treatment, but it is steel, not wrought iron. Without going too deeply into chemistry and metallurgy, essentially steel contains elements missing from wrought iron. The addition to iron of things like chromium, varying levels of carbon and other elements makes steel. Steel is lighter and stronger than wrought iron. It is also less expensive to produce. However, compared to true wrought iron, steel is brittle. Wrought iron is a softer material, more malleable, far more easily “worked” by hand with forge and anvil. Wrought iron contains a fair amount of silica. It actually has a grain like wood. The “double puddled” wrought iron of which Tremont's deck spikes are composed is a double refined wrought iron. Wrought iron was most commonly only refined, or smelted, once. Two smelting treatments of the metal yields a more pure, more workable iron. The last time wrought iron was commercially manufactured in the U.S. was 1901. “Flaws” In the Spikes You will notice “imperfections” in the spikes themselves. There are splits along the length of some of them. The split you see in the above photo is typical of the way the fibrous metal reacts to the forming process in the nail machines. Not every spike has a split like this, but because so many of them do, I worked with them as randomly as the splits occurred. In other words, your set may or may not include a spike with such a split. Another note, there is a certain amount of “bluing” in the spikes. This is from the heat generated in the nail forming machines. The spike on the right in the first photo on this page gives a better idea of the actual color of the spikes – namely an earthy, rust colored look. One more note: rust on wrought iron acts more like a sealant than corrosion. If the thin initial layer of rust on wrought iron is left alone, it does not penetrate further but actually prevents further deterioration of the metal. There are also pits of varying sizes and shapes, even in the polished surface of the heads of the tampers. The above photo shows a polished spike on the left, an untouched spike on the right, similar to the set you will receive. The spike on the left has the largest of the pits that I ran into in making the tampers. None of the rest show anywhere near the grain pitting of this one, so I'm going to be a jerk and keep it for myself! These splits and pittings are not actually imperfections, but simply signs of the grain and fibrous nature of the wrought iron. Although I was amazed at how well the wrought iron took a polish, it is not a metal one would normally choose for a polished surface. Part of the beauty of real wrought iron is it's naturalness. Like the brier we love so well for our pipes, wrought iron is very close to being a natural, raw material. Price and Ordering Each set is $45.00. That includes packaging materials, shipping ($4.20 to U.S. addresses), insurance ($2.30) and if you pay via PayPal, the PayPal fee ($2.77). You can pay via PayPal (send money to:artorius@redsuspenders.com ) or if you prefer to pay by check or money order, write to me at that same email address for my mailing address. If you pay by personal check, your set will be mailed when your check clears. If paying by PayPal or money order, your set will ship immediately upon receipt of the money. The Process ...Or, how they were made. Anyone bored to tears by mechanical blather should skip this part. 1.The Tampers As I said, each set includes two deck spikes; one unchanged from the form produced by the Tremont Nail Company, the other ground and polished for use as a pipe tamper. In working the tamper spike, I started with a regular medium grit grinding wheel on my bench grinder and took off any excess metal that extended beyond the round portion of the head. Next, I mounted a cone wheel to my bench grinder and made a jig to hold the spike perpendicular to the flat of the cone wheel. With that I knocked down the crown of the spike head. From there, the tampers went to my desk, where I ran them through eight stages of sanding grits; 80, 150, 220, 320, 400, 800, 1000, 1200, 1500 and 2000. This was done by laying the sheets of sand/emery paper on the desk, holding the spike head down on it and stroking the spike head up and down across the paper. With each successive grit change, I'd turn the tamper 90 degrees. Finally, two steps of buffing finished them. 2.The Brass The upright for the spikes is ¼ inch brass bar stock, 5 ½ inches tall. The upper end was ground to a taper for the brazing of the cross wire. The cross wire is 3/32 inch brass wire, cut to a length of 4 ½ inches. I bent both ends of each cross wire into an open circle. Probably the most difficult part of this whole thing was then brazing the cross wires to the uprights. Even with the end of the ¼ inch bars ground to a taper, they of course take longer to heat up to brazing temperature than the thinner wire stock, just because the ¼ inch bar is so much more of a heat sink. Add to that the fact that my only piece of equipment even close to delicate enough for the job is a VM-W-0 oxy/acetylene welding tip for my smallest set of torches and you might have an idea of the trouble in mating the pieces. Add to all that my fumble fingered inability to deal with such small scale items and I guess it's kind of a miracle they got done at all. I've got a lot of ruined cross wires that fell in half as I tried to get the feel for all this. Next I did some sanding of the brazed joint on a 1 inch upright belt sander, then some light polishing. Finally the upright was sprayed with two coats of clear acrylic enamel. 3.The Wood I purchased rough cut white oak planks at a specialty wood worker's supply store. The first cut for each stand was on a DeWalt miter saw that I borrowed from a friend. Next I bought a small router table, bolted my router under it and cut the edges with a 5/32 inch Roman ogee bit. The hole for the upright was done on a small bench top drill press. Sanding was done on a 4 inch upright combination belt/disc sander. The oak is sealed with a good carnuba wax; specifically, Behlin Master Blue Label Paste Wax, Natural, B800-12435. |
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