I started using traditional copper boat nails in my woodwork a couple of years ago, they make an incredibly strong fixing, look great and age beautifully. Since then the price of copper has gone up enormously resulting in the nails doubling in price. I use quite a lot of them when building a bridge and on benches so spent some time finding the maker rather than buying through retailers. They are made by an old traditional company J Reynolds in Birmingham and I only had to buy a few more than my usual order to have a batch specially made up. They arrived today and I am very pleased with them.
This is what they look like in a finished bridge.
My one concern about them is that copper is a high energy product that is in limited supply so I have been looking at alternatives such as rose head iron nails or stainless steel.
Hello, i use to work as an shipbuilder in the 80’s (fishingboats made of oak) we then used this kind of nails http://www.mustad.se/specek.htmThey are nice looking and extremly strong, you have to turn them right for maximum strength, the flat side along with the grain. /Magnus (sweden)