They were made individually by blacksmiths. Square-head nails were made from the late 1700s until about 1830. Most were machine-cut and finished off by a blacksmith who squared the heads. From 1830 to 1890, cabinetmakers used headless, machine-cut nails that are a tapered, rectangular shape.

When did nails get round heads?

1850 - present: Modern wire-nails (nails that are round in cross-section) appeared in North America in the 1850s and continue to the present. Round or wire nails are produced by cutting a round drawn wire into lengths to which a point and head are added by the machine.

How old is furniture with square nails?

Dating Square Nails They explain that since nails in antique furniture often fall out, the piece may have empty nail holes left in it. If the hole is square, the furniture was possibly made before 1800. Rectangular holes may indicate that the piece was built from 1800 to the 1880s.