Oops!
Mr. Powers is correct, of course--should have read, "A flat, Broadway's ...". Post#16 above has been corrected.-----
BTW, the correct answer is among the 3000+ entries in the CB Wiki, and has been for a fairly long time.
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Yet another 'What is it?'
- Thread starterderekleffew
- Start date
Mr. Powers is correct, of course--should have read, "A flat, Broadway's ...". Post#16 above has been corrected.-----
.
theatrestagemanager
Member
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Billincie
Member
Your looking at someone's "Clinch Plate"... A piece of flat metal used to turn the ends of clinch nails over to lock the plywood scabs on to the 1x3's when building theatrical flats.
lwinters630
Well-Known Member
Often the nails that extended through the boards was bent over a screwdriver to hook the end. Then when it was pounded on the clinch plate the nail end would drive into the board, making it almost impossible to remove (or snag).
BrianWolfe
Active Member
I remember using one in college.
Gregi
Member
I know I'm showing my age here. Back in the day we used clout nails to attach keystones an triangles to flats rather than screws or staples. The nails were about 3/8" longer than required to fasten the 1x and the triangles. You place the steel plate on the floor under the joint. When you pound the nails in with a hammer (yes we used hammers) the end of the nail would curl up when it hit the steel plate. The finished fastener was like a rivet with the head on one side and the curled up end on the other. It made for a strong joint. If you had a concrete floor you don't necessarily need the steel plate but they work better with the steel. I haven't seen clout nails in 40 years.
BillConnerFASTC
Well-Known Member
40 years seems about right since I built flats this way in college and graduated in 1974. Painted same with animal glue and pigments. Never since I graduated though - "discovering" air nailers, air staplers, and screw guns soon after that.
JonCarter
Well-Known Member
You mean you don't use 13 nails in a corner block and 9 nails in a keystone any more??
Roger L. Lattin
Member
Let's see:
2 on either side of the joint = 4
1 in each corner = (3 for corner block, 4 for keystone)
Keystone only: 1 more in middle of long portion = 9 total.
Corner block only: 3 more on each side = 13 total.
So yep! Exactly correct @JonCarter. Thanks for making me think of something I haven't applied since ~1981.
Although http://www.ia470.com/primer/shop.htm disagrees with us:
AND (important!): The nail goes perpendicular to the grain, and no two nails line up exactly parallel with the grain, to avoid splitting the tight-grained one-by that is no longer available today.
I would say the item in question is a "clinch plate" for your round over your flats clout nails.
