nail handler/feeder/sorter ideas

[Tony]

probably more of a thought experiment than anything else.. figured it
might make a fun topic for discussion.. been thinking about it past week
or so.

i'll spare everyone the long story but basically:

MANUAL nail feeder.. nails are 3/4" long, maybe 70 or 80 thou wire, have
a big head (0.2").

they don't really need to be "fed" as opposed to 'sorted' -- pointy side
down / head up.

i suppose this is usually done with a vibratory bowl feeder thing.

i'm thinking something manual like two pieces of sheet metal spaced 0.090"
apart that rises up out of a bowl of nails. everytime one pulls the lever
(or whatever) maybe it picks up 10-20 nails all in the right orientation.

then they could be "scooted" off and the blade drops down ready
to pick more up.

that make sense?

any other "fun and clever" ways to attain the same end?

[mixdenny]

Like this?

http://www.nailstripper.com/

[Rustybolt]

How many do you need to do an hour?

[Tony]

mix, not a bad idea.. i suppose one could just "shake the can" by hand.

Rusty, lets say one every 15 seconds? so 4/min .. 120/hr? speed isn't
important.. its more the curiosity of the mechanism.

how about something like a geneva mechansim with hooks on the 4 slots
that just fit one nail? it could sweep through and maybe pick one up?
i suppose it could cause a problem if it "crushed" some on the downward
portion of the turn.

[1-800miner]

years ago I watched a guy put up a shingle roof.
He had a tin box about eight inches wide by four by four,full of roofing nails.

Hung on his chest with a strap around the back of his neck.
Sort of looked like a rabbit feeder,it had a full width tray out the front with slots cut in it.

As he moved around the nails would work their way into the slots,point down.
occasionally he would give the thing a slap if it quit feeding right.

Don't know if it was home made or storebought.