Sometime early to mid 1990s, there was a big change in our industry, Mustard went from the pound/kilo packaging for nails to the count/piece per box/case. The rest of the nail industry followed , at that time there was alot of bitchin and nail counting in the US, don t know bout the rest of the world............. question, for those who can remember, does it matter? ray
does it really matter, $1.70 worth of nails on a $165 shoe job? but on a $65 job, it starts the squeeze.
Same oh, same, oh. Change in packaging hides a major price increase. A five pound box of 5 SB is almost 1000 nails. The new 500 count box cost nearly as much as the old 5 pound.
I certainly don't want to have to learn how to make horseshoe nails in my spare time. I hope the Norse god, Mustad continues to grace us with it's nails for another 5 years, 5 months and 19 days, but who's counting?
Jack, according to the figures of the times, 1993 s ish, there were 170 pcs per lb of 5 slim blade nails, that figures to 850 nails per 5 lb box. I remember receiving a price list in Dec. 1990 announcing that Capewell nails and others were going up. That box of 5 lb. ,5sb that was trading for $20.00 retail in December 1990, would trade for $26.00 January 1st 1991, these were still 5 lb boxes. that to me was a major price increase! I found it odd that 9 Reg head(64 pcs. /lb) actually went down in price per nail compared to the lb. system. I d have to do some digging to see if the was a major increase when the piece system was initiated. The count system showed up bout 2 years later. Ray
Thought you might have some figures , Ray. My old figures came from a jest when the wife and I were going out (mid 70's). The babysitter asked if there was anything I wanted her to do and I pointed to a five pound box of nails on the dining room table - said "could you count the nails in that box?. When we got home there were piles of 10 nails each all over the table. Over 900 nails. I suspect babysitting is like white water rafting - hours of boredom punctuated by moments of terror.. I just weighed some Cooper five light and got 180 nails per pound or 900 nails per five pounds. I no longer remember dollars.
A fellow told me once that he used one pound boxes of nails. One pound would do five or six horses. When he'd used it up it was time to go home.
To answer your original question - if beef goes up I can east chicken or pork. Nails go up, I still have to buy them.
Jack, if your weighing and counting nails ..are you babysitting? if it s true that you no longer remember dollars then do you remember if you owe me any? i took my figures from a Capewell Horsenails Finished goods Jan. 31, 1993 production sheet that I acquired. Cooper 5 lites show up on it as 178 nails per lb. on the finished goods sheet I do remember one of the suggestions from Capewell at the time was that the lb. system was very inaccurate because a slight change in head size could alter the # of nails in a pound,as seen in your case to your betterment by 50 pieces. I heard someone say in the past few years that 5 slim blades are now expected to be 172 per lb. Never the less, if you remember a 1/2 keg of shoes was 50 lb., Diamond,Nordic, St Croix, now a box is by the pair. bakers were by the sack and I think they were 25 kilo/sack, but rasps, pads,nippers etc .were by the count,wonder how come,cept tradition,fo good or bad. ray
Now I feel old. I remember when they went from pounds to count and I remember the price went up , though that may have been done by the local supplier. Jack, I envision you singing "Aint' nobody here but us chickens" to your neighbor at 2 AM from his coop.
Seems that when I started in 1962 a half keg (50 pounds) was about 8 or 9 dollars and so was a shoeing. Today at 10-12 dollars per set and three pounds per set a 1/2 keg would be around $170. Doubt that many of us are getting that.
