That`s what i needed to hear as i am a novice in carpentry,i have learnt something very important through this video about how to use various wood tools.
Really Great Video. I have the Flat Bar andthe Bear claw, I never knew I could hammer the claw into the wood to get a burried nail. Thank you so much for that tip.
I could talk about nails all day. I have! You know what my favorite type of nail is? The three penny fluted stainless-steel. I don't know why. I don't.. know why.
Okay, looks like I need a bear claw or cat's claw to get the wooden shelf supports my Dad nailed to the wall in the bathroom closet over 20 years ago. We are switching to a different shelving system, and those huge nails he used are no joke! Thank you for such an informative video without a whole lot of fluff!
Check out the Nail Hunter or just use wire cutters with pointy ends like I do. I don’t have much experience with pulling nails but this trick is BADASS imo…. (let me know if I’m mistaken). Especially for medium-to-small, and even the tiniest of nails or staples, with or without a head!, and on pretty delicate surfaces, especially when putting something thin-but-sturdy between tool and finished surface to protect it from dents. I gently poke the sharp tips of the wire cutters (some are shaped better than others) down into the wood just enough to clamp the wire cutters onto the nail (whether it has a head or not, you can bite the wire cutter blades into the shaft of the nail), and then gently push down on the wire cutter handles, with lever action like regular nail-pulling tools to start pulling the nail out, (I usually don’t grab the wire cutters hard and try to pull the nail straight out, but that can be the way to go in some situations) …so anyway, start working nail out, either a big pull, or letting go once it comes out even a tiny bit, and then grabbing the nail again a little further down to repeat process however many times it takes to do it the way you want..I find this method lets me customize whether I want go fast, or go slow enough to do minimum damage. Obviously the shape of the wire cutter blade tips is the “business end” of this method, so if you really want the best results maybe take a real close look at how thick the tips are and how much damage they are making when you push them into the wood. As long as they’re strong enough to clamp onto the nail, I would think you can make them as thin and sharp as you want, for example on a grinder or with a Dremel. Haven’t tried it myself because I have a couple pretty sharp pairs that have kicked ass at everything I’ve tried them on so far. At times I’ve used a utility knife or razor blade to remove a tiny bit of material around the sunken nail had to get slightly cleaner results than forcing the wire cutters in there without any pre-work. Happy to hear any better methods. Again, I’m not a professional, just a dude.
Thanks for simple and clean explanations, big help. I am fixing my iron roof, pulling nails out but some damn nail rusty and head gone. so should I use for it with the last tool End cut plier?
Hope you monitor this feed. Have an interesting question. I break down pallets for my student's projects. I've noticed that some older pallets that have been recycled/ re-built have nails that have been "buried" or the heads cut off and practically impossible to remove. Is there a way to remove them with minimal damage to the wood. The most common place to find these nails are in the support beams where pallet jacks place their forks to move the pallets and what is stored on them around warehouses and storage yards. Hope you have a good answer for me. Thanks a bunch.
Oh boy..The nails that workers used on my shed decoration planks had been buried pretty deep. They used pneumatic nailer, with too much force, looks like.
How can I remove a nail that's going downward. Example I'm removing beams that go to the roof (non load bearing) but when the house was built. They hammered the nails from the beam inside through the roof/ceiling. I don't have the attic space to go inside and pull it out. Please help.... Any suggestions
I have a black and decker cordless drill and it not reversing the nail out of the wood. The bit spins but the nail stays in position. How do I fix this problem? Or which of the tops in your video should I use to remove the nail and not damage my wood
Hey there! Great question. Unfortunately, I'm not aware of any tool that will not damage the wood. I know a lot of people like the Slide Hammer Nail Puller. It will still damage the wood, but definitely less than say a cat's paw. Wish I could be more help for you. :)
Check out the Nail Hunter or just use wire cutters with pointy ends like I do. I don’t have a whole lot of experience with pulling nails but this trick is BADASS imo and has totally hooked me up pulling at least a couple hundred nails and being able to re-use the wood, minimal damage. And the more time I feel it's worth the less damage I can do. Especially for medium-to-small, and even the tiniest of nails or staples, with or without a head!, and on pretty delicate surfaces, especially when putting something thin-but-sturdy between tool and finished surface to protect it from dents. I carefully poke the sharp tips of the wire cutters (some are shaped better than others) down into the wood next to the nailhead just enough to clamp the wire cutters onto the nail shaft just below the head (whether it has a head or not, you can bite the wire cutter blades into the shaft of the nail even if the head is completely gone), and then gently push down on the wire cutter handles, with lever action like regular nail-pulling tools/claw-hammers which starts bring the nail out, (if the nail is real small, or kinda loose, I might squeeze the wire cutters onto it and just pull it right out ) …so basically just start working the nail out. You'll get the hang of it quick. If the nail is really hard to move, I'll just bring it out a tiny bit, then let go and re-squeeze the wire cutters a little further down to repeat process however many times it takes .....if it's a really tough nail in something I reall don't want to damage, I'll take a minute or two to bring it out a tiny bit at a time. I find this method lets me customize whether I want go fast, or slow down and really minimize damage. If you use it often you'll get way better at it than I've ever been. Obviously the shape of the wire cutter blade tips is the “business end” of this method, so if you really want the best results maybe take a real close look at how thick the tips are and how much damage they are making when you push them into the wood. As long as they’re strong enough to clamp onto the nail, I would think you can make them as thin and sharp as you want, for example with a grinder or Dremel. Haven’t tried it myself because I have a couple pretty sharp pairs that have kicked ass at everything I’ve tried them on so far. Haven't bought the Nail Hunter thing but I'd guess they made that thing to work great. At times I’ve used a utility knife or razor blade to remove a tiny bit of wood around the sunken nail head to get slightly cleaner results than forcing the wire cutters in there without any pre-work. It limits splintering. Once you get the idea of what I wrote here you can figure out your own custom ways of getting the results you want. For ex when I had a bunch of siding slats to remove, I took a short piece of 1/2" copper water pipe and cut teeth in one end and bent them slightly inward to match the nails I had to pull, then put the tool over each nail head and turned it in my hand back and forth to sort of "drill" a bit of a circle around each nailhead, perfect for slipping the tips of the wire snips under the nailheads and pulling them out with minimal damage to the slats. Then I realized I could just stick the pipe into a drill and speed up the process. Also a "poker" is perfect for removing the exact bits of wood that will allow your wire snips to slip under the nailhead. (A "poker" to me is a long sharp pointy tool, I take old stripped screwdrivers to the bench grinder and grind the bad tips into long sharp handy "pokers" that I've used for a gazillion things.) If it's worth your time to really minimize damage to the wood then there are ways to do it, hope this helps someone. If not, I got some great typing practice 😜 Happy to hear any better methods. fyi I'm not a professional, just a dude.
@TonyMontgomery18 Thanks for a very useful comment Tony. I am removing lots of nails over thin siding that I need to preserve. Doing minimal damage to the surface is key for me. I'll try the copper pipe method and see how it goes.
I have a pile of lumber that I need to remove nails from so I can sort through what lumber is salvageable. I am wanting to reuse what lumber is salvageable to build something. Thank you.
We have a 200 year old post and beam house. Down in the basement, there's a rusty, 5-inch long spike sticking out of a 3-inch thick piece of hardwood, probably white oak. The point is exposed, and I've been hammering on the point, trying to back it out, but it won't budge. Is there anything that I can use or do to loosen this up? I'm wondering if something like WD40 or denatured alcohol might help break the bond on this rusty spike. I'm worried that if I keep hammering on it something else will let go!
how to i remove broken off nails from wood floor? i might want to sand it later so i don't really want metal there to tear up the sander later. is it possible? i'm a total noob. i just want the old carpet nails and broken staples out of the floor.
Hello thanks for your video, I just ripped up a old 1950s hardwood floor that’s nailed into the sub floor, those old nails are like cleats or spikes they have no head for me to pull them out should I just cut them all flush with a grinder before install the new flooring. I need them to be flush.
I have a nail going through a bracket hole before going into 2X6 (pergola rafter). The flat head nail is so flush with bracket I can't get under it. Which one of these tools you mentioned do you think would work for me?
@@TrainingHandsAcademy just the nail. After I commented I used every tool I could find in the garage. Ended up pounding a flat head screwdriver a little attempting to get under the nail head. Broke the nail head off enough that the board slid right out with a little elbow grease. Thanks for responding!
It's hard sometimes... try just using what tools you have and take your time. Here is another tool that works great, but it's kinda expensive. However, if you have a lot of nails, could save you a ton of time. amzn.to/493gmij
Hello! Yes you can use end cut pliers, but I would personally use a flat bar. Whatever tool you use, be sure to use a scrap block of wood to pry off of.
Training Hands Academy Flat bar? Like a bear claw you mean? I need something to get under the head of the nail with minimal damage to the wood. The nail heads are flush with the wood
Sorry flat bar like... a pry bar scraper amzn.to/2YMRoCk or a bigger flat bar like amzn.to/3dGTTdO which has a good nail puller built in. It might take multiple tools and some trial and error. Hope that helps.
I took up an old carpet and found beautiful hard wood floors. The problem is that someone has put really large headed nails in it. If I am able to remove these nails, should I plan to put better nails down? I'm guessing there is a reason these were put down, so what size nail should I use?
Are they handcut nails? Those nails are often found in older homes.....they don't have round heads but more of a triangular shaped head. If that is the case, those normally get counter sunk and the floor gets finished.
How to talk a 4x2 small lengths of planks of wood out from a wall that has been put on with a nail gun by a so called handyman around a bathroom wall cabinet. How do I take off the wood
*Our beginners handheld routers course is now live! Check out the online course here ---> **bit.ly/3DcIeE3*
Really instructional video. Perfect for what I needed to know - which tool and how to all in under 4 mins! Excellent
That`s what i needed to hear as i am a novice in carpentry,i have learnt something very important through this video about how to use various wood tools.
Glad it was helpful Collen!
Really Great Video. I have the Flat Bar andthe Bear claw, I never knew I could hammer the claw into the wood to get a burried nail. Thank you so much for that tip.
I could talk about nails all day. I have! You know what my favorite type of nail is? The three penny fluted stainless-steel. I don't know why. I don't.. know why.
That was super helpful. I need to get that last one. Thanks!
Glad it was helpful Dan!
Helped me with my Deck demolition! Thanks!
Great to hear!
Thanks for the tip about adding underneath in order to protect the drywall !!!! I feel like an idiot for not knowing but there it is lol
EXACTLY what I was looking for. Thank you.
Glad I could help!
Okay, looks like I need a bear claw or cat's claw to get the wooden shelf supports my Dad nailed to the wall in the bathroom closet over 20 years ago. We are switching to a different shelving system, and those huge nails he used are no joke! Thank you for such an informative video without a whole lot of fluff!
Thanks for the comment
Thank you for the info!
Good video thanks for wood on new material tip to protect it
nice tutorial! Appreciate it!
Love my flat Pry Bar 🙂
Check out the Nail Hunter or just use wire cutters with pointy ends like I do. I don’t have much experience with pulling nails but this trick is BADASS imo…. (let me know if I’m mistaken). Especially for medium-to-small, and even the tiniest of nails or staples, with or without a head!, and on pretty delicate surfaces, especially when putting something thin-but-sturdy between tool and finished surface to protect it from dents.
I gently poke the sharp tips of the wire cutters (some are shaped better than others) down into the wood just enough to clamp the wire cutters onto the nail (whether it has a head or not, you can bite the wire cutter blades into the shaft of the nail),
and then gently push down on the wire cutter handles, with lever action like regular nail-pulling tools to start pulling the nail out, (I usually don’t grab the wire cutters hard and try to pull the nail straight out, but that can be the way to go in some situations) …so anyway, start working nail out, either a big pull,
or letting go once it comes out even a tiny bit, and then grabbing the nail again a little further down to repeat process however many times it takes to do it the way you want..I find this method lets me customize whether I want go fast, or go slow enough to do minimum damage.
Obviously the shape of the wire cutter blade tips is the “business end” of this method, so if you really want the best results maybe take a real close look at how thick the tips are and how much damage they are making when you push them into the wood. As long as they’re strong enough to clamp onto the nail, I would think you can make them as thin and sharp as you want, for example on a grinder or with a Dremel. Haven’t tried it myself because I have a couple pretty sharp pairs that have kicked ass at everything I’ve tried them on so far.
At times I’ve used a utility knife or razor blade to remove a tiny bit of material around the sunken nail had to get slightly cleaner results than forcing the wire cutters in there without any pre-work.
Happy to hear any better methods.
Again, I’m not a professional, just a dude.
Short, sweet and covers a lot.
Glad you liked it!
Thank you for your video
very good tools 👍
Thanks so much!
👍 useful information thankyou.
Great Video! Thank you
Glad you liked it!
Thanks for simple and clean explanations, big help. I am fixing my iron roof, pulling nails out but some damn nail rusty and head gone. so should I use for it with the last tool End cut plier?
Yes, end cut pliers will work.
Cool video !
Hope you monitor this feed. Have an interesting question. I break down pallets for my student's projects. I've noticed that some older pallets that have been recycled/ re-built have nails that have been "buried" or the heads cut off and practically impossible to remove. Is there a way to remove them with minimal damage to the wood. The most common place to find these nails are in the support beams where pallet jacks place their forks to move the pallets and what is stored on them around warehouses and storage yards. Hope you have a good answer for me. Thanks a bunch.
It's really hard when the head is pulled off or really buried deep. A lot of people really like this tool. Check this out. amzn.to/3I5dAxC
Oh boy..The nails that workers used on my shed decoration planks had been buried pretty deep. They used pneumatic nailer, with too much force, looks like.
How can I remove a nail that's going downward. Example I'm removing beams that go to the roof (non load bearing) but when the house was built. They hammered the nails from the beam inside through the roof/ceiling. I don't have the attic space to go inside and pull it out. Please help.... Any suggestions
Send me an email with a picture if possible. josh@traininghandsacademy.com
I have a black and decker cordless drill and it not reversing the nail out of the wood. The bit spins but the nail stays in position. How do I fix this problem? Or which of the tops in your video should I use to remove the nail and not damage my wood
Thank you stay safe...
Thanks, you too!
is there any tool that helps in extracting nails not showing head without destroying the wood? Nice video
Hey there! Great question. Unfortunately, I'm not aware of any tool that will not damage the wood. I know a lot of people like the Slide Hammer Nail Puller. It will still damage the wood, but definitely less than say a cat's paw. Wish I could be more help for you. :)
Check out the Nail Hunter or just use wire cutters with pointy ends like I do. I don’t have a whole lot of experience with pulling nails but this trick is BADASS imo and has totally hooked me up pulling at least a couple hundred nails and being able to re-use the wood, minimal damage. And the more time I feel it's worth the less damage I can do. Especially for medium-to-small, and even the tiniest of nails or staples, with or without a head!, and on pretty delicate surfaces, especially when putting something thin-but-sturdy between tool and finished surface to protect it from dents.
I carefully poke the sharp tips of the wire cutters (some are shaped better than others) down into the wood next to the nailhead just enough to clamp the wire cutters onto the nail shaft just below the head (whether it has a head or not, you can bite the wire cutter blades into the shaft of the nail even if the head is completely gone),
and then gently push down on the wire cutter handles, with lever action like regular nail-pulling tools/claw-hammers which starts bring the nail out, (if the nail is real small, or kinda loose, I might squeeze the wire cutters onto it and just pull it right out ) …so basically just start working the nail out. You'll get the hang of it quick.
If the nail is really hard to move, I'll just bring it out a tiny bit, then let go and re-squeeze the wire cutters a little further down to repeat process however many times it takes .....if it's a really tough nail in something I reall don't want to damage, I'll take a minute or two to bring it out a tiny bit at a time.
I find this method lets me customize whether I want go fast, or slow down and really minimize damage. If you use it often you'll get way better at it than I've ever been.
Obviously the shape of the wire cutter blade tips is the “business end” of this method, so if you really want the best results maybe take a real close look at how thick the tips are and how much damage they are making when you push them into the wood. As long as they’re strong enough to clamp onto the nail, I would think you can make them as thin and sharp as you want, for example with a grinder or Dremel. Haven’t tried it myself because I have a couple pretty sharp pairs that have kicked ass at everything I’ve tried them on so far. Haven't bought the Nail Hunter thing but I'd guess they made that thing to work great.
At times I’ve used a utility knife or razor blade to remove a tiny bit of wood around the sunken nail head to get slightly cleaner results than forcing the wire cutters in there without any pre-work. It limits splintering.
Once you get the idea of what I wrote here you can figure out your own custom ways of getting the results you want. For ex when I had a bunch of siding slats to remove, I took a short piece of 1/2" copper water pipe and cut teeth in one end and bent them slightly inward to match the nails I had to pull, then put the tool over each nail head and turned it in my hand back and forth to sort of "drill" a bit of a circle around each nailhead, perfect for slipping the tips of the wire snips under the nailheads and pulling them out with minimal damage to the slats. Then I realized I could just stick the pipe into a drill and speed up the process.
Also a "poker" is perfect for removing the exact bits of wood that will allow your wire snips to slip under the nailhead. (A "poker" to me is a long sharp pointy tool, I take old stripped screwdrivers to the bench grinder and grind the bad tips into long sharp handy "pokers" that I've used for a gazillion things.)
If it's worth your time to really minimize damage to the wood then there are ways to do it, hope this helps someone. If not, I got some great typing practice 😜
Happy to hear any better methods.
fyi I'm not a professional, just a dude.
@@TonyMontgomery18 Nice trick!
@TonyMontgomery18 Thanks for a very useful comment Tony.
I am removing lots of nails over thin siding that I need to preserve. Doing minimal damage to the surface is key for me. I'll try the copper pipe method and see how it goes.
I have a pile of lumber that I need to remove nails from so I can sort through what lumber is salvageable. I am wanting to reuse what lumber is salvageable to build something. Thank you.
Thanks for doing the work to reuse material
Need to get bear claw one tool never had in my tool box.
We have a 200 year old post and beam house. Down in the basement, there's a rusty, 5-inch long spike sticking out of a 3-inch thick piece of hardwood, probably white oak. The point is exposed, and I've been hammering on the point, trying to back it out, but it won't budge. Is there anything that I can use or do to loosen this up? I'm wondering if something like WD40 or denatured alcohol might help break the bond on this rusty spike. I'm worried that if I keep hammering on it something else will let go!
I think WD would help for sure. If not, you might need a more powerful tool to get it out. amzn.to/3sXqRSG
How do you get nails/pins out of plywood when the nails/pins are flush with the plywood surface?
how to i remove broken off nails from wood floor? i might want to sand it later so i don't really want metal there to tear up the sander later. is it possible? i'm a total noob. i just want the old carpet nails and broken staples out of the floor.
Hello thanks for your video, I just ripped up a old 1950s hardwood floor that’s nailed into the sub floor, those old nails are like cleats or spikes they have no head for me to pull them out should I just cut them all flush with a grinder before install the new flooring. I need them to be flush.
Hello Happy Dad! If you can, please send me an email with a photo. That way I can give you the right advice. josh@traininghandsacademy.com
Training Hands Academy Giant crowbar worked great. It was able to grip them. Came right out. Thank you sir!
Goated
I have a nail going through a bracket hole before going into 2X6 (pergola rafter). The flat head nail is so flush with bracket I can't get under it. Which one of these tools you mentioned do you think would work for me?
Hey Renee! Are you looking to remove just the nail or the bracket too?
@@TrainingHandsAcademy just the nail. After I commented I used every tool I could find in the garage. Ended up pounding a flat head screwdriver a little attempting to get under the nail head. Broke the nail head off enough that the board slid right out with a little elbow grease. Thanks for responding!
Well done! When you have another question please don't hesitate to ask again. Be well!
@@TrainingHandsAcademy I have the same problem. Nail flush onto metal bracket. I can't get underneath it. It's on Wall . Help!
hi man, any tips to remove 2 inch old rusted nail ( from old wood ?) it's stuck on the wood.
It's hard sometimes... try just using what tools you have and take your time. Here is another tool that works great, but it's kinda expensive. However, if you have a lot of nails, could save you a ton of time. amzn.to/493gmij
@@TrainingHandsAcademy thanks
Would the end cut pliers work on removing roofing nails that were used on a garage bench without damaging the wood?
Hello! Yes you can use end cut pliers, but I would personally use a flat bar. Whatever tool you use, be sure to use a scrap block of wood to pry off of.
Training Hands Academy Flat bar? Like a bear claw you mean? I need something to get under the head of the nail with minimal damage to the wood. The nail heads are flush with the wood
Sorry flat bar like... a pry bar scraper amzn.to/2YMRoCk or a bigger flat bar like amzn.to/3dGTTdO which has a good nail puller built in. It might take multiple tools and some trial and error. Hope that helps.
I took up an old carpet and found beautiful hard wood floors. The problem is that someone has put really large headed nails in it. If I am able to remove these nails, should I plan to put better nails down? I'm guessing there is a reason these were put down, so what size nail should I use?
Are they handcut nails? Those nails are often found in older homes.....they don't have round heads but more of a triangular shaped head. If that is the case, those normally get counter sunk and the floor gets finished.
@@TrainingHandsAcademy No, they are round and have about 3/16 in wide head. They aren't counter sunk but are almost flush to the surface.
Send me a picture. josh@traininghandsacademy.com
What about flush nails ?
Bout the ones deep and stuck and don't want to damage wood
How to get the big nail out of a live tree in my garden?
Sounds like you need to use a bears claw and damage the surface if you’re removing a nail that is flush as it should be
Okay now how do I pull out a flushed nail
How to talk a 4x2 small lengths of planks of wood out from a wall that has been put on with a nail gun by a so called handyman around a bathroom wall cabinet. How do I take off the wood
Pulling nails and no swearing, how do you do that
I edited that out! LOL
what about a large flush nail, all the nails you showed needed nothing more than a pair of pliers