Nails, Hammer, and Wood – Sometimes you are short on tools and supplies when you are repairing your house. Knowing nail tricks is important when you lack the things to make your job easier (mainly nail guns). Here are a few things that I hope will help you on that new job…

1) Don’t choke your hammer! – holding your hammer in the middle causes you to hit with a stiff wrist drastically reducing your power and increasing the likelihood of a smashed finger. Fix this by using your hammer’s handle, it may seem difficult at first but once you learn it will feel very awkward to do it any other way.

2) Don’t put a nail in the corner or the end of a board – This may not be possible for certain situations, but you should avoid nailing close to the end of a board whenever possible. If you must nail in a corner, center the nail (or pre-drill if possible).

3) Blunt your nails when nailing into hardwood – Take the head of the nail and place it on a hard surface, tap the point of the nail until it slightly flattens. This will make the nail into a punch instead of a wedge that splits the wood. (again pre-drill whenever possible – use a bit that is half the width of the nail).

4) Use a quick clamp to nail loose boards together – Using a quick clamp helps you to increase your accuracy and reduces the likelihood that you will be doing to much with your nail holding hand.

5) If you lose your punch…try a nail – A 16d framing nail will work as a punch for small trim nails. If you choose to do this make sure you are using your safety glasses, this can occasionally make small pieces of nail fly.

More about nails:
– Easy trim Nailing
– What’s a Penny?

If you have any nail tricks feel free to add them in the comments section…thank you for reading.

Luke

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