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I did not intend for my post to be negative either.

most all tools of the trade have their pro's and cons and are designed for specific needs , depending on the situation a pair of diagonal cutters can also work very well . especially when the nail has broken off at or just bellow at the surface . not sure how those would work if the nail is broken off in that manner , if your intentions are to re-use the wood the trick {may} be in how not to destroy the surface any more than necessary ?

Hobbyman2 wrote: ↑Mon Mar 06, 2023 12:21 pm most all tools of the trade have their pro's and cons and are designed for specific needs , depending on the situation a pair of diagonal cutters can also work very well . especially when the nail has broken off at or just bellow at the surface . not sure how those would work if the nail is broken off in that manner , if your intentions are to re-use the wood the trick {may} be in how not to destroy the surface any more than necessary ?

Yeah, I agree. That was the one benefit I was thinking of with the nail puller pliers that Ed posted on this thread. The wide cam should cause less wood damage than the tools I proposed. Of course, when I want to cause less damage I keep some stock of 1/4" thick red oak scraps in my shop that I use as a buffer to give more leverage to my Lineman's pliers as I lever the nail out of the wood.

I have an old one of the kind labeled "Gunpla" in Ed's picture. It is very handy, it doesn't damage the wood much and you can extract longer nails by taking a second or third grip on them. You do have to be careful not to squeeze too hard on little brads, but that's easy to get used to. My wife has commandeered it for her toolbox.

The OP's new tool does indeed improve on the claw hammer, by improving the grip on the nail. That radiused portion I would call a "rolling fulcrum" bearing, which minimizes surface damage.

That #357 Channel-Lock has thin and sharp pinchers which can cutoff the nailhead but with care this can be avoided. It is those thin pincher teeth which are better than pliers for getting under an almost-flush nailhead. And using a steel plate fulcrum completely eliminates bearing damage but you need a third hand to position it.

What I have learned from trim-restoration work, is to cut rather than pull old nails. Pry the trim off the wall, then cut the nail flush where it sticks out the back side. Then grind the nub really flush. This avoids all show-side surface damage. Pulling the nail will usually cause some kind of damage, and it is completely avoidable if you just leave the nail in.

I have fencing pliers that have a horn like the one in the pictures that helps lever out a nail, but it has a very broad end that doesn't grab small nails very well at all.

reible wrote: ↑Fri Mar 03, 2023 7:00 pm I do wish they had a 3/4 size model for sale but hey you can't have everything you want.


Ed

Lee Valley does have this one that is smaller. I believe this is on clearance .
https://www.leevalley.com/en-us/shop/to ... em=09A0376

One way to use the tool to extract nails when they're sticking out the other side (e.g., when you've removed trim that you want to reuse and it still has nails in it) is to tap it in from the back until the head protrudes, cut the head off, then pull it out the back.

With finishing nails. simply pull it through.

regardless of the procedure if you remove the nail you will be left with a hole to fill , if it is a piece of trim you could pull it through enough to sink the head and fill the hole and simply cut it off from the back or just cut it off from the back leaving the head flush with the face ?