How to Work with Nails

Using the right technique will help you avoid getting frustrated and wasting time with bent or poorly driven nails.

How to Drive Nails

Once you have a little practice, driving a nail is easy:

Grip the nail between your thumb and first finger and rest the sharpened tip on the surface that you’re nailing into. Leave at least 1/2" of space between the bottom of the nail head and the top of your fingers.
Tap the nail a couple of times with a hammer so that it’s set in the wood and won’t fall.
Then, remove your fingers and strike the nail head repeatedly and firmly until it’s flush with the surface.

For small nails (6d and smaller), swing the hammer from your wrist rather than your elbow. For larger nails, swing from both the wrist and the elbow.

How to Use Pilot Holes

If the material you are nailing is so hard that the nail bends over, drill a pilot hole in the material first so that the nail goes in more easily. To make a pilot hole:

Use a drill bit that’s the same diameter as the nail shaft.
Drill the pilot hole less than the full length of the nail. If you’re nailing two boards together, the pilot hole should penetrate the top board but not the bottom one.
Drive the nail into the pilot hole with a few firm swings.

How to Remove Nails

You may find yourself needing to remove a driven nail once in a while. There are quite a few tools and approaches designed to remove nails, but the two shown here should suffice for most situations.

How to Remove Small or Broken Nails

For smaller nails, brads, and larger nails with heads that are broken off, use locking pliers.

If the nail is flush with the surface, use a chisel or utility knife to remove just enough material around it so that the locking pliers can grip the top of the nail shaft.
Adjust the pliers so that they’re as tight as possible around the top of the nail shaft.
Place a thin block of wood against the pliers and push the pliers down. This will lever the nail from the hole.

How to Remove Large or Intact Nails

For larger nails with intact head, drive the claw end of a nail puller under the head of the nail and push down.

Acknowledgments & Disclaimer

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