Every home master should know this! Useful tips when working with nails

Once, my friend, the old master Michal Mikhalych, told me: "Never hammer in a nail with the head down, because this is how you scratch the hammer." This is of course a joke, but today we will talk about nails and their little secrets. In this article, I have collected for you a selection of useful tips when working with nails, which every home craftsman simply must know!

1. It can be very inconvenient to hammer in small carnations, and you can accidentally hit your fingers with a hammer.

In this case, as a holder for a stud, you can use thin-nose pliers, a magnetic screwdriver or a bat, a pencil with a cut rubber band or an old comb. This will greatly simplify your work, and your fingers will remain intact.

2. When driving a nail into a thin strip, glazing bead or platband, the wood may crack, especially at its edge. To avoid this, it is best to pre-drill a hole for the nail. But what if there is no suitable drill diameter? The solution is very simple - you can make a drill yourself from the same stud.

We bite off the head of the nail using pliers or pliers and that's it, the drill is ready. Now you can drill a hole without any problems and boldly hammer in a nail without fear that the glazing bead or platband will crack. The same method can be used if you need to drill a hole in a wooden wall, but there is no suitable drill bit (in this case, we just take a longer nail).

3. As you know, special carpentry nails are sold in hardware stores, which have very small caps. They are used to make the nail less visible on the product. But you can do without them, and the result is the same.

To make the nail head less visible, you can use the old-fashioned ways. The first method: we crimp the head of the nail and for greater attractiveness, when hammering, we orient it along the fibers. The second method is suitable if a strong connection is not required (you need to nail a platband or bead). We just take and bite off the hat. The nail will be held securely by the pressure of the wood fibers and the small notches on the nail. And if you want the hat to be invisible at all, then you can drown it and cover it with a putty that matches the color of the wood.

4. When pulling out nails, the nailer can leave dents in the wood. Therefore, if you need to preserve the integrity of the board, be sure to put some kind of gasket under the nailer, for example, a piece of board and the thicker the better. But if, nevertheless, dents appear on the wood, do not be discouraged, because there is an easy way to remove them. We put a wet rag on the damaged area, warm it up well with an iron and there will be no trace of the dent.

5. There are times (for example, you are standing on a ladder and hold on to it with one hand) when you need to hammer in a nail, but only one hand is free. What to do in this case? There is an exit! Even with one hand, you can hammer in a nail without any problems (this method was used by our grandfathers). We take the hammer in our palm and squeeze the nail between two fingers, pressing its head against the hammer.

Then, with a light blow, we "bait" the nail into the wood, intercept the hammer, taking it by the handle, and hammer the nail to the end.